Lakesickness

For this weekend I went on an excursion to Lake Titicaca. THE HIGHEST NAVIGABLE LAKE IN THE WORLD! It sits at 12,507 feet above sea level. Wowza! The trip was a little bit of good, bad, and ugly.

The trip started out with a night bus down to the coast city of Puno. Then we took a boat out on to the LAKE! First up was the floating islands of Uros. These are cool islands that are artificial made of floating reeds. Below is a photo (or will be) of a mock island. It was cool to see, but a little touristy. You could ride on the reed boats for about $3. Myself and a few others decided not to. It was funny though because the women sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star while they were pushing off. Why not row, row, row your boat I wonder?

Next up was the LOOOONNNG boat ride to Taquiele. It used to be a prison during the Spanish colony. They are a real community and wear traditional clothing. They also practice the Inca moral code ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhilla, (Quechua for "do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy"). We had lunch here overlooking the lake with sheep baaahhhhing in the background. Very quaint.

When we pulled off the island, the winds had picked up. The boat started rocking......and nearly rolling. The waves were probably 4-6 feet tall. And it seemed that the boat was close to capsizing at times! Which you don´t want to happen because the water is very COLD!Then, I started to get seasick (or lakesick). And that was the ugly part. There went my nice lunch at Taquiele. Finally, the tour guide said ¨Aqui estamos!¨ meaning we are here. As we got closer the waves died down. But I have to say that is probably one of the worst boat rides that I have experienced! It was FREAKY!

Finally on land, we went on to our homestays. These were with traditional  families.Very interesting to see their lifestyle. Much slower, simpler, and more relaxed than our lifestyle. They mainly speak Quechua, but they spoke a little bit of Spanish. There are no roads, cars, a few small stores, and very limited electricity. Recently a lot of homes have been using solar power. They cooked some food for us, I chatted with my housemates who were french about politics and the french fry. :)

After a good nights sleep and no rocking, we hiked up to some ruins on the top of a hill in the island. Even after being here a couple of weeks I still feel the elevation. Which makes that little hill feel like a MOUNTAIN. Getting to the top you see views of the island, lake, and surrounding area.

Walking down the hill I was preparing my pre-boat ¨I´m not going to throw up¨ game plan. I was anxious because the boat ride is 3 hours long! I didn´t have dramamine, but I did have anti-histamine. I figured that might help in knocking me out. I also took Advil and ma-lox hoping those would also do something. When we got on the boat the waves were not quite as bad as the day before. Woohoo, no sickness!

Finally on land...and before you know it was time for another overnight bus back to Cusco. It was an adventure of a weekend on the lake. But I think this weekend I will just stay in Cusco and relax :)