Amantani and Taquile

post by Carmen

We left the port of Puno early in the morning for the quietest, smoothest (and one of the slowest) boat rides I've ever experienced. Lake Titicaca is quite large, but as there seem to be many islands, there is always some shore or other in view. Ariana already spoke about our stop at the floating islands of Uro. It is, from what I could see of it, a sort of living museum. The inhabitants have chosen to let tourists visit them for the advantages it gives them, the ability to keep living as they do, isolated, in peace and with no violence. They are not, however, nearly as traditional as they appear. I saw them dress up in their "traditional clothes" shortly before we arrived, so I assume they do it mainly for tourists now.

But as this seems to be their own choice, as they do not seem exploited but quite in control of these visits, I have no problems with it.


I spent the 3 hours on our way to Amantani (35km, meaning that, on land, I could run faster than the boat traveled!) lounging upstairs in the sun (and chilly wind) chatting with a new friend we made, a young, cool guy called Nick who is on vacation between a year of teaching English in Ecuador and another in Republica Dominicana. I periodically checked on Ariana who was asleep downstairs on one of the benches. She'd been feeling fine in the morning, but as her stomach has been on a roller coaster... I was very happy for the completely flat water!

Once we arrived in Amantani, we were greeted by the families and separated among them in groups of 2 to 4. Nick came with us. We arrived at a really nice house made of adobe and built by the family itself. They brought us to a room with such a small door that even I have to duck.


At 1,60m, I am not used to having to do this, so I probably bumped my head the most of us 3. I assume that the small doors and windows are to leave as much surface area as possible to the adobe, which attracts heat from the sun, and leave as little openings for the heat to escape. We were really hungry, and I, for one, greeted lunch enthusiastically. Quinoa soup, which I am really enjoying, and a plate of varied potatoes, all of which are good but you have to get past the fact that some look like big larvae (but taste like new potatoes with the skin on), and a salad made of chopped cheese, tomatoes and onions which was delicious!

I was pleased to see Ariana eat most of her soup and get a lot of colour back. But she preferred to rest after lunch, and Nick and I went to meet the rest of the group for a fantastic (uphill and breathy) walk to the father temple, from where the sunset was fabulous! And amazingly enough, in this bleak landscape where you expect nothing, you trudge up a few last steps and there is a little cafe bar!!! Unbelievable! So we quickly got a couple of beers, chose a nice spot in the rocks, sheltered from the wind, and let ourselves be awed.




The walk down was faster, thank goodness for my headlamp (the sun does not go down here, or up, it just appears and disappears, there is no such thing as dawn or crepuscule), which I wore crooked so that it would light up in front of Nick's feet too. We met with Ariana for dinner, more soup with an omelette-covered bowl of rice decorated with french fries. Then the lady of the house dressed us up in traditional clothes and brought us to a "disco", where we all gathered, looking, as the Lonely Planet predicted, ridiculous in our clothes and hiking boots! Ariana chose to let us have all the fun, and we told her all about it when we got back, which at any rate, was not late. And anyway, I was looking forward to taking the stuff off, you can barely breathe in it!! We watched the stars, which were amazing, and then I went to sleep.

I chose to not sleep with my earplugs, my first night of doing so since arriving. Which is why it came as such a shock that none of Ariana's sprints to the bathroom woke me up! She told me that she wanted to go straight to Puno, and I went to speak with the family to see what could be arranged. Fortunately, there was a boat leaving that still had room, and Ariana, now feeling good since she had no food left in her (!!!) decided to hop on it and meet me later in Puno once I got back from Taquile. We parted with my feeling guilty, but the day before we had agreed that she would tell me what she needs and I would provide as much as possible but without being a mother hen, so since she felt well enough and since her Spanish is impeccable, I thought it was fine. Nick teased me on my guilt levels for the rest of the day.

We arrived on Taquile island about an hour after leaving Amantani, and started another uphill walk to the main village, which we were very excited to visit as it was July 25th, one of the main fiestas of the year there. The walk itself only took about a half hour, was broken up once by our guide giving us explanations on customs and the peoples of the island (population 2000), and was truly spectacular, with the lake of the bluest blue and a clear sky, with the air made even more so by the altitude (still near 4000m). Once at the village, we walked around waiting for the celebrations to start (with locally bought little oranges and another beer), and once they did, it was the most colourful gathering I have ever seen!

Groups of people dressed similarly came out one after the other, showing themselves off and playing music, an this lasted for a good 40 minutes.


Then started a mass of sorts. The last time I went to mass I also did so inadvertently, at some celebration in Prague.

This was had lots of local elements into it, and it was interesting to see the mestizaje of the catholic and traditional indigenous practices. We left before it was over to have lunch of quinoa soup (good thing I love it so much, otherwise it would get tedious, but I eat it even when I don't have to) and trout caught in the lake (and introduced, apparently, from Canada).

The walk back down the 500 steps on the other side of the island where our boat stood waiting was just as beautiful, and full of people lugging their wares and water back up from the port. They must have amazing legs, these people. Can't tell with the clothes. I fell asleep in the sun on the small deck, and so did Nick, in the middle of reading. The lake was a bit choppier, which made for nice rocking.

When I got back to the hotel, I found Ariana in bed watching tv and laughing her head off at some show. So much for my guilt! She had had a productive afternoon, and was resting after a warm shower. In the bathroom stood the little container into which she was to provide the doctor with a sample of her problems. The said samples were content to not show themselves, and so Ariana enjoyed her first dinner and restful night in a while!

Now we leave the Lake Titicaca area, and I have made sure to have the name of a reputable doctor experienced in the treatment of tourist ailments for Arequipa, our next destination!