6/6/09 We left La Paz early and crossed the border into Peru by Lake Titicaca, having stopped for lunch just before that at the Bolivian village of Copacabana. This is from where the beach at Rio got its name, from a statue of the Virgin Mary which was brought to Rio from Copacabana in the 19th century. Copacabana is famous for its church, which has an incredibly beautiful golden carved shrine to the Virgin inside. Dave and I had a look inside - as well as this shrine, it had a shrine to Jesus, as well as a rather gruesome model in a box of him lying down in agony.
In Puno itself there isn't much to do. K ike briefed us about the homestay the next night, and told us what we needed to pack. We only needed to bring a daybag with us the next day, and leave our big bags at the hotel. We all went out to the local 'supermercado' (just a collection of market stalls in Puno, not what a supermarket is elsewhere) and bought some food supplies for the local family we were going to be staying with the next night, which was the recommended thing to do. We were told to give them food like pasta, rice, tinned fish or meat, or other groceries as a token of our appreciation, not money or sweets. That evening we all went out for dinner, and I had an alpaca steak. I've been told that alpaca is very tender, but this steak wasn't especially.

7/6/09 Today we were introduced to our local guide, Percy, who was to show us around for the coming two days instead of K ike. After a two to three hour boat ride across the lake we arrived at Taquile Island. Percy told us lots of interesting things about it - there is practically no crime, and there are no police or lawyers on the island because they have no use for them. The people all preserve a very traditional way of life (and they are recognised by UNESCO for this), speak the Inca language Quechua rather than Spanish (like many communities in the Andes), and pay no taxes to the Peruvian government. They are known for their weaving and other textiles, and we saw examples of this when we got to the main square. They had a little market in a hall, and also lots of small boys surrounded us out in the square, all wearing traditional knitted hats. Percy told us that they make these themselves at school, that there's a competition to find the best, and that on this island knitting is a strictly male pastime! Most of us bought some friendship bracelets, and Dave took a fancy to a waistcoat, but we didn't have enough cash on us at the time to buy it.
As I looked out from the top of the building the market was in, I noticed a procession in the distance, going up the hill towards us. Some of them waved white and red flags and others played musical instruments. I was wondering what it was for, because although it was a Sunday I didn't think it was any particular religious festival. Percy told us it was for Pentecost, and I was a bit confused because I thought it was past 40 days since Easter. He ought to know, though, so I was probably wrong. The procession passed through the main square before moving on up the hill to the rest of the island. We had lunch at a restaurant (just quinoa soup and bread in mine and Dave's case, because we didn't have enough cash for anything more), and just as we were about to go, a branch of the procession passed right by us, playing the same tune over and over again.
On leaving Taquile we had another long boat journey to Amantani Island, where we were to meet our host families for the night. Dave and I were with a family made up of Julia (grandmother), the mother (I've forgotten her name now, but it began with an R) and the grandson, William. They all speak Quechua here as well, but also some Spanish, and since Dave and I have picked up a few Spanish words and phrases now, we could just about communicate with each other. After showing us our room, Julia led us up a big hill to the main hall, which has a football ground outside it. Here we met up with the rest of our group, and we played informal football games with the locals. We girls played first, and although we could feel the altitude a lot (in that we got out of breath way quicker than usual, and whenever you breathed in deeply you ended up coughing a lot), we beat the local women easily, mainly because since they play volleyball here, not football, they had almost no idea how to play. They handballed deliberately a lot, for example. Now I can say that I've played football at 4000 metres altitude!Then the guys played, and although the local guys apparently nearly always beat the visitors, this time our lot won. Then we put forward a mixed team to play their guys, (I was one), and although it was a very tough match, in the end our team won 5-4. Some of them shook our hands as we left the pitch!
By the time the football had finished and Percy had briefed us about the next day, it was after dark. William showed us the way back down to our house, and we sat in their kitchen until dinner. Julia and William's mother stayed in the other room cooking, but William sat at the table with us and did his homework, in an exercise book with a big Tom & Jerry sticker on the front! I think he was only 7 or 8. Before dinner I gave Julia the present, and she kissed my hand! The kitchen and living area were in a separate building from the toilet and where we slept, and from where they slept too. It was a tiny hut made of mud bricks, and the stove they cooked on was basically stone or clay with big holes to put the pans on, with an open fire underneath. It was amazing to see what food they made in such primitive conditions - soup with vegetables, potato and spaghetti in, and some pasta with a chicken and veg sauce and some rice. It was a shame we couldn't communicate as much as we'd have liked, because of the language barrier.
A while after dinner, Julia brought us the clothes we were going to wear for the dance that evening - I'm not sure if it was traditional general Peruvian dress or just peculiar to the Lake Titicaca area, but I wore a white embroidered blouse, a wide sash worn as a belt, a blue skirt and then a scarlet skirt on top of that, as well as a big black piece of material used as a headdress, and Dave wore a big poncho and a traditional type of woolly hat. The dance was great fun, with a band made up of guitars and pipes playing in the background. Sometimes everyone held handa and danced round in a circle, and other times we danced in smaller groups. Julia danced with Dave a lot, and with me a couple of times too. Some of the locals gave us demonstrations of traditional Peruvian dances, but we didn't get to try them ourselves. We all ended up doing a big conga line, which led us outside so we were dancing in the moonlight. The moon was incredibly large and beautiful; I think the only time I've seen it that big has been at Swansea Bay, Swansea, a couple of years ago. At about 10 pm we went to bed, for we were to be up by 6.30.

8/6/09 Breakfast in the morning was pancakes with jam - lovely - and then Julia walked with us to the harbour, where everyone else was with their host 'mothers'. We said our goodbyes and thanks, before getting on the boat and being waved off. The next place we went to were the Uros islands, manmade floating reed islands. We landed on Santa Maria island, and Percy told us about the Uros and the people who live on them. They all speak Aymara, a pre-Inca language, and have been making and living on the reed islands for over 500 years (before that, they lived in the forests nearby.) Sadly, we were told that although at the moment they still live there permanently (only making weekly shopping trips to Puno), within 10 to 15 years they may start living on dry land and only come over to the islands when tourists are there. They're becoming a big tourist attraction, you see. I'm so glad I've been there now, when they still live there permanently and out of tradition rather than for tourism reasons! The island was a great sight to see, because nearly everything was made out of reeds apart from the ground; huts, small boats, outdoors seats etc. Whilst Percy was talking to us he passed round some reeds which they can eat part of, and we chewed it while he talked; it tasted a bit like celery.
We had lunch in the boat before going back to Puno. We arrived late afternoon, and didn't do much in the evening.