The Lake at the Top of the World

Wow. These last few days have been spectacularly phenomenal (phenomenally spectacular?), and I don´t think I´ll really be able to do it justice in a blog entry. I´ll try, though. If I had to sum up the trip in one photo, this would be it:

Nope, it´s not Christ ascending into heaven... it´s just me, enjoying the scenery.

I spent the last couple of days on a tour of Lake Titicaca (I can finally say its name without smirking). It´s big (the biggest in South America), it´s high (the highest ¨commercially navigable¨ lake in the world), and it´s pretty cool (both figuratively and literally).

The first stop on the tour was the Uros Islands. Well, actually, the first stop for me was to walk down to the tour office, after the van driver forgot to pick me up from my hostel in the morning. Eventually, though, I made it to the Uros Islands to hook up with my tour group.

Now, the Uros Islands aren´t any ordinary islands. They´re man-made islands. Yeah. Made of reeds. Seems that as the Incas were conquering their way across the Andes, they didn´t bother subduing most of the smaller islands dotting Lake Titicaca. Noticing this, a tribe of natives called the Uros moved their villages from the mainland (where they were under the Incan fist) to huge floating reed rafts (where they were largely ignored). The villages gradually rot away from the bottom, so fresh reeds are constantly added to the top. And boy, do these guys like reeds...

Their boats are made of reeds....

...their houses are made of reeds (with the occasional modern convenience)...

...their whole dang village is pretty much made of reeds. Apparently they have to be pretty careful with their cooking fires.

The inevitable ¨I´m here too¨ shot, just so you don´t forget what I look like.

Next was the island (the real island) of Amantani, where everyone in our tour group was split up into groups of 2-4 people and sent home to stay with familes native to the island. The wife (whose name I could never really pronounce, and have now completely forgotten) cooked us fantastic traditional meals, complete with herbal tea.

The dirt-floor kitchen (which was also the dining room) had no power or running water... just a cooking fire and a shelf of supplies. Kim (the only other American on the tour) and I got to hang out and watch her cook, but she wouldn´t let us help... she insisted that we just relax and play with Ponchito, her 5-day-old lamb.

And everywhere our hostess went, the lamb was sure to go... around the house, across the village, it didn´t matter. I´ll never think of the nursery rhyme again without thinking of Ponchito.

We hooked back up with our guide and tour group for a hike to the very top of the island, where we enjoyed one of the most spectacular sunsets I´ve ever seen...

The pictures really don´t do it justice, but at least you get a taste. Me and two Norwegian girls were the first ones to the top... they were taking pictures as enthusiastically as I was (I took dozens of the sunset), and eventually we got around to taking crazy pictures for each other. Including the one at the top of this post... I jumped and they shot. We headed back down, and about half an hour later enjoyed an equally spectacular moonrise...

...followed by another home-cooked meal. Next we were dressed in the native garb (in my case, a poncho and floppy cap), and after a quick photo with the family...

... we were sent off to an island fiesta, complete with traditional music (live band!) and dancing:

A few of the party-goers... me, David from Columbia, and Teine and Hege from Norway.

That night, I randomly woke up around 4:30. The moon was completely full, so it was like broad daylight outside. I couldn´t pass up the opportunity... I bundled up, hiked the hour back up to the top of the island, climbed this rock tower/monument thing (making me higher than anything around for dozens of miles), and waited for the sunrise. It was a pretty chilly wait -- keep in mind that the top of the island is about the same altitude as of the top of Mt. Shasta, and it´s winter down here in the Southern hemisphere. I´m glad I did it, though. The sunrise was amazing... and the setting was definitely memorable.

Later that day (after home-cooked breakfast) we boated over and explored the island of Taquile, whose natives are known for their knitting.

Me with the Great Big Wall-O-Hats

And the best part of all this? The two-day tour -- including transportation to and around the lake, meals, lodging, English-speaking tour guide, entertainment, etc -- cost roughly $13. Oh, how I love South American travel.