Punno, Peru
Before I even got off the bus I already booked a boat tour for the floating islands, my stay for the night and the bus to Cusco. Wow that was easy. Those Peruvians really have it figured out.
Punno is the Peruvian city off the coast of Lake Titikaka. It is most well known for the floating islands. The floating islands are artificial islands made by the Incas. They made the islands out of reeds from the lake. They are really quite amazing. They built houses and other building on these islands. There are communities of over 2,500 people on these islands. Mind blowing!
So I took a boat with what seemed like me and 50 Israelis (This is very common in South America). The boat toured us through a whole bunch of the floating islands. We checked out their houses and saw some very interesting bird wildlife that are pretty much pets of the local Incas. They also made boats out of the reeds and some other materials. They were pretty gnarly looking. Somethng you´d see out of a cartoon in the Amazon.
After surviving the barrage of locals trying to sell you everything imaginable, the boat dropped me off in the island I would be staying at. It was in a hut that had a queen mattress resting on a pile of reeds. It was really cool, the more rustic, the better. The only problem was I was the only one staying that night. It was cool though because I met a bunch of people at dinner from a later tour. After I talked with one of the workers for a couple hours. It was quite the Spanish crash course. He tried to convince me to trade my jacket for his old ass green jacket. Heeeeell no, I´m not giving away certified Kicking Horse quality.
I woke up early the next morning to a shooting of a Peruvian music video. Oh man, that was hilarious. If you ever come to Peru, you will really see how different Cumbia is from Western music. I find quite funny, well, except when the same CD is played over and over for three days straight in a tour. Anyhoo, the band was called Golf +10. I´m pretty sure they had no clue what that meant. It was 5 guy and one girl. The guys would dance with giant vases behind the girl who was lip sinking the music. I really want to see the final version of the music video, it would be sooo over the top.
So after that incredible show, I jumped on a boat to Tequila. This island was actually a natural island where a specific local Inca tribe lived. They had their own traditions, clothing and ceremonies different from the other Inca tribes. They all wore tuques symbolising their marital status and their rank in society. If a man wore a rainbow coloured tuque it meant he was amongst the leaders of the island. They also showed us one of their traditional dances that representing the knitting of the clothing. Apparently, the men did all the knitting on that island. Go figure, I suck at knitting. I would not fit in. The island itself was very beautiful and scenic. It had the same style of agriculture on the land as Isla del Sol. The scenery was amazing. It had a 360 degree view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. Overall, and amazing sight and a great tour. I hope all the old people on the same tour enjoyed it even though they were dying from the elevation.
After lunch we took the 500 steps down to the boat and headed back to Punno where I caught a bus to Cusco. I´ve heard so much about Cusco. Bring it on!
Punno is the Peruvian city off the coast of Lake Titikaka. It is most well known for the floating islands. The floating islands are artificial islands made by the Incas. They made the islands out of reeds from the lake. They are really quite amazing. They built houses and other building on these islands. There are communities of over 2,500 people on these islands. Mind blowing!
So I took a boat with what seemed like me and 50 Israelis (This is very common in South America). The boat toured us through a whole bunch of the floating islands. We checked out their houses and saw some very interesting bird wildlife that are pretty much pets of the local Incas. They also made boats out of the reeds and some other materials. They were pretty gnarly looking. Somethng you´d see out of a cartoon in the Amazon.
After surviving the barrage of locals trying to sell you everything imaginable, the boat dropped me off in the island I would be staying at. It was in a hut that had a queen mattress resting on a pile of reeds. It was really cool, the more rustic, the better. The only problem was I was the only one staying that night. It was cool though because I met a bunch of people at dinner from a later tour. After I talked with one of the workers for a couple hours. It was quite the Spanish crash course. He tried to convince me to trade my jacket for his old ass green jacket. Heeeeell no, I´m not giving away certified Kicking Horse quality.
I woke up early the next morning to a shooting of a Peruvian music video. Oh man, that was hilarious. If you ever come to Peru, you will really see how different Cumbia is from Western music. I find quite funny, well, except when the same CD is played over and over for three days straight in a tour. Anyhoo, the band was called Golf +10. I´m pretty sure they had no clue what that meant. It was 5 guy and one girl. The guys would dance with giant vases behind the girl who was lip sinking the music. I really want to see the final version of the music video, it would be sooo over the top.
So after that incredible show, I jumped on a boat to Tequila. This island was actually a natural island where a specific local Inca tribe lived. They had their own traditions, clothing and ceremonies different from the other Inca tribes. They all wore tuques symbolising their marital status and their rank in society. If a man wore a rainbow coloured tuque it meant he was amongst the leaders of the island. They also showed us one of their traditional dances that representing the knitting of the clothing. Apparently, the men did all the knitting on that island. Go figure, I suck at knitting. I would not fit in. The island itself was very beautiful and scenic. It had the same style of agriculture on the land as Isla del Sol. The scenery was amazing. It had a 360 degree view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. Overall, and amazing sight and a great tour. I hope all the old people on the same tour enjoyed it even though they were dying from the elevation.
After lunch we took the 500 steps down to the boat and headed back to Punno where I caught a bus to Cusco. I´ve heard so much about Cusco. Bring it on!
posted by Kean @ 4:43 PM
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