TAQUILE ISLAND, PERU

           Interesting Island and Culture

Taquile is a fascinating real island as opposed to the floating islands seen in Lake Titicaca. The island,  about 3 ½ miles long, has several hills with Inca terracing and small ruins at the top. The scenery was beautiful with the deep earthy hills contrasting with the intense blue of the lake .  Add the backdrop of the mountains and the result was breathtaking!

The people speak Quechua rather than Aymara. The people have a strong sense of identity, rarely marrying non-Taquile people. There are no roads on the island, thus no vehicles, not even bicycles, and for some reason, no dogs. Electricity came to the island in 1990, but it is not available everywhere. The islanders own all the boats for transport, therefore keeping tight control on tourism levels.

The trail up to the main square was a long, winding, rocky path half-way around the island. It took about an hour to navigate the path up.    Women wear many layered skirts and intricately embroidered blouses. The men wear tightly woven woolen caps, and are often seen walking around the island knitting. Red hats signal the man is single, a red and white one that he is married. The women weave the elegant waistcoats the men wear. Under the waistcoat  a rough spun white shirt  is worn  all of which tops thick calf-length black pants. These people continue to live the cooperative lifestyle of their ancestors.

            It seems as if one is never idle. The men knit, the women all were hand-spinning yarn from wool carried on the hip in a cloth sack. Each seemed to have a different color wool, so it must be dyed raw, before spinning. It was a fascinating sight to observe.

          We had lunch on the island, and it was a pleasant surprise to find the Inca Cola well chilled. The vegetable soup was hearty and good. The rest of the meal was so so. There were 3-4 restaurants on the square, a small shop selling candy, film, and TP, and a craft shop selling knit goods.

Getting back to the bottom of the island and the boat was a trek down 550 steps. I didn’t count them, but I believe there were as many as we were told!

It was a long 3-hour ride back to Puno by boat. The lake was quite rough with a lot of white caps, apparently usual for that time day. When we did arrive back at the dock, we all got in a waiting mini-bus for a ride to the central square. At that point we knew our way to the hotel.

A CUBAN HERO

Che Guevara Memorial

Because of a schedule change and being in the neighborhood we visited the Che Guevara Mausoleum at Revolution Plaza. The memorial site is large and spans both sides of the road.  Stone bleacher/ steps lead to the top of the mausoleum.. At the top is a bigger than life bronze statue of Che holding his rifle. Armed guards surrounded the statue as if Che might suddenly come alive. Across the street is all plaza. I suppose one could say Che is looking down upon and protecting the plaza.

This was the only time we encountered armed guards who were argumentative. They argued with our guide and the gest of the conversation was that NO cameras were allowed inside, and no leaving them in your pocket! So we loaded her down with all our cameras to walk back to the bus with them.

Then there was some question about our entering the mausoleum, but eventually that was solved. The inside of the mausoleum was beautiful with granite walls, beautiful wood ceiling, and stone floor. Che’s body, discovered in Bolivia, was returned and entombed here in 1997.

Other rebels who died in Che’s army during the last stand are also buried there. It was very quiet inside. Leaving the tomb one flowed out onto an attractive foyer where our one ugly American started complaining loudly. The guide informed her we were to remain quiet. The museum was not open.

It was an interesting visit and the only time in two weeks that we ran into any opposition or saw obvious armed guards.