Puno and the Uros (floating islands)

One of the Uros islands
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From Copacabana we took a small bus to Puno, 150 kms up north along Lake Titicaca and would continue west to Arequipa. We had no intention to stay in Puno as we were told that there was not a lot to keep us there except the Uros Islands.

After getting of the bus we met up with 3 more Dutchies and chartered a private boat to visit 3 of the Uros islands. The Uros islands are floating islands off the coast of Puno. There are 40 in total and they are made entirely of reeds, which they also use to build their boats and houses. The foundation of the islands can get up to 2 meters in depth (this has to be replaced every 6 months as it rots, depending on the humidity), whereas the lake is as deep as 13-20 meters.

Reed boat
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It was a weird sensation to feel the island moving under your feet. The people of the Uros fish, hunt birds and live off the lake plants. Tourism is another major form of income.

We visited 3 islands (of which Q'Ota Marka and Parihuana) and returned just in time to catch a 2pm bus to Arequipa, which would take 6 hours.