Spending the night in traditional dress

Wow. Seriously- Wow! We spent two days and one night on Lake Titicaca. The ´c´s are pronounced like the ´ch´in loch, otherwise it means ´lake of the poo puma´, when it is pronounced properly it means ´lake of the grey puma´.

The first day we got up at 6am, had breakfast at the hotel and then headed outside for our transport to the port. Me and Bry were sitting on the front of what looked like a bike with a seat at the front for 2 and a seat at the back for someone to cycle and steer. "Ha! As if... oh, no, wait- yeah, that guy IS sitting behind us, and he IS driving us."

If you don´t pronounce it properly it means ´Lake of the poo puma´

It was a laugh! There were 14 of these bikes taking us all to the port, so we had a little race going on. It was a scream!

That as the fastest we moved all day! We then spent 3 hours on a small boat heading out to the first Island- Umanti. 3 hours. To get to the middle of the lake. Yeah- it´s friggin´huge! Our group split up into two groups of 14 to fit on the boats, and our driver appeared to be a very small boy. He was eleven, and he older guy, who was about 15, was in charge of the engine and other driving activities.

When we finally got to the port, the older of our driver dudes fell into the water. Twice. The water was only about 5 feet deep there, so he was fine. We may have giggled silently. Or not...

Anyhoo, what they had failed to mention to us was that we had to climb ANOTHER hill. I´m so sick of hills and stairs right now. Climbing upwards when you are already at about 3,500m is totally unnecessary!! However, the views were spectacular- it looked like we were in the middle of the ocean!! Our guide stopped us half-way up to explain the customs of the islanders. Women didn´t have he vote until 20 years ago, and they didn´t want it either, so the Peruvian Government introduced a s./160 (40 UK pounds) fine for anyone who didn´t vote. Just to give you an idea, a loaf of bread is about 40 centinimos, so the fine is quite a big ´un.

We finally reached the top of the hill and there were lots of little girls selling bracelets, and when you looked at them but didn´t buy one, the little dears would throw tantrums, start crying, or throw the whole lot of them at you until you bought one. I´m an evil besum, so I didn´t buy one, nor did I fall for their evil tricks!! Mwah ha ha!!

We then headed down to our boats, and were taken to Amantani Island to meet our Mammas. It was about 2pm when we got there and it was beautiful. Beforehand, Bry and I had arranged to be placed with Alex and Monika, another couple on the tour. We were introduced to our Mamma- Mamma Elsa- who took us to her home. Which was up a hill(!) The house was lovely. It had obviously been modified to allow for tourists, as the bottom half was for the family themselves, and the upper was two bedrooms, one with 3 single beds, and one with 2 single beds. By good fortune, Bry and  were in the one with 3 beds, which had the most spectacular view over the rest of the Island and out onto Lake Titicaca. After leaving our bags in the bedroom, we headed downstairs to give Elsa the gifts we had brought of rice, pasta, sugar and oil.

Then we asked Elsa if she wanted us to help prepare lunch. We had a small sheet with some Quechan words on it, so ´Can I help you?´is ´Kariparisaqui?´. Which was answered in the affirmative, so we all pitched in to peel the tiniest potatoes we have ever seen! Elsa daughter Janet (pronounced Yannet) came home to help, then we settled down to a meal of awesome soup, followed by grilled cheese, potatoes and cucumber. Very yummy and filling. Then we helped clean up, and went to the football ground to meet the rest of our groups and watch the games between the locals and the tourists.

Afterwards, we headed back ´home´to help with dinner, but Mamma Elsa was having none of it- we must have made some impression at lunch! We were settling down to a game of cards (Bry had gone upstairs to bed suffering from an evil head-cold) when Elsa´s son Ronnie came home. He was about 7 or 8, and such a cutie! We played Snap, which he was uber-excited about, kept jumping up and down at every hand he won, or didn´t win! Then we taught him how to play ´Go Fish´, which he picked up perfectly by the second game. It was great fun!

After dinner (grilled trout fresh from Lake Titicaca with rice and potatoes) we went upstairs to dress for the night´s festivities. Bry was still ill so he wasn´t up for it, Monika and I were trussed up in layer upon layer of  skirts, tunics, and ponchos, topped off with a black veil that kept falling off our heads! Alex had only to put on a poncho! We then traipsed down to the meeing hall, where the band were playing panpìpes and ukeleles, and singing haunting Peruvian songs that each lasted 10 minutes! Then our Mamma made us get up and dance. At first it was just holding hands, and shuffling to make your skirts spin round, then all of a sudden, everyone was on their feet and shuffling round in a great big circle, and falling over our skirts. It was such fun, but 10 minutes of birling round in a circle is quite tiring! So, probably sensing our exhaustion, the locals took it upon themselves to show us how it is done. They pranced up and down, the men waving ropes or cutting tools, depicting the life on the Islands, then there came a bizarre dance where the men and women were pouring drinks down each other´s throats, but kept missing and pouring it all over their outfits instead! Was so good to watch!

At around 1030 we headed home. We awoke FAR too early, for pancakes and headed down to the port, where we said goodbye to Mamma Elsa and boarded our wee boat to head out to Uros, the Floating Reed Islands. These were awesome- they´ve been there since the Uros peoples fled from the Incas in the height of their power, and hid in the reeds. They still use much the same methods for building their islands today. It´s strange to be sitting down on an Island and be able to see that the island you are on is floating, bobbing around in the Lake.

After another epic boat ride (with nobody falling in the water!), we were back in Puno bay, back to our hotel and on our way to La Paz, Bolivia!