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  • Day 247

    Floating Islands & Taquile

    August 31, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Most people had recommended skipping Puno but as I had the time I had decided to check out both sides of Lake Titicaca. Also I wanted to see the man-made Floating Islands of the Peruvian side. I got to Puno in the early afternoon and went out towards the lake to book a tour for the next day to go to the Floating Islands and at least one more Island. I thought a ticket for just the transportation would be the cheapest but as it turned out the tour agencies were in such a battle that it was cheaper to take a tour.
    From here I went to the market to buy some food for the trip the next day and something to cook for dinner. I got a little overexcited and ended up having pasta with avocado, tomatoes, cheese and egg for dinner. But it was yummy.
    The next morning lots of people were waiting to be picked up for tours all doing exactly the same. But all by different companies. The small streets of Puno were busy with lots of minivans shuttling people from their hotel to the boats.
    I met Elsa on my tour. She was from France and we spend the day together. Our first stop was one of the Floating Islands. The Island was probably less than 100sqm and only inhabited a handful of people in 3 little hats. When we got to the island our guide told us the leader of the island would take us out on his boat to show us how they build the Floating Islands. Getting on the boat came at an extra cost but staying behind meant missing the whole explanation. I didn't like the way they ripped of tourists but I was still to curious to stay behind. The Islands are basically build on top of blocks of earth and roots of reed. These blocks get connected till they grow together. On top come different layers of reed put down crosswise. We also got to try the reed.
    Some of the bigger islands have been accepting tourists for years now but the smaller ones just started making money about 2 years ago. Same applies for electricity. 2 years ago there was nothing. Now the little hats had a solar panel connected and a TV inside.
    From here we went to Taquile which was similar to Isla del Sol. Climbing the steps up the island I felt like I had finally gotten better with working out on altitude as I made it up as one of the firsts. We had lunch on the island and walked around for a while.
    The boat back to Puno was 3 hours and I actually think I enjoyed being on the boat watching over the lake the most of the tour.
    I had dinner back in Puno and caught a nightbus afterwards to get to Cusco.
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