Lake Titicaca

While we were in Puno we had a day trip out on Lake Titicaca.

We visited the floating islands, aka the Uros Islands. These islands are made out of reeds and literally float on the surface. If the people don't like where they are, they can pull up anchor and shift them. They need to keep replacing the reeds as the old ones rot away, layering them up as needed.

It was interesting to see how they live on the islands, but I was feeling a little uncomfortable. Walking around and taking photos felt almost exploitive at times, but they were very friendly and understanding, I suppose they get a lot of tourists like us.

Then we headed for Taquile, staggering up to the top for a very nice lunch and a quite lesson on how the locals dress. If you know the codes, you can tell if someone is single, married, eligable, how long they've been married, basically anything you wanted to know. The courting ritual was interesting as well.

If a guy likes a girl, he gets to toss a small stone at her back. She then turns around, if she likes what she sees, the two of them will live together for a year. If that works out, they will get married, if it doesn't work out, they then go their seperate ways. If they do get married, they marry for life. There is no such thing as devorce on the island. It sounds to me like a very practical system.

The return trip was slow and there was much playing of cards. We discovered a certain person (no names to protect the innocent) was slightly challenged when it came to playing honestly. However once their unorthodox playing style was discovered, they were watched like hawks.