Puno (Islas Flotantes)

I travelled back to Puno, stopping again in Raqchi with the still standing inca adobe wall. The countryside here is beautiful. Traditional dress is slightly different here to in Bolivia. Instead of bowler hats you get a kind of flat dinner plate hat. I then continued on a variety of buses to Puno. Here I stayed in the bus station hostel which was extremely convenient but a bit loud at 6am when ticket sellers start calling for passengers. I then ate a kind of quinoa soup from a lady in a doorway for breakfast. This was excellent. Then I visited the Islas Flotantes of Uros. The people on these islands only really live in this way for the benefit of tourists but there are existing islands further out where it is a genuine way of life. The Uros originally started building the reed islands as a way of escaping from the Collas and Incas. A lady showed us the process of building up the reeds over time. As the bottom rots, they add more fresh reeds to the top.

Some people in Raqchi

The countryside

Islas Flotantes of Uros

Demondstrating the build up of reeds and the houss, reed boat and stove on top, all to scale of course

Floating houses made of reeds

These are the more modern types of housing

There is a flamingo on the island

This is the very traditional way of building on Islas Flotantes