Lake Titicaca

Uros islands It was another early morning! We were picked up for our tour at 645am!! So we were up at 515am to get ready and have time for breakfast too. It was a great breakfast too.... Bread with cheese and avocado and some quinoa and puffed wheat with strawberry yogurt.  We've met some fellow Canadians on our tour, they're both from Moncton, first Canadians we've met.  I'm writing this from our boat heading back to Puno... It's a long ride. Lake Titicaca is no small lake! It's 165km long and 60km wide, and is shared with Bolivia.  Our first stop of the day was on the floating Uros Island. These are 60+ man made islands that are made out of Tortola reeds (something that sounds like that anyways). It feels like you're walking on a waterbed, and people live here! It's their home. They build their islands, houses and boats all out of the same reeds. They also eat them, we got to taste some, tastes like lettuce. We were shown a short demonstration of how their islands were made and then the women of the islands ( all dressed in bright colored skirts) showed us their houses. The house we visited was very very small. It had a simple kitchen area and a small bedroom where the family of six slept. The three young girls all shared a "bed" this was blankets in the floor and mom, dad and baby shared the other "bed". They have solar power to work their lights, radio and yes even their tv. Afterwards, Julie, took us out to see her handicrafts....the pressure to buy something was very intense and a whole lot of pressure.  Kind of takes the fun out of shopping and we felt guilty looking at tables that other families had on display. It's a very interesting culture to visit. The island we visited had six families / 25 people living there.  Our next stop was Taquille Island, the third largest island on Lake Titicaca (the biggest belongs to Bolivia). This was a 2 hour boat ride from the Uros islands.  We had to walk uphill to the main plaza, passing the men walking knitting their toques and the ladies spun wool as they walk. On this island your hat or headdress denotes your marital status. And the men knit the toques not the ladies. A red and white toque signifies that you are single, a completely red hat signifies that you are married. A very Colourful hat says that you are in leadership. For the woman they worn black shalls over their heads and if they had large Pom-poms in the corners they are single, if the Pom-poms were smaller they were married.... Not quite as subtle as a wedding band.  We had lunch on Taquille island and it was a typical meal for the locals.... Quinoa soup and trout with rice and French fries.... You get fries with ever meal here.  After lunch was a trek down the other side of the island to find our boat.... This trek was over 500 steps!  With an altitude of 4,000 meters we were all out of breath. But the scenery was absolutely beautiful! The lake is so large it's like your looking out at the ocean with islands in the distance.  We have really enjoyed Puno. We're only 5 blocks from the Plaza de Armas and most of the way is pedestrian only streets lined with restaurants and shops.  Tomorrow we are off to Cuzco!!  Cuzco is one of my all time favorite cities. The Plaza de Armas is mesmerizing, beautiful buildings all around it and so relaxing for people watching.... And I heard that they now have a Starbucks right in the plaza... Can't wait to sip my coffee and just observe.