I arrived in Puno on the 5th. It is quite a bit bigger and nicer than Copacabana. They too have a big festival going on called Virgen de la Candeleria, in which they have a costume and dance competition in the form of an unorganised parade. They have all sorts of crazy costumes, some of which seemed a bit Asian. I spent some time walking about the city and watching the parrade, that is until a thunderstorm rolled through and I needed cover. Eventually, I made my way to a tent at the main area where I was invited to drink with some Peruvians from Tacna. For the most part we talked in Spanish, but occasionally one of the more drunk ones would repeat that it´s cold here but very hot in Tacna and at the beach. After a while, I got pretty drunk too and I needed to eat dinner, so we went our seperate ways.
The next day, I was pretty hungover, but I wanted to see these islands here that are hand made and float along on the lake. I´m glad I sucked it up cause the islands, while getting more and more touristy, are quite interesting. Originally built as a way of protecting themselves, they are built using the local reeds in the lake. The foundation is a block of soil and roots that they cut out about 2 meters deep. They drive a spike into each block, and rope them all together. Then they add about a meter of reeds, alternating in direction, on top. They also used these reeds to build houses and boats, although that practice has been fading out and being replaced by modern technology like wood and solor panels. Definitely worth a look, even if they are a bit overrun by tourists.
My last day, before catching the bus for Cusco, I visited a boat called Yavari. The story with it is that it is a boat built in the nineteenth century in England for Peru´s navy. They built a couple of them, dismantled them, shipped them to Arica, which at the time was part of Peru. From there, Peru took them to Arequipa and had men take them up to Lake Titicaca by mule, finally assembling them again at the lake. This process took six years. I´m not sure I understand why they needed a ship like that here, and I don´t think they did either cause they let the boat go to shit. In recent history, it was purchased by a group hoping to restore it and get it running. It´s free to tour the boat, but since they don´t have it fully operational yet they do ask for donations. The whole time I thought about how much my dad would have gotten a kick out of seeing it. Although, the tour was in Spanish, so I would have had to translate what I could for him.
So, that was my first few days in Peru. I´m taking an overnight bus to Cusco and hoping to get to Aguas Calientes tomorrow so that I can visit Machu Pichu on Thursday. Cross your fingers.
D
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