TUESDAY 18th Puno - Lake Titicaca - Isla Taquile - Llachon homestay
7:30 departure this morning on tricycles!
Our guide has hired eight tricycles to get us from our hotel to the port.
It was a bit of fun. Luckily it is mostly downhill.
At the port we went to a shop to buy gifts of provisions to give to the people who will house us tonight. We bought oil, tuna and some pasta along with three balls for any children they may have.
We then boarded our launch for a two hour trip to Isla Taquile.
We passed through a huge area of reeds. Some of these reeds have been made into "floating islands" where people live. We will visit them tomorrow. The reeds are called Totara which intrigues me that Quechua and Maori could have the same word in their very different languages.
We arrived at the Isla Taquile and walked up quite a steep hill to a plaza. We were all sucking in air again which we hadn't done since day two of the Inca Trail. The top of this island is at 4000m.
After messing about around the plaza waiting for those that wanted to buy local knick knacks we walked along a ridge for about 30 minutes and descended to our lunch place. We were served delicious quinoa soup followed by fresh trout with rice and fries. I was the only one to have the second choice of an omelette.
The men here knit! They showed us how they knit their very fine colourful hats using five very fine needles. They knit bags and belts as well. There are various designs which designate whether you are married or single and if single the size of colourful pom-poms suggest the level of your availability.
The knitting man.
After lunch we descended a short distance to our boat and set heading for our next destination Llachon.
Llachon is at the end of a long peninsula jutting out into Lake Titicaca. Here we were farmed out in pairs to local families to experience how they live.
Our mama for the night is Magdalena. Her husband is Herman and she has two lovely, vibrant daughters, Karen (10) and Vanessa (8). She also has a fifteen year old son who we haven't met. The family speak Quechua and are also fluent in Spanish.
We were expected to help the family in some way this afternoon. Most of the host families had organised their visitors to help sort potatoes.
These tiny potatoes had been sun dried over several days and were now on a mat in the courtyard for the three of us to sort the good from the bad. Meanwhile Herman was varnishing doors a few metres away. Thankfully I had my Spanish phrase book and a Pad and pen with me. Me managed a reasonable albeit very limited conversation.
The potatoes took us over an hour and then we, as a family, walked down to their community centre. We played volleyball for an hour or two. Everyone had a lot of fun and there was much laughter. Unfortunately Lindsey and I both forgot our ages. She fell onto her bum jarring her spine and hurting her thumb and then two points before the end I leapt for a ball still thinking that I was thirty and have once again torn my calf muscle.
After the volleyball we each went to our host parents where we were dressed in their traditional costume. I was given this beautiful bright red embroidered poncho to put over my head plus a hat that didn't quite fit and Lindsey had this lovely green, heavy pleated skirt to wear, an embroidered bolero jacket, a woven shawl and an amazing hat. The hat was ornately embroidered. It had four turned up corners and two pom-poms on the top. This indicated that she is married. The two single women in our group had completely different outfits and hats and looked amazing too.
The children of our Mama & Papa are the two wearing the hats.
We were all dressed in traditional outfits
The crew with our host families.
We then moved inside to our group,dining room where we were given chopping boards and knives and given vegetables to prepare for our dinner. These consisted of carrots, beans, peas and potatoes. Once they were sent to the kitchen we had a cup of tea and chatted until the food arrived. First up was a soup made with semolina and potato and accompanied with bread and a chilli side dish. Every soup we've had has been delicious and this was no exception.
The main course consisted of the vegetables that we had chopped up with rice. Nothing flash but very tasty and we didn't feel a need for anything else.
We then walked with our family back to their house, said goodnight and are in bed by 8pm. There houses have no heating. We have a spacious twin room with an ensuite in an out building. We haven't seen any of their living quarters yet. Our loo doesn't flush. Instead there is a big drum of water next to it and a jug. When finished you take the jug and scoop some water out of barrel and tip it into the bowl. It works a treat. All used toilet here and throughout Peru even in hotels has to be placed in a bin beside the loo. No paper is allowed into the sewerage.
They have given us two plastic drink bottles filled with hot water. Lindsey is rapt. She thought that she was going to miss out on her hottie.
I have three heavy blankets on top of me plus a bed cover. I guess that they don't want me to be cold.
Breakfast is at 7:15 and we catch our boat at 8 back to Puno so the alarm is set for 6:45.
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