PUNO, PERU

                                A High Altitude City

         Puno, located at the southeastern highlands on the shores of Lake Titicaca, turned out to be a rather uninteresting town, although the population is 80,000. The business part of the city is on level ground, albeit at 12,500-feet. The residential areas run up the hillsides all the way around the town. Puno, capitol of the province of the same name, is folklore capitol of Peru. Inhabitants call themselves children of the sacred lake.

     Titi means puma, and caca means stone. The Incas thought the lake was shaped somewhat like a puma. Lake Titicaca, located between Peru and Bolivia is the largest lake in South America, and the world, over 2000-meters (6500’). Needless to say the air is clear, and the lake water is a deep blue. The sunlight shining on the altiplano is luminescent, and the horizon seems endless.

      Puno, the major port on the Peru side of the lake, was founded in 1668 near the now defunct silver mine called Layakota. Except for the cathedral, there are few colonial buildings. The sun is very strong by day, and nights are very cold.

At the waterfront we boarded a small boat to get out to the floating islands. There were 8 life jackets, and 12 of us. But that was no concern to anyone, the driver just gave out the 8 jackets and then quit. On the way back we never even saw a lifejacket! Rules are a little lax at this altitude.

We slowly motored through a lot a bright green algae, and through a cut in the reeds on the calm mirror-like lake to the pickup point for the guide.

The major attraction in Puno is the Uros people and their Floating Islands which are 5-15 miles off shore. Even though it is a bit over commercialized, it is popular because it is different from anything else in the world.

Because of intermarriage with Aymara-speaking Indians, there are no pure blooded Uros left. The original language is lost and they now speak Aymara. Always a small tribe, the Uros began their unusual floating existence centuries ago to isolate themselves from the Collas and Incas. There are only 160 people living on the islands today, with 1600 more living in Puno. The attractions of shore life beckons the young.   

      Heavy rains caused some arthritic-like problems, so now the Uros people arrive on the islands early morning with their wares and leave for Puno about 4:00 PM. It is all a commercial venture, but a very different life style. Only 3-4 people actually stay on the islands at night.

The lives of the Uros are totally interwoven with the totora reeds that grow in the shallow waters of Lake Titicaca. The floating islands are made of many layers of reeds. As the reeds on the bottom rot, new reeds are added to the top layer, so the islands are a bit soft and spongy.  Walking on the islands was sort of like walking on a waterbed. The biggest of the islands contains several buildings including a school. Another island had a small one-room museum.

       The totora reeds are also used to build a canoe–type boat. These picturesque boats last a family about six months for transportation and fishing. We rode in one of the boats between two islands. I’m sure the boats are more stable than we thought, but tippy like a canoe, we sat very still during the passage, as none of us wanted to land in the cold water. These boats have been built since 1445.

      It was an interesting day with new adventures and insight to a very different culture.

See posts Jan 25,2012 Taquile Island  & Aug 19  2012 Puno.