10th July 2012: Taquille Island

Pancake breakfast at 7. By now, there seems to be an emerging pattern: head of family would sit at the table with me, whilst the others, would eat in the wood smoke filled kitchen, sitting on the floor. One of my fellow travellers also reported the same thing on their side

Despite my nonexistent Spanish and Quechua, managed to gather that both Juan and Maria are 60 yrs old. They do look much older, probably due to the harsh high altitude sun and the hard work in the field. 

There's also a toddler, a younger woman and a much older woman. There was also a 115 yr old woman in one of the other guest houses, and she was reported as being 'super agile and swift'...!!!

Something I have not yet mentioned, is that there is no running water. toilet is a small metal cubicle in the garden. The door closer is just a counter weight on a pulley. As everywhere else on the island, there is no lock on. the door...!!! At the business end of the ...business... is a ceramic sit down bowl. Bucket of water is provided to flush the bowl once the deal is done, and toilet paper is collected separately in another disposal box. Trust me, not very pleasant when you have to go to the loo in the middle of the very cold night!!!!

Back to my trip, I give my thanks and good byes to my generous hosts, and we catch a boat to the neighbouring Taquille island, named after one of the original Spanish settlers there. The island itself is very hilly. As on Amantani Is, no cars on the island. we are dropped off at one small harbour, and are meant to climb some 500 steps, from which point it's an undulating terrain round the island. Boat is meant to pick us up later during the day at another harbour.

The views??? S T U N N I N G . . . ! ! ! ! And just like yesterday, not even the slightest hint of cloud on the deep blue sky.
I hope I have managed to to this place justice with my photos.

We have nice lunch on an elevated point in what would qualify as a 'maison d'hote', overlooking the bay that houses the second harbour, from which we are meant to be picked up. during lunch, our guide explains some of the customs of the islands. quick fun facts in no specific order:
1. Married men wear a reddish patterned hat, whilst single men wear a two toned hat (bottom and top half different colours). Their first hat is gifted to them by their father, who also teaches them how to knit. All Subsequent singles men's hats are self made...   

2. the island seems to be very well managed by a troop of officials who are the only people authorised to wear the super bright multi coloured hats. these officials are elected every year, after a thorough family background check. They receive no remuneration during their year of service.

3. this is a closely knit community, where everyone helps each other out. they all help out when someone needs to have a house built for e.g.
4. women wear anywhere from 3 to 5 layers of skirts. Bright coloured skirts= single women, dark coloured skirts= married women
5. the married inhabitants of the island walk around with a small bright pouch (gifted by their respective wives) containing cocoa leaves. Instead of our simple hand shakes or kisses, the locals exchange cocoa leaves as a form of greeting.
6. everyone on the island knits. from small toddlers to old men and women...Everyone knits...!!!!
7. men and women stay together for a yr+ before they get married. during this time, the woman grows her hair, which is cut to just below shoulder length before the marriage. The chopped locks are then gifted to the soon to be hubbie, who integrates them into a two alternating toned scarf. These scarves are analogous to the wedding rings that we all know, and obviously, there is an equivalent scarf for the women, albeit no hair in those.
8. from 1. above, a married man can wear a single man's hat, provided he carries with him the bright coloured pouch gifted by his wife in 5.
9. Whilst everywhere on the mainland where the vegetation is burnt out due to the dry winter, the evaporation around lake Titicaca creates a moist micro climate that allows even some flowers to blossom on Taquille island.

Peru National Flower

after lunch, we head down a very steep set of steps down to the harbour, where our boat takes us on a 3 hour trip back to Puno.
Shower, quick dinner, check emails, update fb and sleep.
Woke up at 2.30 am, after nearly 7 hours of sleep. posting this update...
today will be pretty uneventful. just take a direct bus back to Cuzco where am meant to meet up with cuz Sarah.