Friday, December 14, 2007

Lake Titticacca

We went out on a trip around Lake Titticaca today. It is fairly spectacular - nearly 4000 metres above sea level and stretching off beyond the horizon. We went out to two sets of islands - one which was home to a culture apparently completely dominated by weaving, knitting, dancing, and combinations thereof, and the other... well, the other was the Floating Isles of Uros. These are artificial islands created in the middle of the lake thousands of years ago and constantly replenished, constructed entirely of local reeds. The islands are made of reeds, the houses are made of reeds, the people eat the reeds and burn them for warmth and cooking. It is an astonishing way of life and apparently remnants of a culture which predates the incas by centuries. Anyway, some pics.
We leave for Bolivia on the morrow.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hooray for reeds...