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Cusco, Peru

It’s amazing how each day can be so different. Only a few hours away from the maniac world of La Paz was the coastal town of Copacabana, Bolivia. Although the little village looks like it’s on the ocean it’s actually a lake, Lake Titicaca.
Lake Titicaca is the world’s largest, high – altitude, body of water 274m deep and 8300 square km in size. Incidentally if Lake Tahoe was emptied of water, it would cover the whole of California in a foot of water, yet Lake Titicaca is bigger. Oooohhhhh aaaahhhhh fascinating stuff….
My favourite part of the short visit to Copacabana, was arriving at our hotel room, lying on the bed with an ocean view and the sun streaming in the window (Ive been travelling too long. That shouldn’t have been a highlight). The following day we had a day out on a boat with major exhaust problems causing carbon monoxide poisoning to those in the cabin. A ****** mood probably didn’t do my attitude to the day justice. The purpose of our ‘boat adventure’ was to visit Isla Del Sol, Island of the Sun. It was significant to the Inca world with over 80 ruins dating back to the 15th century AD. A history buff I’m not, but it is said that the origin of the Incas was when the Sun and Moon were born on that island. Half the group didn’t do the 3 hour walk across the island which showed some of the important ruins. Dave and I were two of them who didn’t go. Seeing a pile of rocks with an associated story isn’t for everyone. Instead we visited the worlds highest beach, that had two token pigs meandering around.

The following morning after a ****** breakfast of stale rolls, we crossed the border into Peru. The cost of everything went up. As simple as crossing the road, a bar of Sublime Chocolate doubled, the quality of roads improved and the houses were sturdier.
A highlight of the South American trip so far was visiting the floating ‘Uros’ islands of Lake ‘Titicaca’. It is said that Titi means the animal puma and caca is rock. Puma Rock? what the? The Uros are pre – Incan people who live on 60 self built floating islands. The purpose of these island settlements was originally for defence. If a threat from the mainland arose, they could move locations. Even the island with the watchtower could move. Now a days, neither the Uro language nor beliefs are practiced but they keep a few of the old customs.The Aymara people reside there these days, mostly for tourism purposes. The larger islands house about 10 families, while smaller ones, only about thirty metres wide, house only 2-3 families.
There isn’t much to them they sleep on reed mats on the ground and that is about it. There is certainly no electricity and instead of TVs they have “natural contraception”. To relieve themselves, tiny ‘outhouse’ islands are near the main islands. The ground roots absorbs the waste. Kindergardens and primary schools are found on the floating islands but high schools are only found on the mainland, as are hospitals, cemeteries and churches. They eat fish and duck that they catch but more substantial food is delivered on a floating market boat, passing by weekly. What came at a surprise is that the little kids walking around these islands don’t fall into the water and there are no fires, considering they cook on rocks, centimetres from dry reeds.
Our boat pulled up to the side of the first reed island. Once standing on the reeds it felt like standing in soft, springy marsh. The teenage girls from one of the families grabbed us and pulled us into their reed house and let us try on their traditional clothes. I’d say we were ‘supporting the locals’ when we bought another South American souvenir. This time a wall hanging that we will turn into a large pillow.
After a tour around the houses, we sat down for a demonstration of how these islands are built. The floating islands are made up of totora reeds, which grow on the lake. The plants develop dense roots and interweave to form a natural layer about 1-2metres thick. More reeds are added to the top layer every few months, especially in the rainy season when the reeds rot much faster. They are also anchored with either ropes attached to sticks driven into the bottom of the lake or a BIG stone used as an anchor. Following the visit to the island, we took reed boats (made from 2,000 empty water bottles and bundles of dried totora reeds) to another island which is where we ended our visit to the floating islands of Lake Titicaca.

Random fact that I have nowhere else to put – Bolivia has just closed down its one and only McDonalds as it was running at a loss for the last 10 years. Not all nations can afford food that we take for granted.

I’m unsure what day of the week it is or how many days ago we left la Paz but en route to Cuzco we stopped at the Inca Sillustani Ruins. More piles of rocks. After listening to our local guide give a detailed discussion on these rocks I thought I better had ask who the Incas were and find out what all the fuss was about, particularly since we are walking the Inca trail in two days. Basically the pre Incas and Incas were a dominant indigenous civilisation of the central Andes between 11-15th century. They left ruins that can be seen now a days. Elaborate ruins, such as Machu Picchu were impressive in their time. The ruins we visited that day were a pre- Incan burial ground on a hill overlooking Lake Umayo. More specifically, 12m white stone towers used as funeral towers to bury the dead. The masonry was ahead of its time. Every little stone and join was thought out, some having up to 12 corners. The doorway or entrance to the towers were only knee high so that whoever entered (normally the priest) would be forced to bow, going on all fours to enter, paying respects to mother earth. Some of the Inca mummies found in these ‘tombs’ were found smiling as they believed in an after life. See I can be knowledgable when it comes to the super dry subject of history.

**news flash- news flash* Dragoman gave us a ‘real cultural experience’, not once, not twice, but three times in 24 hours! Firstly, we used local transportation instead of our truck to get down to Lake Titicaca. Tuk tuks in Peru are two seater trailers pulled by guys on bikes. Our bike riding driver dude had sounds pumping and his horn was a police siren. Secondly, on the way back from the Sillustani ruins, we visited a locals house. It was sort of like mud house with dirt and stone floors. Alpacas and Llamas roamed the small property and local food was served to us. Clay and potatoes, cheeses and maize. I thought our local guide said mice, but it tasted like maize so it was all good. Clay tasted just like it should, clay like. Thirdly, we stopped on the side of the road for some kancacho. The local ladies travel from restaurant to restaurant with a colourful blanket tied around their shoulders and over their backs. Within the colourful blankets was a cooked sheep wrapped in paper and some boiled potatoes. We each ordered a plate of kancacho for lunch but didn’t finish it as our tummies haven’t been 100% of late. Not to mention the last time Dave ate street lamb, in India, he was violently sick for days. There are 2000 varieties of potatoes in Peru, we have now eaten one.
Dragoman’s defence to the lack of cultural experiences to date is that Argentina and Brazil are more western. In Peru and Bolivia the diversity is more obvious. It’s a fair call, it may not be as easy but every country in this world has a culture. The cultural experiences mentioned have been so simple, using local transport, visiting locals houses and eating street food.

Twelve hours after leaving the hotel that morning we finally arrived into Cuzco.
Cuzco stands at the head of the Sacred Valley of the Incas and was once an ancient capital, founded in AD 1100. For me I’ll remember the drive in. The roads of Cuzco are ridiculously narrow, just wide enough for a car. But we were in a truck. The ‘beepy’ drivers could, nearly, be compared to those in Asia. Our brilliant driver managed to do a 20 point turn down roads that would make your hair stand on end ….. only using the
F word every second word.

Cusco – South Americas most beautiful city. The town square has three grand churches, all with elaborate stone work. Narrow cobbled streets lead to shops full of goodies. The Inca Trek starts in one day so we went out for one last supper, caramelised banana pancakes. A dinner of champions! The 4 day Inca Trek notes said we had to prepare, physically, months in advance. As we hadn’t done such a thing, the last day was spent sleeping. Let the journey begin…

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