Lake Titicaca

HA! It's just funny to write, say, think about. Hee, hee!

Anyway, at 3810 meters above sea level, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world. The deepest point is 284 meters. The lake is shared by Perú and Bolivia, Perúvians saying it's 60% Perúvian, Bolivians claiming it's 63% Bolivian. Always a border dispute here!

On a boat out of the harbor, reeds grow out of sediment in the water, sort of swamp-like. We visited Las Islas Flotantes first, the floating islands. And it's no joke. The Uros people tie pieces of earth that the reeds grow out of together, cut the reeds off and lay them flat on top of the earth. The reeds decompose repidly so a new layer is put down every 15 days. We went to two islands and it's wild. You step onto the ground and it moves. Kind of like a moonwalk, only crunchy. The sections are anchored together with sticks and ropes. And in the event that you marry, or just decide to move to another community, you simply pull out the anchors that grounded you and float to the island of your choice. The first island was home to 7 families, grandparents, uncles, children. No pets. Just birds, reeds, water and handicrafts. They eat the reeds as well, peeling the root like a banana. It's crisp like celery just a little softer, green on the outside, white on the inside. I thought of Venice, only it's a tad bit more rudimentary. Incredible. They live a simple life, no electricity, cooking over fires. Solar panels were donated to the people by Yurimoto years back so that the islands would be opened up to tourists. I worry, though, that the people don't see half the money agencies collect to run the tours to the islands.

Next onto la Isla Taquile, it's an island of Quechua, the same who inhabited Machu Picchu and are still prominent in Perú. They took on Castellano attire once the Spanish invaded and live in a paradise on a mountain island in the middle of the lake. A vegetarian culture, the average life expectancy is 80 years. The men knit, the women weave, and all in brilliant colors. If you don't know how to knit perfectly as a man, you can't marry.

The people of both islands openly admit that they live off of tourism. The sale of their handmade goods support the communities. There must have been at least 50 tourists there today in the time that I visited. Hopefully, all contributed in some way.

I ate lunch with 4 Italians and 2 Costa Ricans. I was the only American. Hmm.