Islands that float
From La Paz, we travelled over the border into Peru and stopped at the town of Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. We were lucky to make it at all in fact due to Graham’s phone changing to Peruvian time while we were waiting on a connecting bus on the Bolivian side of the border.
The main attraction in Puno are the floating islands in Lake Titicaca. The closest ones to the city are the Uros islands, of which there are 42, inhabited by the Uru people. The islands are made entirely from totora reeds. The roots interweave to form the base of the island. Blocks of the roots are secured together using an elastic rope and these blocks are then anchored to the bottom of the lake with long sticks. Layers and layers of reeds are added to the top of the island every 15 days as they start rotting away. The houses are also made of reeds. The reeds dry out very quickly so none of the inhabitants are smokers!
Around four families live on each island. There is also a school island, a floating hospital and a few restaurants. The Uru people rely on the lake for their survival, although tourism is becoming their main occupation these days.
We were shown inside one of the very basic houses and tried on some of the traditional clothes. As the owner of our hostel said, the islanders are all ‘sturdy’ people. It gets very cold at times there and they have no heating or insulation.
Apparently this chap is a ‘pet’
We got a lesson in how the reed islands are made – using a cool miniature version.
Making and selling crafts is now a major occupation on the islands
One man on each island calls himself President – there are a lot of leaders in Uros! The president of the island we visited took us out on his reed boat. These boats require quite a lot of strength to row. The boats look beautiful and look like they are entirley made of reeds. However, the reed boats only last around 8 months before they rot away. The islanders have come up with an ingenious life-prolonging solution: fill the centre of the boat with hundred of plastic bottles and just make the outside with reeds. In this way the boats now last around 2.5 years.
Cooking on a floating reed island is a risky activity!
The whole experience was fascinating. However it has also become incredibly touristic. In addition to paying for the tour, you are then strongly encouraged to buy souvineers that the islanders have made. After this you are encouraged to pay for a boat trip. The local children then join the boat trip, sing a song and beg for money. I really didn’t mind buying some souvineers and paying for the boat trip, but I really disliked the children being encouraged to beg. It seems like such a bad thing to teach children.
