Free Wisdom Online: Puno and Islas Flotantes

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After a long delay, I will try to pick up the story about our Andean
trip and hopefully get it finished this time.

After [crossing the border into Peru near
Copacabana](http://www.freewisdom.org/en/andes2005/entries/2006/01/11/copacabana),
we continued on a bus to Puno (another 2 or 3 hours).  Puno was
strikingly different from Bolivia.  Peru is hardly a rich country, but
in comparison to Bolivia, it felt strangely developed.  E.g., while
every other Bolivian seemed to miss about half of their teeth (partly
from chewing coca, I believe), most Peruvians we saw (in Puno as well
as later in Cusco and in Lima) seemed to have most of their missing
teeth replaced with artificial ones.  Not quite the same as having
natural teeth (as is the case for most Brazilians), but definitely a
step in the direction of "development."  A surprising number of people
spoke English, which they typically used to try to sell us something
or to lure us into their restaurants.  This constant harassment (you
literally can't make a step without someone shouting "Amigo!" to you),
has been the most annoying thing about Peru.  It seemed entertaining
for a short time but got tiresome quickly and we remembered with
nostalgia the more mellow Bolivia.

We got up early next morning and spent some time wondering around
Puno, looking at the cathedral, among other things.

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-16-a-puno-morning/20051216_008_4782
2005-12-16-a-puno-morning/20051216_005_1626
2005-12-16-a-puno-morning/20051216_006_7834
2005-12-16-a-puno-morning/20051216_007_9146
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Our main event of the day, however, was a strip to the Floating
Islands of the Uros (Islas Flotantes de los Uros).  As we've been told
by other travelers we met earlier, "It's all horribly commercialized,
but you've gotta see it because you aren't going to see anything like
this anywhere else in the world."  I think this turned out to be an
accurate description.

A few centuries ago the Uros - a small ethnic group that used to be
distinct from the majority Aymara population - decided to escape
harassment by the Spanish colonists (or, same say, by the Incas), by
moving permanently onto artificial islands floating in lake Titicaca.
The islands are constructed from local reed (called "totora"), and
require constant re-building as they rot from the bottom.  Some
people still live on the islands (in tiny reed huts), fishing and
raising local birds.  There is increasing integration with the near-by
Puno, however.  (E.g., children go to middle-school and high-school in
Puno, though there is actually an elementary school on one of the
islands.)  It was also interesting to see how some new materials are
integrated into old traditions.  E.g., the totora boats are not tied
together with nylon ropes (which dramatically increases their
longevity) and are given extra buoyancy by empty plastic bottles.
(The islands themselves are also increasingly relying on plastic
bottles for flotation.)

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_044_6459 A totora boat
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_035_9551 A boat detail
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_031_1805 The front of a boat
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_048_1445 A bundle of reeds
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_019_8835 A reed island
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_020_1213 A history lecture on the island
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_024_4702 A totora hut
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_032_4223 More islands
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_040_5135 Fenced off area for raising trout
2005-12-16-b-uros/20051216_054_8648 On the way back - the green water of Puno bay
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

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