El Ombligo del Mundo

It's always been on my bucket list to visit Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world.  So while I'm in Peru, I couldn't pass up the chance to go.  And thank god I did, as it is truly one of the most culturally fascinating and beautiful places I have ever seen.  Anabel, Karina and I flew into Juliaca and then took a bus to Puno, which is the main city on the Peruvian side of the lake (the Eastern side belongs to Bolivia).  We spent Friday exploring the town and walked on down to the port where we went paddle boating in a big plastic duck! The best part of the day was probably waiting in the bank for 2 hours, as we had to pay the tour fee into a bank account.  Somehow when we showed up, it seemed like the entire town of Puno was waiting in line also.  Lucky us.  But, we got it all done, and headed back to the hostel for an early night in preparation for our full day of activities.  We decided to cook our own dinner...this consisted of boxed mac n' cheese (made me miss real wisco mac and cheese even more) and brownie batter (which we attempted to fry in a pan-this did not work). Desperation at it's finest.

As the sun rose, we were sailing across the lake to the floating islands of the Uros people.  It is a community of around fifty islands which are all hand made from reeds. Originally the islands were created as a defense against outside aggressors, but now they are considered the primary homes of the people.  Everything they make is out of reeds, their houses, the rafts themselves, their boats...they even eat part of the reeds! The islands are built by layering reeds on top of one another, and more reeds are added every month or so as they break down rapidly.  We stepped onto the islands and it felt like we were moon walking, you feet literally sink into the reeds and bounce back up.  Very weird feeling.  The little kids on the island kept tripping over because their legs aren't long enough so they sink in the reeds!  We got to play around with the Uros kids (Karina has an obsession with cute children), and meet some of the islanders who showed us how they make the islands.  We also got a little trip on one of their traditional boats! TRIP HIGHLIGHT.  I have a new obsession with these boats, i want one to sail on Lake Michigan.  I managed to refrain from buying all the souveneirs that they make by hand, although I was sorely tempted by an engraved gourd that was bigger than my head.  Anabel, my voice of reason, talked me out of it-a good thing because I have absolutely no room to take it home.  After visiting one of the smaller islands, we went to the main island where we got our passport stamped (awesomeness) and then it was on to the large (real) island of Taquile.  We hiked up to the top of the island where we ate a local lunch and watched a local dance performance.  Apparently the Taquile islanders are the best weavers in the world, and we got to see the meanings of all the different patterns, hats and belts that they make.  The kids start hand weaving textiles when they are six or seven! I then had a photoshoot with this gorgeous little girl (Karina's obsession was wearing off on me).  Very National Geographic of me.  Last but not least we were escorted to their main square where we got to admire the view (breathtaking) and buy more textiles (I'm officially broke).  Then sadly it was time to go, but we got to enjoy the most beautiful views on our walk back down to the boat and on our two hour boat ride back to Puno.

All in all, one of the best trips I've had.  Absolutely gorgeous.