Thursday, November 17, 2011

Peru - Lake Titicaca

Remnants of the recent election
It has been a tough couple of months so I haven't felt like blogging much but I wanted to write about our trip to Peru before I forget all the little details that very often make the journey. 
We started off our journey at Puno, Lake Titicaca and stayed at the Casa Andina private collection. The hotel sits right on the Lake with an unbelievable view every morning and the service was exceptional (something I noticed throughout Peru).


Globalization

The view from our hotel
 We met Alex, a German living in Peru for a few years working with a non profit organization Brot fur die welt and enjoyed a lovely Peruvian meal (with more pisco sours than I care to admit to) and great conversation. He clued us in to all things Peru (like how never to accept a 200 sol note - its apparently almost always fake!).



The next morning, our first stop was the floating islands of Uros. While extremely tourist-y the whole set up was still quite beautiful - mustard reeds and the cerulean waters of the lake made for a potent combination.
There are a number of boats that will take you out to these islands (42 of them) built on strong floating reeds.
On each of these islands there are anywhere between 3 and 10 families that live in little huts equipped with electricity and cable television.
The water was so inviting, I seriously considered diving off the boat


Spot the solar panel and the kite!
Our next stop was Taquile island, about three hours by boat away from the mainland. The island is known for its handwoven textile art and interestingly the knitting is done predominantly by males while the women make yarn and weave. The hilly island was originally used as a prison in colonial Spain. Like most of Peru, the colors are just intensely vivid and beautiful - there is no other way for me to describe it. 

le sigh


Most of the island's population lives close to or around the summit and on our short trek up, we found a lot of men, women and children carrying heavy loads from the boats up to their homes. From what I understand,  heights are considered sacred to the Quecha people and have historically also offered a form of defense against invaders.



When I look at these snaps, it feels like a dream that we were even there - I think partly it was the colors - they seemed unreal to me.

We spent the afternoon walking around the island and enjoyed a delicious lunch with one of the families on the island. We had Quinoa soup, home made bread and freshly caught trout, rounded off with a cup of hot coca tea.
The flavors were so simple yet the meal was one of the tastiest I have ever had.

Boiled veggies, potatoes, trout and rice


Coca tea


:)







2 comments:

SK said...

Wow...this one is awesome as well...so either the place is really good, or the photographer, or may be both..:)

Shreya said...

Hahah :)
Thank you for your comment.
I think its the former - I just had to point and click, I could literally do no wrong with the camera!