9th July 2012: Uros and Amantani Island

set off at 8.00 am to the harbour to catch boat to Amantani island.Within the first 15 mins of the boat trip, I manage to drop one of my lens caps into the lake....!!!!!!!!!

stopover to the amazing, literally floating Uros islands. 

The people use some sort of extremely buoyant reed to build the island. The base consists of the reed roots which are literally cut using a giant hacksaw into large cubic chunks. 

The buoyancy of the reed roots is based on its ability to trap air within its cells. So these chunks of reed roots are packed and anchored together, and layers of the super light reed is stacked on top to give the 'floor' of the island. 

As the reed degrades, more reed is stacked on top.
The houses are all single room, with just 1 mattress for the whole family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now the trick question: what happens to the reed under the houses when they degrade? how are they renewed? simple, the whole house is lifted off the ground using brute human force, and new reed stacked under..!!!

A central hole can also be found on each small island, with a wiremesh net used to keep a fresh supply of live fish.

Interesting property of these small islands, is that if say, your mother in law pisses you off, you can just take your island and 'piss off' yourself, no need to endure in silence nor drama!!!...:P
Main source of income for these locals is tourism and sale of hand crafted goods I.e scarves, clothes ...

Speaking of which, one of the most striking things you notice on arrival, is the wonderfully colourful and vibrant clothes with intricate patterns the locals wear.

 Also, not a man in sight..!!!! They were prob all off to hunt, or gather reed and reed roots for the island maintenance.

Have also noted a small isolated floating mini 'pig farm'...!!!!!!!!

The reed is also used to make boats that are used by the people for anything from transport to fishing....

4 hours after our departure from Puno, we reach the beautifully terraced island of Amantani. Main economic activity on the island? agriculture...!!!duh...!!!

Greeted by the local host families, and all the visiting people are assigned to their respective hosts. Well, since I was travelling solo, I was last to be assigned, and of course, the host house...was the one furthest and highest wrt the other guest houses...!!!!
Anyone who knows me, also knows that I do tend to go overboard with gear and stuff in general. I had all my camera and hiking stuff weighed before at 14 kilos plus the 6-7 kilos that is meant to go with the porter when I go trek...!!! Need I mention that we are at 3,800 metres altitude at lake level????
We follow our host, and luckily for me, there was an old lady with an asthma condition, who also happened to be travelling solo, and assigned next to furthest guest home. She would stop every 100-200 metres to catch her breath, and it was a convenient excuse for me to do same...:P
Her host was an old lady who was knitting a head woolly hat, whilst walking on gravelly and broken terrain...!!!!amazing..!!!

Finally touch down to base, showed my room, with 3 beds, and greeted to a Peruvian lunch by Juan and Maria (my hosts). Veggie soup and an assortment of weird wood roasted root veggies that taste like potatoes, huge green beans still in their pod, and a slice of some weird cheese that was grilled on an open fire. Hot beverage was a minty sort of infusion, called Mounia...Not Michelin food, but adequate I guess given the conditions and setting.

Meet later with the other visitors, and hike up to the second highest peak of the island (pachamama) topping at arnd 300 m above lake level (we were told, need to check my gps info) for sunset...again...70-200 F4L IS...:( there's a sort of open air temple that's closed for all but 1 day of the year. I can't recall what the occasion is unfortunately.

head back down in near darkness, and the sky literally lights up like I've never ever seen before in my short life...!!!! star pics and trails, I will be back tonight..!!!

head for dinner with host family again. Pasta in some sauce, served with ....rice......!!!!:P
Quick dress up in some local clothes provided by host family, and head off to village hall for a fiesta..!!! The poncho quickly comes off, since it's impossible to take pics with that on. leave the party early, after having informed my host, via our guide, not to wait for me, since I could find my way back on my own. wonders of technology..!!!

plan was to hike all the way up the second highest peak again...stop midway to take a couple of snaps...and ohhh horror, Juan had followed me...!!! I knew I would be there for a couple hours minimum in the cold, and didn't want him to wait there for me...so I try to convince him to go back, but quickly give up... also give up the idea of hiking to the top, with Juan around...he must have asked himself why this stupid animal would just stand there in near freezing temps, just to take pics. An hour or so later, flashing lights could be seen from a distance, and Juan mentions that it was his wife signalling..!!!! he ponders for 5-10 mins, before finally deciding to leave me, not before reminding me at least 3 times, to follow the house light to get back home. It was already 10pm, and was too late by now to go to summit...:( shame... so decide to stick to current spot, and start the star trails...pretty uneventful... first time doing star trails alone, and it's not a lot of fun without fellow photogs around...An hour or so later, MOONRISE...!!!! Shit...!!! with that around, the stars literally start to vanish...:( so instead of doing 2+ hour trails, stuck with just 1...:(

Decide to follow Juan's instructions, and head straight for the house lights in a straight line, instead of relying on my old trusted gps...bad bad idea..!!! Very treacherous terrain, and I ended up having to trespass on someone else's property to join the road and make it to the house... time 11:45... time to sleep...