Sabado, 13 Septiembre
We started our long journey to Puno (the town on the skirts of the Lake) in the wee hours of saturday morning. The journey to Puno was about 10 hours but we had a couple of touristy stops along the way that made it easier.
Our first stop was at the Church of St. Peter in Andahuaylillas. This church is considered as the "Sistine Chapel of the Americas". The church was built in the 1700s by the Jesuits. Inside the church there is a variety interesting murals dating from the XVIth and the XVIIth centuries. It
was interesting to see the blend of religions that was incorportated in the church. Above the altar there is a the Inkan sun and the ceilings had a Muslim touch to them. Our next stop was at Raqchi which is a temple dedicated to Wiracocha, the supreme God of the Inkas. The temple is built of sundried mud-brick walls and stone and also contains remains of terraces, bridges, warehouses and cottages. Our next stop was to see a 
typical Peruvian kitchen and pet cute little llamas. We got to feed the llamas and take lots of photos. From there it was on to La Raya which is the highest phase on our journey to Puno. We were at about 4335 meters above sea level and here we were able to see snow capped mountians. This point is the conjunction of the cordilleras, an origin of the Vilcanotra Knot. Our last stop was at Pukara which is an archeaological complex consiting of pyramidals structures. It was here that the first signs of civilised culture in the Peruvian Alitplanos were found and these ruins date from about 4000 B.C.More photos from the journey to Puno here....
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Domingo, 14 Septiembre
Yet another early start and we were off to the Puno port to jump on our boat to the islands. Our first destinating was the fascinating floating reed islands. These islands are essentially that.. made of reed and float.
When you walk on it, its squishy and feels a little strange. The average lifetime of the island is 15 years. We got to interact with the local inhabitants of the islands who took us into their homes (also made of reed) and even dressed up some of the girls in the traditional dresses. Everything on the island is made of reed. They even had reed boats to go from one island to another. We of course hopped into one of the floaty reed boats and were rowed over to another island where there was a local wedding going on. Unfortunately, we only got the tail end of the wedding and didn't get to see much.
Our next port of call was Amanti Island. It was a three hour trip and I of course promptly fell
asleep on the journey there. Woke up and we were at Amanti Island. We got off the boat and were greeted by the locals. The group was then divided up and allocated host families. Our host was Norma who lived with her Mum and her son Willy. The house was humble and we were lucky coz we actually had running water and electricity. We later found out from some of the others that this was a luxury that not all the hosts had. So as we arrived at lunch time, Rhyll, Maggie, Michael and myself went into the kitchen to help with lunch. We were given a pot full of potatoes to peel with some lovely blunt knives. Lunch was Quinoa potato soup and a fresh salad with potatos and then some more potatos. After lunch we had a bit of a rest and then had a long hike up the mountain to watch the sunset. It took a fair bit of effort on my part to get to the top as the altitude doesn't make things any easier. But, it was definitley worth it!. at approx 5000 meters above sea level, the views from the top were absolutely amazing. 
We got lots of photos of the sunset and the lake... and then walked around the other side of the peak and even got photos of the moon. The walk down was easier, even though it was freezing and dark. Norma came and collected us and took us back to the house for dinner. Dinner was a potato soup and then rice with more potatos. I definitely had my fill of carbs for a while! After dinner, we were all made to dress up in the local costumes which was an absolute laugh and then we went up to the village hall for "la fiesta" where the locals put on a couple of dances for us and also danced with us. At about 10pm we called it quits and walked back down to the house for a good nights rest.
More Reed and Amanti Island photos here....
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040455&l=206c0&id=212900300
Domingo, 14 Septiembre
Yet another early start and we were off to the Puno port to jump on our boat to the islands. Our first destinating was the fascinating floating reed islands. These islands are essentially that.. made of reed and float.
When you walk on it, its squishy and feels a little strange. The average lifetime of the island is 15 years. We got to interact with the local inhabitants of the islands who took us into their homes (also made of reed) and even dressed up some of the girls in the traditional dresses. Everything on the island is made of reed. They even had reed boats to go from one island to another. We of course hopped into one of the floaty reed boats and were rowed over to another island where there was a local wedding going on. Unfortunately, we only got the tail end of the wedding and didn't get to see much.Our next port of call was Amanti Island. It was a three hour trip and I of course promptly fell
asleep on the journey there. Woke up and we were at Amanti Island. We got off the boat and were greeted by the locals. The group was then divided up and allocated host families. Our host was Norma who lived with her Mum and her son Willy. The house was humble and we were lucky coz we actually had running water and electricity. We later found out from some of the others that this was a luxury that not all the hosts had. So as we arrived at lunch time, Rhyll, Maggie, Michael and myself went into the kitchen to help with lunch. We were given a pot full of potatoes to peel with some lovely blunt knives. Lunch was Quinoa potato soup and a fresh salad with potatos and then some more potatos. After lunch we had a bit of a rest and then had a long hike up the mountain to watch the sunset. It took a fair bit of effort on my part to get to the top as the altitude doesn't make things any easier. But, it was definitley worth it!. at approx 5000 meters above sea level, the views from the top were absolutely amazing. 
We got lots of photos of the sunset and the lake... and then walked around the other side of the peak and even got photos of the moon. The walk down was easier, even though it was freezing and dark. Norma came and collected us and took us back to the house for dinner. Dinner was a potato soup and then rice with more potatos. I definitely had my fill of carbs for a while! After dinner, we were all made to dress up in the local costumes which was an absolute laugh and then we went up to the village hall for "la fiesta" where the locals put on a couple of dances for us and also danced with us. At about 10pm we called it quits and walked back down to the house for a good nights rest.More Reed and Amanti Island photos here....
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040455&l=206c0&id=212900300
Lunes, 15 Septiembre
Our last destination was Taquille Island. The views from here were even better... we walked up the hill and took in the sights and surroundings. It was about a half an hour walk to the centre where we got to see the local handicrafts and take lots more photos. From there, we headed to lunch which was another 15 minute walk to the very top of the hill. Lunch was ... fantastic!!! We had outdoor seating and a breath taking view of the lake. 
The meal was even better... Quinoa soup (again) and the best grilled Trout ever! I'm still thinking about the trout.. it was that good! After lunch... we had to walk down 500 steps to get to the boat. Fortunately it was down the steps and not up. We had a 3 hour boat ride back to Puno and that was the end of our Island hopping on Lake Titicaca...More Taquille Island photos here...
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