Sillustani

After a few hours of shopping, because as I’ve mentioned before, it’s not only our favorite thing, it’s also what we’re good at, especially bargaining, we had lunch and took a bus to an archeological sight that our teacher had recommended.

The sight is home to tombs from the Incan empire and before, where many mummies have been uncovered. The history was intriguing and the views were spectacular. We even watched a thunderstorm in the distance as the lightning struck down on the mountains.

After an extensive history lesson, we traveled to the home of a local family where we tried some local delicacies, including potatoes with clay dip (literally a dip made from combining the clay found naturally in the soil with boiling water and salt), and fried quinoa dough with cheese. Oh and of course we saw 20 alpacas, llamas and other breeds of cute furry animals.
Oh and the craziest thing, we went on this tour who our new friend Catherine, and not 2 minutes into the tour did two of her housemates get onto the bus, expanding our group to five. Which we eventually increased to six by dinner when we invited an England-born, Italy-living, UN-working friend to join us also.

Puno: Uros Floating Islands

Diana and I arrived on an overnight bus to the town of Puno at 5am on Saturday morning. Not needing to waste a moments time we went to a hostel a friend had recommended and booked a tour that left at 6:45am to Uros and Taquile. The hostel, offered us a very inexpensive breakfast while we waited and then we were on our way. After a moderately long boat ride we arrived at one of the 45 floating islands of Uros.

The Uros floating islands are built on top of soil that is filled with dried out roots causing them to float. On top of the soil the locals thatch together locally found reeds, which they also use to build houses, and boats; as well as it being a source of food supply. These reeds also float very well. The locals catch fish and hunt; as well as make tapestries and other figurines from reeds. They rely on tourism as well, and rah day a different island is visited to spread the money across them.

Our guide, with the help of a local, explained all of this to us, and then we were given time to take a boat ride around the lake, and buy handmade goods.

Puno: The Island of Taquile

After a short visit to the floating islands we took the motorboat onward to the island of Taquile. This island was naturally formed, therefore not floating on reeds, but was a magical beauty in its own. We hiked up a beautiful walkway to an outdoor restaurant where we ate trout, quinoa soup, beet salad, bread, and tea; all while overlooking beautiful Lake Titticaca. Afterwards we participated in traditional dances with the family and enjoyed the views.

As we traveled onward we were continuously greeted with amazing views and wonderful local children who sold us beautifully handmade bracelets, hats, and belts (because clearly if there is one thing Diana and I know how to do best it’s shop).

We headed back to the mainland, and arrived around 5pm, where we quickly caught a cab to our hotel, which was actually a restored boat from the 1800s.

Puno: Uros Floating Islands

Diana and I arrived on an overnight bus to the town of Puno at 5am on Saturday morning. Not needing to waste a moments time we went to a hostel a friend had recommended and booked a tour that left at 6:45am to Uros and Taquile. The hostel, offered us a very inexpensive breakfast while we waited and then we were on our way. After a moderately long boat ride we arrived at one of the 45 floating islands of Uros.

The Uros floating islands are built on top of soil that is filled with dried out roots causing them to float. On top of the soil the locals thatch together locally found reeds, which they also use to build houses, and boats; as well as it being a source of food supply. These reeds also float very well. The locals catch fish and hunt; as well as make tapestries and other figurines from reeds. They rely on tourism as well, and rah day a different island is visited to spread the money across them.

Our guide, with the help of a local, explained all of this to us, and then we were given time to take a boat ride around the lake, and buy handmade goods.

The Yavari: our home for a night

The Yavari is a boat originally built in 1862 that traveled through 6 countries to make it to Peru… (Read the full bio here )

This was our hotel for the weekend.

We arrived around sunset and met our new friend Catherine, who was staying with us for the weekend because she takes Spanish classes with our housemate Sanna from Sweden. Unfortunately, Sanna could not come on the trip because she was dealing with parasites in the stomach, but Catherine still came even though none of knew each other, and we had an amazing time.

The boat was absolutely magnificent, with a lot of the original hardware still there. We slept in bunk beds with potholes overlooking the lake, and not only did they provide us with hot tea, they also have us hot water bottles for our beds.

In the morning we were greeted with an awesome breakfast spread, including eggs, smoothies, coffee, tea, and bread, at a table that was a part of the original ship. Afterwards we were given a tour and then clearly held a photoshoot, before departing for the day.