Lago Titicaca

Looking back at Puno from the tour boat

Jennie (great lady from the hostal) set us up with a day tour of some of the islands on Lake Titicaca. It was great to get away from the city crowds and pollution and be back on the water in fresh air (these Minnesotans were missing the lakes of home!). We have mixed feelings about the tour overall. We already don't like the idea of being led around and talked at in a big group of tourists, but on top of that we were visiting some places that were only kept up because of the tourist industry and possibly being exploited by it.  

  

For example, our first stop was Islas Uros, which is a group of islands made only of reeds from the lake that the people have strategically grouped and stacked together to form an island. There are some 60 islands at one time with about 5 families on each island. We were greeted by families smiling on shore and some still frantically putting on their traditional clothing just for the tour. They even invited us into their houses made of reeds to give us a glimpse of how they lived and of course to sell their crafts to the tourists. It was surprising entering the one room house- there was a TV with Disney movies stacked next to it and one of the children was licking the chocolate off a candy wrapper (which in the end got all over Liz's jacket). The funny thing is the islands were first built by the Uros people to flee from the Incas, but in the end we came and interrupted their way of life anway.



View from a restuarant on one of the islands

 

Our tour guide and a local explain
 how an island is set up



We were able to stop at another island about 2 hours away called Isla Taquile. This reminded us both of Greece and we felt somewhat better about interrupting this larger community (maybe because there was more spance to spread out?). The people of Taquile only marry within the community and are able to live with their prospective spouse for 2-3 years before deciding to get married. There is no divorce on the island. The ladies are able to distinguish who is single from married because of the colored hats men wear (red for married and white and red for single). The island was scattered with houses, terraces for farming, and stone walk ways. We got to see a traditional dance, a sampling of textiles from their cooperative store, sheep grazing wherever they wanted, and great views of Bolivia all in one relaxing afternoon.

Looked like a dance displaying their farming ways

Ancient terracing still used today

These sheep were not phased at all by us

Puno (continued)

Being welcomed home one night by yet another band

We chose to stay at a hostel far enough away from the main plaza to be quiet, but close enough to walk to the action. Boy were we mistaken! We arrived in Puno around 11:30pm and took a taxi to our hostal, but he couldn't bring us all the way there because our street was filled with a band and dancers and people getting ready for the long weekend of festivities for the Candelaria. Needless to say we were serenaded pretty much every night after that by various bands in the streets.



Jennie enjoying herself at Monday's street dances



We also chose the hostal because it was run by a family, specifically a wonderful woman named Jennie. She was so welcoming and helpful to us the whole weekend. We got invited to do things with their family at various times during the weekend (like elite seats for the big dances in the streets on Monday) and she was always so concerned with what we were doing or how we would get there. Liz told her she reminded her so much of one of her aunts in the states because of her great character and loving personality and she was (of course) so honored by this.

Liz enjoys our splurge on a tasty coffee cake

A delicious breakfast was another great perk of the hostal (and as you now know this is one of our priorities when choosing a hostal). We were served fresh mango and juice, tea, bread from a bakery, and scrambled or fried eggs or a banana crepe by Mr. Sunday (Señor Domingo) every morning. We got to practice our Spanish with him and he was surprised to hear that the US isn't a great place to grow mangos and better understood why we were so excited by the treat every morning. We shared many of our breakfasts with a great couple from Victoria, who had been travelling around Peru and had some great recommendations for us. They also gave us a great tip on a bakery a few blocks away from the hostal. We went there pretty much everyday and sampled everything from asparagus soup to mocha cake to papaya juice. Yum!

Who knows?? Punos!

Last weekend we ventured to Puno, a 6 to 12 hour bus ride (depending on the bus company) southeast of Cuzco. Puno is the largest city on Lake Titicaca, and hosts "la festividad del la Virgin de la Candelaria". The virgin is the patron saint of Puno, and the festival includes a week of bands, traditional dances, and a lot of parties. It´s sort of like Peru's version of carnival. On Monday, we had prime seats for the parade thanks to the family who owns the hostel where we stayed. There were 73 different dance groups who traveled to Puno from Chile, Argentina, and the surrounding areas. Some of the groups had up to 2000 people. Therefore, the parade started at 8:30 am and was still going strong at 1 am. It would be hard to wait over 14 hours just to get to start dancing! However, everyone seemed to be having a grand time...

By the end of the weekend, we could recognize the different dances and their significance, and basically knew the music by heart. It was definitely a fun sight to see!

Our sweet seats. We had a little old lady who befriended us and told us all about the different dance groups. She also spent much of her time holding my leg...

             

 

They described these types of costumes as "beautifully ugly" because of the beautifully colored and designed clothing,
but ugly faced masks.

