Staying in the home of an Amantani islander, Elaria, was a humbling experience: dirt-floored kitchen, tiny wood stove, no running water, but a very big heart.
Our hostess was Quechua, and Spanish was her second language. Since Spanish is, like, our sixth language, communication was basic, simple sentences. It's amazing, though, how much we could communicate in our different tongues.
Elaria fed us lunch, dinner and breakfast, gave us local garb so we could join the community dance at the "discotheque," and essentially showed us what it's like to live in this remote part of the world. We brought rice, sugar, noodles and a fresh pineapple from Puno to give to her. She was delighted with the pineapple, cradling it and saying "muy rica."
This morning, our boat took us to Taquile Island, where we walked about a mile and a half across the island, stopping in the main square for lunch and stopping every few hundred feet to marvel at the views.
We returned this afternoon to Puno, bought bus tickets for tomorrow morning to Copacabana, Bolivia, went to dinner on the main plaza (and had the best "view seats" in the city), and settled into our comfy hotel, the Casona Colon.
Copacabana isn't Barry Manilow's Copa. It's the jumping off point to visit Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. We're not sure what to expect in terms of wi-fi access, so it may be a couple more days until we're able to post again.
Until we are able to log on again, here are some pix from the past couple of days.
This woman invited us into her home on the "floating islands" of Uros on Lake Titicaca. The islands are ingeniously bundled reeds that support entire communities. Interesting that they have solar panels that enable TV, radio and Internet.
Karen loves being around water. Here, she's on her way to Amantani Island, where we''ll be staying with a local islander.
Here's our Amantani hostess, Elaria, fixing us lunch of fried cheese, quinoa soup and potatoes.
This is the view from our room at Elaria's.
This was our mud-bricked home for the night.
The local Amantani women (and a son), both knitting and gossiping.
Sunset from the Pachamama temple at the top of Amantani Island, with the Cordillera Oriente in the distance.
Still at the Pachamama Temple, just looking a different direction.
Elaria dressed us in local garb and lead us by flashlight on the trails to the local community center, or what they call their "discotheque." No, convertible pants and hiking boots are NOT part of the local garb.
Taquile Island has lots of these arches all over. But this one was the most interesting. That's Amantani in the distance.
From the top of Taquile Island.
Back in Puno, this was the view from our alcove table at dinner.
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