Day 11: Titicaca II (Taquile island)

6 am. The reason why we got up so early was that there was only one motor boat going to Taquile, the much farther (from Puno) island of several we could have travelled to in the lake, at 7.30. We wanted to spend the night there with a local family, which was highly recommended by our guide book (and now by us), not only because of the great experience but also because there's only one return boat trip every day as well that will only allow you to enjoy the island for around two hours. It is not worth taking a three-hour boat trip to rush your visit to such a relaxing place.

We took a trici-taxi (tricycle taxi) to the dock, which was a fun ride, and then the local boat. We stopped again at the Uros' islands, which are on the way to Taquile, so we had the chance to enjoy the place one more time. It was nice to travel with locals and the trip turned out to be rather short for us as we basically spent the whole time crying with laughter because of a, let's say, funny technical incident.

on the boat

 

We arrived in Taquile, a very peculiar small six-kilometer islet that can be crossed from one end to the other in less than an hour, and where locals wear clothes in different colors (even the position of men's hanging woollen hats) depending on their marital status and age. Locals were already prowling around the dock, waiting for tourists willing to be hosted in their houses in exhange for a relatively modest housing fee. We had just got off the boat when a man approached us to offer his house. We didn't want to rush to a decision so we passed, and we, loaded down with our heavy backpacks, still had a nice steep climb up, which seemed to have no end especially in the heat, to find a local to provide accommodation.

When we reached the top of the hill (tongues out and trying to catch our breath), the man took for granted that we would take his offer, but we were not sure as he was very insistent and that was starting to rub us up the wrong way. A sweet shy young lady then approached us to offer her house, but the man didn't seem to like that much and he sort of told her off judging by her reaction (we don't know because they were speaking in Quechua). We felt sorry for him, but the lady won the fight over the two gringo girls and, while he went away a bit to let us think about his offer, we discreetly (or maybe not) ran away with the cheeky lady.

She lived quite a bit further up the hill, which was exhausting for us again to climb the stony path with our backpacks but we were soon happily grateful for the nice views our place offered to us. The dwelling was very humble, consisting of four smalls structures made of adobe arranged in a square with a small open area in the middle, one of them being our room, and the others the family house, a workshop and the kitchen. A girl arranged our room and when we walked into it, we saw our beds each had five blankets! (Was it really so cold here at nights?? Holly sh.....!!) Our room had a dirt floor and reeds covered the bottom half of the walls, we assume for added insulation. There was a small nightstand with a wax candle sitting atop it, which would be the only light source in the room after sundown. The simple bathroom was located across the small open area with a sink just outside (which only had water if a tub that sat above was filled from some location, unknown to us, on the islet). You would “flush” the toilet by dumping a bucket of water into the basin.

 

 

Views from our house

 

When we were finally burden-free, we easily climbed up a bit more to reach the highest point in the island to take in the views. The lake is so vast that it looks like you are stuck in the middle of an ocean.With such a sunny day, pure fresh air, a surrounding shiny deep blue lake and simple but colorful landscape, it was impossible not to feel thrilled. We could see Bolivia far in the distance (the Titicaca lake is shared by the two neighbouring countries).

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went back down to explore the island and on our way we saw a wedding celebration in the distance, where an orchestra would play the same out-of-tune rhythm non-stop. We were told by a local that weddings last a whole week! I hope the orchestra doesn't...

 

 

We went to a restaurant (probably the only one) where we were the only customers. Fortunately the island is far enough for the crowd of tourists or lazy/comfort-loving tourists who wouldn't spend the night there. We were served boiled rice and a vegetable omelette. And soup, of course! We also had hot tea of coca leaves, something we’d had elsewhere in Peru, but this also included muña - a local mint plant - such a nice touch. A simple meal but, it was delicious.

Girls in the restaurant

After a nice stroll we were back at the house. María, the young lady who was our host, her children and their great- grandmother were there (her husband, it seemed, was off for work). While María was preparing dinner for all of us, we were outside talking and playing with the ten-year-old and seven-year-old boys.

There was almost no electricity on the island, except for some scattered lights powered by small solar panels and generators, so it was very dark but charming, and the weather was turning a bit stormy. The most magical moment of the day came when we walked into the tiny kitchen to have dinner with them. They were used to foreign guests, but that didn't take away the authenticity of the moment. We were served the same meal we had for lunch (always generous portions), but the soup...¡oh, the soup! (Have I already said how heavenly they are??). They seated us by a small table with the kids and the grandma (who only spoke Quechua) at one corner and Maria sat on a sack on the dirty floor (we offered her the table, but she seemed to be fine and used to that position).

 

The grandma, as a good wise person, forecast a hailstorm, which eventually started to come down after dinner. It seemed so strange to see the balls of ice falling from the sky when just hours earlier it had been hot out. It was a cold night but, surprisingly, our room was warm because of the adobe (the five blankets helped too). The most simple things are better than anything else.

More on Taquile next chapter!