Peru Vacation: Chapter Tres

Date: Sat, May 24, 2008 at 5:02 PM
Subject: Lake Titicaca, the Floating Islands of the Uros, Tequile Island, Awesome Train Ride, and Cuzco-Part 1

Last chapter discussed Arequipa, the Colca Canyon, and myriad descriptions of us cheating death (i.e. ravenous condors, near van-over-cliff plunges, altitude sickness, and a perilous drive from Juliaca to Puno. We had arrived to the shores of Lake Titicaca expecting the worst considering that it is even higher in altitude than the Colca Canyon, but we were happy to be wrong. At it's worst, altitude sickness was so bad that Gerson didn't even notice (or just didn't want to move) when the wall of the Arequipa restaurant we were in caught on fire, but by the time we reached Puno it seemed as if we had already experienced the worst. What was once a sharp, intense pain was now just a constant slight headache which was easily managed with coca tea and Tylenol.

The Uros Islands...floating souvenir stands:

Out tour of the lake began at 7:30AM...which meant that we would actually get to sleep in a bit more than we had in previous days. We ate a quick breakfast and headed out for our hotel's pier. On our way to the pier, we observed about 15-20 guinea pigs (also called "cuy") grazing, lounging, and humping. I had noticed that cuy was on the menu at out hotel and I wondered if I would be allowed to pick which cuy I wanted from the lawn for the next night’s supper. I snapped a few photos of some of the prospects, thinking it could make for a cool before (adorable) and after (delicious meal) side by side photo shot.

We met our boat, and were happy to see that a young British couple I had befriended on the ride from the airport were to be joining us for our latest adventure. We set sail and after about 20-30 minutes of picking up other passengers and winding through seemingly never ending beds of reeds, we arrived at the Uros Islands. The Uros Islands are literally floating islands constructed out of the reeds that grow in abundance in the shallow part of Lake Titicaca. Each island is probably 120 x 120 feet with 2-3 families living in huts made out of...you guessed it....more reeds. Supposedly, the Uros people did not want to work for the Inca, and were banished from the land. Interpreting this ruling literally, the Uros left Inca land for Inca water. I am not sure if the Uros thought that move would be funny, or if this was just simply a sign of the stubbornness/laziness...but the more we observed the Uros people...it seems more that latter.

Whatever the Uros Islands might have been....today they are nothing but floating souvenir stands. A tour of their islands consists of a brief demonstration on how the islands and their boats (also made out of reeds) are constructed, followed by 10-15 minutes of "free time" on the island (the entire island can be seen adequately in 10-15 seconds). Your free time is spent trying not to make eye contact with any of the Uros, because if you do, they will beg to you in the most pathetic sounding voices a mixture of Spanish, English, and Quechua (the language of the Incas) with the intent of making you feel bad for them so that you will by their over priced souvenirs. They put on this whole facade of being these poor people banished to these terrible islands, but in reality, they chose to live their today not because they don't want to work for the Inca (who are long gone), but because in fact they don't want to work at all. They use mostly cheap tricks, like having their children beg you to buy things that they 'made in school', with a few really good business tactics (like inflating their prices because their is no other competition near by....you are in the middle of Lake Titicaca after all). And if that were not bad enough, they insist that you let them paddle you around in one of their reed boats, and then ask for 5 Nuevo Soles in the middle of the ride (they never said what would happen if you didn't pay up). Even worse, on your reed boat adventure, it turns out that several of the Uros children have stowed away and gone for the ride. The children proceed to sing to you in 6-7 different language from around the world (English, Italian, french, to name a few), and then...like they are also probably taught in school...they walk around the boat demanding tips. The reed boat ride ends with you landing on another island, where more Uros are floating on more reeds, trying to sell you the same crap you had just seen (and probably already bought if you have trouble saying "no" to a kid on the verge of tears) on the first island.

While floating islands sounded like a cool thing to see, all agreed that we never wanted to see them again and that we would discourage others from falling into the same trap. We were incredibly happy to be on our way away from the Uros for good.

On to Tequile Island:

Having left the Uros in our wake (and secretly hoping our wake maybe sank their crappy islands), we were on to an island in the traditional sense, in that it was directly anchored to the Earth. It took about 1.5 hours to reach Tequile Island, during which we had plenty of time to take in the spectacular views around us. In the distance we could see huge, snow capped Bolivian mountains, and closer to us along the coast of the lake were several smaller hills with tiny farming communities. Aside from our tour boat and a few others, there was hardly any other traffic on the entire lake. No jet skis, no parasailing, no speed boats. The sky above was full of deep blues, stark whites...no air traffic to be seen or heard. It really was neat to be somewhere in the world that has not yet been molested by those nuances. Peaceful would be an understatement.

