Puno 8/25/2006
We had to get up very early (again), because we got picked up at 6:30 am at our hotel to take the boat to the islands of Lake Titicaca. Uros Islands and Taquile were waiting for s. The weather was just perfect, cold but blue sky and sunshine.
From the harbor it is a short 30 minutes ride to the Uros Islands, a small collection of so called floating islands. Our boat stopped at one of them and we got the opportunity to explore on our own. It is quite interesting how these islands are made. The Uros “harvest“ the roots of the reed plant very close to the lake shore. They cut them with special saws, sometimes fields in the size of 5 x 15 m (15 by 45 feet). The roots themselves are about 1 m thick. They pull them to the desired location and tie the pieces together with ropes until they reach the anticipated size of the island. Then they add many layers of reed grass until the thickness reaches approximately 3 m (9 feet). The islands are being ankered using large poles and long ropes, they can easily be moved around the lake, e.g. if you have trouble with your neighbour. The next step of the building process are the houses, which are made of reed as well, they also build fire places and fish ponds on the islands.
The Uros also build large boats which inspired Thor Heyerdahl to build a large reed boat and cross the Pacific Ocean with it. One of the locals provided us with a nice lecture about how to build the island, the food they prepare, other things that are being produced using reed, it was quite interesting. The visit ended with a short trip across the lake to another floating island.
We traveled then for another 2 ½ hours to the island of Taquile. It is a small island that reminded me of the Greek islands in the Mediterranean Sea. It was nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. On the boat we met an Italian girl (Christina) who lives in Paris. We met her later for dinner and had a passionate discussion about the soccer world cup.
We had to get up very early (again), because we got picked up at 6:30 am at our hotel to take the boat to the islands of Lake Titicaca. Uros Islands and Taquile were waiting for s. The weather was just perfect, cold but blue sky and sunshine.
From the harbor it is a short 30 minutes ride to the Uros Islands, a small collection of so called floating islands. Our boat stopped at one of them and we got the opportunity to explore on our own. It is quite interesting how these islands are made. The Uros “harvest“ the roots of the reed plant very close to the lake shore. They cut them with special saws, sometimes fields in the size of 5 x 15 m (15 by 45 feet). The roots themselves are about 1 m thick. They pull them to the desired location and tie the pieces together with ropes until they reach the anticipated size of the island. Then they add many layers of reed grass until the thickness reaches approximately 3 m (9 feet). The islands are being ankered using large poles and long ropes, they can easily be moved around the lake, e.g. if you have trouble with your neighbour. The next step of the building process are the houses, which are made of reed as well, they also build fire places and fish ponds on the islands.
The Uros also build large boats which inspired Thor Heyerdahl to build a large reed boat and cross the Pacific Ocean with it. One of the locals provided us with a nice lecture about how to build the island, the food they prepare, other things that are being produced using reed, it was quite interesting. The visit ended with a short trip across the lake to another floating island.
We traveled then for another 2 ½ hours to the island of Taquile. It is a small island that reminded me of the Greek islands in the Mediterranean Sea. It was nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. On the boat we met an Italian girl (Christina) who lives in Paris. We met her later for dinner and had a passionate discussion about the soccer world cup.
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