 

 

Different costumes are typical for different dances. There are dances mocking the Spanish "conquistadores", dances about the journey of the slaves from Africa, dances mocking Spanish womens´ dresses, dances to celebrate mother earth, and a dance called the Diablada (the devil). We´re not totally sure the significance of that dance, but the costumes were pretty neat



This costume is making fun of ladies of Spain with their large skirts.
The whole parade these women were flipping their skirts up almost
 over their heads! Hard work for so many hours!
 The men were dressed riding bulls that would run into them.



There were tons of these gorilla
 costumes with spiders on them.
 They looked really hot in there.

 

A couple of videos to make you feel like you were there with us:

We came to love and accept the pan flute over the weekend

Our military would not be caught dead doing anything like this

Up, up, and away

Since Cuzco was the very heart of the Incan empire, there are many impressive ruins to see in and around the city. Our second weekend in town, after we'd had a week to get used to the altitude, we met up with a local friend (Liz's cousin´s husband's brother's wife's brother....yeah, figure that out!) who has been so kind as to give us the inside scoop and show us around Cuzco a bit. We hiked up to the Templo de la Luna, or Temple of the Moon, which is high on the mountain above the city. The hike was a little rough on the lungs, but the views were amazing!



View from the top of the temple

   



Us with our great guide, Andy!

 
 

The Viva el Perú sign usually looks high on the mountain from our house!



Ruins around the temple

   

Inside the temple there is an
altar for sacrifices.
Apparently the hole above
this altar is aligned with

the moon at specific times of the year.

Nos Encanta Comida!



One of the many reasons Liz and I travel so well together is our shared view on food

1. Breaksfast is the most important (and tastiest) meal of the day

2. Sitting at a coffee shop or pasteleria is not a waste of a day

3. Never order the same food (you are obviously going to share and would like to try more than one thing on the menu)

4. Only stay at hostels that include a breakfast

Playing it Safe...



All the pb and j we've eaten so far

When first arriving in Cusco we were very excited to try all the new foods the town had to offer. However, we decided our stomachs were not quite ready for the adventure. So for the first few weeks (and still every once and a while now) our staple was peanut butter and jelly on toasted sandwich bread. We would enjoy the occasional pasta, rice and beans, or mac and cheese as well.






Para niños...y Kyra y Liz



After much debate at the grocery store, we settled on purchasing an ultra-high pasturized, sweetened version of milk for children. Along with that we paired some pricey granola (we thought it was cheaper at the time) for snacks or meals too. We also enjoy making our own coffee (with some classy organic beans the previous tenants left) in a little pot we put on the stove to percolate, which goes well with the sweetened milk.



  

Kyra cooks up some lentils and rice



    

Venturing Out...

 

Once we felt more adjusted and daring Liz and I took trips to the local markets to sample avocado, mango, platanos, and various Peruvian offerings. We have come to especially enjoy trips to Mega (aka Mecca), the big grocery store in town, and to San Pedro, the big open market in town.

San Pedro Market

 

Liz excited with our Mega purchase

  

 

 

Liz is excited about the platanos!

At home we started to cook more exciting things and have become more comfortable with the idea that it may or may not make us sick. For breakfast we have been frying eggs, toasting bread, making coffee, and sampling various flavors of juice (they have passion fruit juice!). We bought some platanos from a señora on the street and fried them up with butter. They needed some sugar, but luckily we had chocolate to sweeten them up. Just the other day we took the biggest food leap yet...we made banana bread! It was an adventure finding all the ingredients in spanish; we ended up using qinoua flour and no baking soda. On top of that  we took up the challange of baking at high altitude with a stove that basically had two settings (hot and hotter).  


In the end, a successful banana bread!



Typical delicious breakfast

  

We have yet to figure
 out what this is

The markets in every town have pretty much the same offerings of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, tons of varieties of potatoes, and different grains. We have a market down the street from our apartment, which is convenient when we want to pick up some palta (avocado) or camote (sweet potato) for lunch on the way home from school.  

The biggest market in Cusco, San Pedro has all of the offerings plus more. There are textile stands, juice bars, cheap lunch deals, and piles of queso (cheese). All the women (and their children) selling goods there always seem to enjoy talking with each other, napping at their stand, and sharing big bowls of hot soup or freshly made guacamole all day long. And of course, bartering with the costumers for the best price. 



They had any kind of meat any way

 you wanted it pretty much.

 Liz and I definitely did not want any of that.

We were lucky enough to be in Puno (a town on the coast of Lake Titicaca) on a Saturday where a huge market stretches multiple blocks offering anything you can think of from a toothbrush to chicken feet. It was fun to go around and barter with the venders to practice our Spanish, but got a bit overwhelming when there were so many options! This market was the cheapest we've found so far; we got 3 juicy mangos for 2 soles (equivalent to about .70 cents).



The typical dress of Peruvian women
 staying warm with some qinoa soup



So colorful!