We arrived at Tequile Island, docked, and then to much dismay told that we had to hike up to the main square. To Gerson and I this hike was easy compared to what we had experienced a day or two earlier in the Colca Canyon, but it proved to be difficult to most of our group. Upon arriving at the main plaza we were treated to a neat display...a parade that marched by that rapidly developed into a huge celebration. It turned out that it was a holiday on Tequlie Island, and although I couldn't tell you what the occasion was it was a neat spectacle involving a marching band, people in costumes/masks, cows, dancing, and lots of beer. We met up with the rest of our group, and made our way to lunch...a choice of an omelet or Titicaca trout. As you know, I am no fish eater, but I figured that I may never have an opportunity to eat Lake Titicaca trout, so I went for it. To my surprise, it was not bad at all, and I washed it down with a tea made out of munya...a minty herb also known to fight altitude sickness. During our lunch, our tour guide (perhaps the best we encountered on our trip) explained how and why the Islanders dress the way they do (to convey if they are married, single, officials, etc).

After lunch, we hiked back down to the boat, and cruised back to our hotels. We were back to our room by 5PM and decided to eat a light dinner at the resort, thinking that the city of Puno still might not be a safe place for us to be. Before going to bed I took a stroll back to the pier to spend some alone time with the Lake. Never before had I seen so many stars in the sky, and among those stars were some that I never could have seen if I had wanted to, since they are unique to the Southern Hemisphere. While I no longer had the familiar "North Star", that night I picked out the legendary "Southern Cross" on the horizon. We woke up the next morning to the sounds of a train whistle...a good sign because we were to take the train to Cuzco that day, and the tracks had been blocked due to the strikes for the past two days. Everything in Puno was back to normal. Taxis and buses were running again, and we were easily able to make our way to the train station.

Riding that Train, High on Cocaine (technically only buzzed from a tea made out of leaves from the same plant used to make cocaine...but that doesn't make for a catchy sub-heading):

I honestly wasn't expecting much out of our train ride...in my head I envisioned something like a New York City Subway, except maybe our train wouldn't smell like urine because it might actually have a bathroom on it. We were greeted by a staff of young Peruvians wearing navy blue trench-coat uniforms. They ushered us onto the train and to our seats. In total, our train consisted of 5 cars, an engine, a kitchen car, a lounging/dining car, a bar, and an open air observation car. The whole thing was rather elegant. We had wondered if there would be food, and indeed in turned out there was to be a meal made up of 4 or 5 courses.

Our ride got off to a rough start, we had to make our way through the awful town of Juliaca again, but this time it was not as terrifying as we felt less vulnerable in a locomotive than the easy targets that were our vans 2 nights before. The daylight made it even more obvious how desolate and difficult the lives of the Juliaca people must be. We were happy to leave it behind us...and as Juliaca became a tiny grayish/brownish blip on the horizon, we were treated to some more great views of the lake, which turned into great views of the country side, which turned into spectacular views of huge mountains on either side of us. As we passed through tiny towns and villages, children would wave to us and stray dogs would chase us.

In total, our train ride lasted around 10 hours, and if viewing the scenery weren't distraction enough, to pass the time we were treated to a live musical performance by a 4 piece traditional Peruvian folk band (plus a dancer), a fashion show, and a "How to make a Pisco Sour" demonstration by the bartender, followed by a "How to Drink a Few Pisco Sours in Rapid Succession" demonstration by me. The train also stopped at one point (about 14,720 feet in elevation) to allow people to get out and walk around at a market....which proved too difficult for one old Brit who needed bottled oxygen to recover from his excursion.

While the Peruvian countryside was beautiful, we were ready to be in Cuzco and were happy when city lights began to pierce the darkness outside. Now, instead of children waving at our train, they threw rocks, and the girls getting out of school blew us kisses. It was nice to return to civilization whether the natives were happy to see us or not. We were picked up at the train station, transferred to our hotel, greeted with more coca tea (it would have been impolite to refuse), and moved into our room. Our room was on the corner of the building, small, and awkward. To get into then shower, one had to contort their body to maneuver past the sink and above the unusually high rim of the tub.

We were in Cuzco....the capital of the Inca Empire, and now only days away from seeing some ruins up close, including Machu Picchu. I don't recall what I ate that night...but I had not forgotten about those adorable guinea pigs near Titicaca and I scoped out a few places around the central plaza that were serving it.

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Additional Details:

Puno/Titicaca Hotel:
Sonesta Posadas Del Inca
Sesquicentenario 610
Tele: 5151-364111
http://www.sonesta.com/LakeTiticaca/

Extremely nice hotel and not terribly unaffordable. Right on the lake, great food, clean, and well managed.

Train Ride:
'The Andean Explorer' on Peru Rail. Fork over the extra soles and make sure you get Tourist class. I'm sure it's no Orient Express, but it's probably the most enjoyable train ride most people will ever take in their lives, and the scenery is supposedly some of the best you'll see on any train ride in the world!

Cuzco Hotel:
Hotel Ruinas
Calle Ruinas N' 472
Cusco, Peru
Tele: (51) 84-260644
http://www.hotelruinas.com
info@hotelruinas.com

Despite my complaints about the bathroom layout, this place is really nice! Awesome location, beautifully decorated, and also great service. We stayed here when we returned from Machu Picchu and that time around, absolutely nothing to complain about!