Travel – Page 4 – Deidre Adams

Peru, Part 6 – Taquile

Our visit to Taquile Island was without a doubt one of the standout highlights of the trip. This small island has a population of about 2,200 people – fewer than our local high school. They are an indigenous people, marrying almost completely within the community, and the entire population shares nine surnames(1). Family and community are very important. The lifestyle is simple, consisting mostly of farming, with production of handmade textiles and tourism as sources of income. Most of the residents speak mainly Quechua, with Spanish being secondary. Electricity is somewhat of a luxury, but it’s becoming more common now with the availability of solar panels. Many of the residents don’t have running water in their homes and have to go each day to public spigots to fill large containers.

(NOTE: This is not the place to come if you aren’t open to doing without a few of your accustomed creature comforts or if you don’t like hiking.)

The island is a series of hills, and there are no roads or motorized vehicles. All people, animals, and goods that come or go do so via boats which dock at one of two main areas. (I never saw any boats larger than this one.) Anything that doesn’t walk must be carried up or down the steep hillside between the docks and the populated areas.

This man is carrying about 4 cases of beer in bottles, presumably to be consumed by tourists in one of the small restaurants.

When we first arrived, the walk up the hill with our belongings was done very slowly, as the high altitude can make things difficult for those who are not fully acclimatized. Although it wasn’t far at all, it probably took us 20-30 minutes to walk to our destination.

Most of the accommodations consist of homestays, in which you are lodging with a family. In our case, it turned out to be more like a boarding house, in a complex which at one time was used as a prison but is now owned by a local family. The accommodations include breakfast, and we also had our dinners there at a very reasonable price. The rooms are very basic, no frills, and no heat. Baños are out back behind the kitchen, but you do get a chamber pot in your room in case you don’t want to take a walk at night. Do bring a flashlight! Nights can get pretty cold, so each bed is made up with several very heavy blankets. (Note: Be sure to watch your head when going in or out of the room!)

The family didn’t really interact with us much other than serving meals, but there were a couple of members who made themselves a little more visible:

The island has a central square with a couple of restaurants, some small convenience stores, a municipal office or two, and a large two-story warehouse where you can shop for local hand-woven and hand-knitted items. Late morning and afternoon, this plaza is full of tourists who come just for the day, as well as people visiting from other islands nearby. Each local area has its own style of dress, and with enough experience, a person could learn to identify someone’s place of origin just by how they are dressed. While women from other areas wear distinctive types of hats, Taquile women’s headwear consists of long black shawls, and they wear several layers of heavy gathered skirts that make them look larger than they actually are.

If you consider visiting, I would recommend at least one overnight, as it’s not worth doing it as a day trip. (See this entertaining review from travelj60, who would no doubt concur with my assessment.) We spent two nights, giving us one full and two partial days for exploring. You can walk all over the island on meandering, interconnecting pathways and trails, and some of it does get rather strenuous. The first day, we set out for a high point of the island in search of one of their famous beautiful sunsets. In the end, the clouds defeated our plans, but we did get to see some spectacular skies and some Inca ruins.

In the doorway of one ancient structure, César demonstrates the proper burial position for a deceased Inca VIP

For detailed information on Taquile textile traditions and dress, I recommend this informative article from Berg Fashion Library. But I will just briefly mention the sandals worn by most of the residents, which are made from recycled rubber tires and are purchased off the island – usually in Puno. For those who are into recycling and sustainability, you’ll like this method of making a utilitarian gate hinge, which I saw in use more than once on the island:

Now for anyone who’s still with me at this point, I shall leave you with a couple of abstractions, just because that’s kinda’ my thing.

(1) Textile Arts of Taquile Island, Peru

November 19th, 2012|Travel|2 Comments

Peru, Part 5 – Puno & Lake Titicaca

Puno is a city of about 100,000 people at the edge of Lake Titicaca, which is the reason most tourists have for visiting it. We arrived there in the late afternoon, so we didn’t get to spend a lot of time exploring, but what we did see of it was lovely.

Our hotel was near the central plaza with its cathedral, and when we went inside, we saw they were in the midst of preparing for something, with lots of flowers next to the pews – we thought maybe a wedding. There was also lots of activity out front, with people setting up speakers and some kind of display. We later learned that it was preparation for the festivities to be held that evening for the Lord of the Miracles festival. This is a very big deal in Lima but is celebrated in other Peruvian cities and towns as well.

