17/11/09 - The Longest Journey...

Today we were on what must be the slowest boat ever to see various islands on Lake Titicaca. Seriously, it was excruciatingly slow. Before this however we traveled by tricycle to get to the docks and that was fun.

Our first stop on the lake was to visit the Uros. They live on floating islands built using blocks of the stuff (sorry) at the bottom of the lake tied together and with some sort of all purpose reed across the top in layers. The Spanish left them alone here because they had nothing considered of value. Originally there weren't many islands of this sort but with tourism there are now hundreds. I'm pretty certain that tourism is what keep these communities going because floating on the water all they have are fish to eat without money. They can't grow anything.

It was a very unusual existence they had going on here. Everything (except for the occasional solar panel and TV combo) was made from the reeds, even the boats. We got a ride on a small one which allowed us to see a lot of the islands.

When we arrived on Amantani island where we would be staying for the night with local families, Rob, Luke and I were thrilled to find we were basically staying at the top of the island in what must be the remotest house available. The family was very friendly although they only spoke Spanish and the local language Quechua which alarmingly left me most able to communicate with them. Our accommodation was very comfortable (I think they spend more on the rooms the tourists staying with them use than their own) but it did have a ridiculously small door which Luke managed to bash his head off of twice.

Once we had settled in we headed down to the football pitch so that we travelers who hadn't played football in years let alone as a team could play the village team at a height of 4000m above sea level. I think they took more pleasure in beating us than was strictly necessary considering we ran for about a meter before being out of breath. I think we did ok under the circumstances...

I played keeper until I had to switch with another out of breath tourist who was on the island at the same time.

After the match we had lunch with our adopted family. It consisted entirely of different types of potatoes. This, along with some vegetables, is all they seem to eat here. Lots and lots of potatoes. Possibly all the potatoes in the world. In fact, after lunch and dinner I think I could go so far as to say that if I never see a potatoe again it'll be to soon.

Before coming we bought gifts of food to bring to the families and ours seemed grateful for the variety we brought. I'm very glad we didn't buy them any potatoes...

In the evening we and the families dressed in their traditional attire went to a dance in the village hall.

As for the clothes, you can clearly see from the picture; pulling them off.