We took the Sun Route to Puno. This route includes some stops along the way on the tourist bus. First stop the “Andean Sistine Chapel”. Beautiful church with frescos painted on the adobe walls and gold leaf on the alter.
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Next up was the Rachti ruins. A place that was said to be one of the Inka’s main food storage and distribution centers. The Walmart of the Inkan era, making it different than most of the other Inkan sites we had seen.
One stop that we didn’t make, but was interesting was the city of Juliaca. It’s said to be a new city as it’s only been in existence since 1826. It is one of the fastest growing Peruvian cities and Peru’s industrial center. Also, nicknamed the “Windy City”, like Chicago, because it’s always windy there. This place just seemed really chaotic with building going on everywhere, nothing is finished. Our guide says that the city does not have a drainage system, so, in the rainy season the streets look like Venice. We also, noticed people selling gas from cans in the medium of the roads. Peruvian’s will cross the border into Bolivia to buy gas and bring back to sell. Gas is much cheaper there. It’s not legal, but happening on many street corners.
Puno at 12,507ft is located on th shores of Lake Titicaca, which is the world’s highest navigable body of water. The lake straddles the border of Peru and Bolivia. This lake is huge, covering over 3,200 sq miles of surface area. The lake has over 30 islands and many “floating” islands as well. The floating islands are home to the Uro people and are man-made islands built from totora reeds. These islands were originally built as defensive islands as they can easily be moved. The islands are small and will usually contain only a few families on any one island. The islands’ base are the roots of the totora reed. More reeds are then added and packed on top. As the reeds rot and take on water, new layers of reeds are added. It’s a hard life as constant maintenance is required. Tourism is used to supplement the income of the Uro people. This has both helped and hurt their way of life. The tourism boats continually going back and forth cause their islands to decay at a faster rate, which in turn requires them to do more maintenance. However, the Uros earn money from the tourism by telling people about their way of life and selling crafts. We were given a ride in the gentleman’s “Mercedes”. The “Mercedes”, as this man called it, was his balsam reed boat. He also gave us samples of the tortola reed to try. The Uros eat the bottom portion of this reed as it is rich in calcium and iron. To some of us it was similar to eating a cucumber.
On to the Island of Taquile. This island still remains largely unchanged by modern amenities although some houses now have small solar panels for electricity. This island is famous for the textiles they produce. The women spin yarn and weave. The men knit. As a knitter myself it was fascinating to watch the men knit. Most of the time they will knit standing and truly their knitted hats and scarfs are fantastic quality.
The boat ride was a long one back to Puno. My advice, pay for the fast boat when choosing this tour. Well worth the extra money.
Had a great dinner at the Incabar. They also had live music from a Peruvian band called Tupay. Finally, a group that knows how to play something besides “If I Had A Hammer” on the flute. I can’t tell you how many times, I’ve heard that song.