Bye bye Bolivia, Hello Peru! We crossed over from Bolivia to Peru like sardines in a tin can, about 15 people in a tiny bus without enough leg room even for my wee legs! And in true Bolivian con artist style we witnessed two guys bribe their way across the border, hilarious!

We took a day trip to see the Floating Islands, called the Uros, which are a collection of 46 islands made entirely out of totara reeds. The uros tribe started to build the islands as a method of defense from the Incas centuries ago and have continued until today although less than 3,000 of the original Uro tribe survive.
The islands are anchored using the roots of the totara reeds which grow in Lake Titicaca and then totara reeds are layered on to create the islands, and new reeds are added every two weeks to replace those that have begun to rot. It feels spongy to walk on and everything on the island, floor, houses, beds, boats is made out of the reeds. And best of all if they have a fight with a neighbour they can just saw the island in half during the night and suddenly they´re no longer neighbours ;) (no joke, they showed us the saw!). And because of this the number of floating islands is constantly changing!

The local people wear really brightly coloured traditional dress and the children are just gorgeous (I had to be dragged away!). They live off fish and vegetables and barter with the totara reeds on the mainland for meat and other essentials they can´t grow or catch in the lake. The island we visited also had their own pet condor, which was huge and only a year old! Amazing bird! The islanders have lost their original language and now speak Aymara, one of the Incan languages, and we learnt how to say hello while we were there, