We continued our climb to more
than 15,000 ft driving thru our first snow blizzard of the Andes. This was the real test of the coca leaves and
so far so good, altho both Jerie and Gary felt some affects of the high
altitude by way of minor headaches. John
and Kaija suffered no effects as they were on a schedule of Ibuprofen. We recommend a dosage of 1200 mg daily.
We arrived in Puno early
evening. Next morning we were on a half day
tour which included the Puno’s main Cathedral, and a visit to the Mv Yavari on
Lake Titicaca.
The much beloved Mv Yavari is
the oldest steamship on Lake Titicaca.
In 1862 the Yavari and its sister ship, the Yapura, were built in
Birmingham, England, of iron parts-a total of 2,766 for the two vessels. These were shipped around Cape Horn to Arica,
in what is now northern Chile, from where they were moved by train to Tacna,
before being hauled by mule over the Andes to Puno-an incredible undertaking
that took six years to complete.
The ships were assembled in
Puno and the Yavari was launched on Christmas day 1870. The Yapura was later renamed the BAP Puno and
became a Peruvian Navy Medical ship; it can still be seen in Puno. Both had coal-powered steam engines, but due
to a shortage of coal, the engines were fueled with dry Llama dung! In 1914 the Yavari was further modified with
a unique Bolinder 4-cylinder, hot-bulb, semi diesel engine that today, looks like a work
of art with all its brass and bronze polished to a mirror finish. In 1982 Meriel Larken decided formed the
Yavari project to buy and restore the vessel.
In 1986 Prince Phillip joined in support of this venture using his best
efforts to engage other philanthropic individuals to assist in this
effort. In 1999 the Yavari left Port
under her own power for the first time in nearly half a century.
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MV Yavari
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After our tour of the Yavari,
we strolled thru a festive bazaar honoring the God of Plenty. This festival is for people to purchase miniatures
of those items they dream of possessing...the Peruvian version of ‘visualizing’
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Puno God of Plenty
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Next morning we departed via
launcha onto Lake Titicaca, the highest fresh water lake on Earth, for the Uros
islands, inhabited by descendants of the Aymaras that build their houses over
floating artificial islands. The islands
are built by using the buoyant totora reeds that grow abundantly in the
shallows of the lake. The lives of the Uros people are interwoven with these
reeds, which are partially edible (tasting like hearts of Palm) and are also
used to make their homes, their boats and crafts they churn out for the
tourists.
The islands are constructed
from many layers of the totora, which are constantly replenished from the top
as they rot from the bottom, so the ground is always soft and springy.
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Uros reed Island, reed boat and local handicraft
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...then we traveled on to
Isla Taquile. Inhabited for thousands of
years, 35 km east of Puno it is a tiny 7 sq km island with a population of
about 2,000 people.
To visit the village center
you must climb a stairway of more than 500 steps from the dock. The climb takes a breathless 20 minutes if
you are acclimatized-more if you are not.
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500 steps to the top of Isla Taquile
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Taquile has a fascinating
tradition of handicrafts, and the islanders creations are made according to a
system of deeply ingrained social customs.
Men wear tightly woven woolen hats that resemble floppy night caps,
which they knit themselves. These hats
are closely bound up with social symbolism; men wear red hats if they are
married and red and white hats if they are single, and different colors can
denote a man’s current or past social position.
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Isla Taquile married man - the hat says it all!
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After a lengthy launcha ride back
to Puno, we enjoyed a fine meal at a local restaurant...and after a day full of
fresh air and exercise we had no problems getting to sleep that night.
Early the next morning we
departed on the Inca Express for Cusco.
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