[El Señor de los Milagros festival] celebrates a 350-year-old mural of the Lord of Miracles (Christ). Painted by a freed slave, the fresco has survived vindictive authorities, bumbling workmen and three earthquakes. The first procession took place in 1687, when an earthquake obliterated the chapel that housed the portrait, leaving only the altar and the miraculous mural. (Lonely Planet)

Walking the narrow, busy streets in Puno can be a challenge, as the sidewalks are often too narrow for two people to pass. Be sure to look for traffic before stepping out into the street!

We woke early the next day for our ride to the marina via bicycle taxi (trishaw?), one of the more fun ways to get around in Puno. The rider-drivers are quite resourceful and can get you to your destination quickly even if they have to find a way around a traffic jam.

Susan and Joann enjoy the ride.

We were headed this day for Taquile Island, a small (3.5 x 1.4 miles) island in Lake Titicaca, which is accessed via a 2.5-hour boat ride. It’s not the most exciting ride you’ll ever take, but sitting on top does give you some magnificent views of the lake and surrounding shoreline.

Puno recedes in the distance as the boat heads away:

Lake Titicaca (a name that gave rise to endless hysterics when we were kids) straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia. A local joke has it that “The Titi is for Peru, the caca is for Bolivia.” The Bolivians, of course, reverse it. The lake is 120 miles long X 50 miles wide, and at an elevation of 12,500 feet (3,800 meters), it is the highest lake of this size in the world.

On the way to Taquile, the boat stopped for a visit to the Islas Uros, a group of more than 40 manmade floating islands first developed centuries ago by the Uros people to escape hostile cultures on the mainland. Their way of life is still very traditional, involving heavy use of the reeds for food, fuel, and building materials. They make a living from fishing and tourism, and our visit included an educational session to learn how the islands are made from the reeds as well as other details of day-to-day life on the islands. Plus, of course, an opportunity to purchase the locally made artwork and handicrafts.

November 11th, 2012|Travel|Comments Off

Peru, Part 4 – Cañón del Colca

The Cañón del Colca (Colca Canyon), is the 2nd deepest canyon in the world – the first is Cañón del Cotahuasi, also in Peru. Both are more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the U.S. Our itinery included a drive through canyon country, with spectacular views of the terraces painstakingly created to adapt this mountainous terrain for farming, many of them dating back hundreds of years and still in use today. This is truly picture-postcard country.

Our first stop was in the village of Maca for a baño break and to see the local vendors. This was my first introduction to the practice of buying a photo op. For the measly price of 1 Peruvian nuevo sol (about 40 cents), the seller will pose for you with whatever interesting clothing, animal, or child that they happen to be offering. This gentleman had a lovely eagle, which I was more than happy to photograph, until I learned he had something even better – a chance to have your own photograph taken with his willing model.

Our guide César also took a turn:

Maca also has a beautiful Spanish colonial era church, Santa Ana de Maca, with an interior featuring intricate gilded carving and folk-art sculpture of saints. The church was heavily damaged in an earthquake in 1991, but it was restored. If you look closely, you can see that the bell towers don’t quite match. (Click image for full view.)

Our next stop was to see a group of pre-Inca tombs built into the rock face of one of the mountains. These tombs were made for important people and were built high up on the mountain so that they could be as close to the gods as possible. Many of these tombs were discovered in modern times after periods of heavy rains when the structures would fail and bones and other items buried with the person would be washed down to the bottom of the mountain. Other holes in the mountainside were used as storage for potatoes and other crops, and this is how the canyon got its name. Colca is “granary” or “storeroom” in Spanish.

Our canyon tour culminated with a visit to Cruz del Condor to watch for these majestic members of the vulture family enjoying their flights on the thermals created by updrafts from the canyon below. I didn’t get a good photo of a condor because they were so far away, but here’s a view of the picturesque canyon with some of the many tourists who have come to see them:

Then we turned around and headed for Puno, through yet more scenic country – some of which was surprisingly reminiscent of a drive we took around the Great Salt Lake region in Utah a couple of years ago.

In this desolate landscape, the places where the tour buses and vans stop feature a prodigious number of cairns. Here we see Joe making his contribution.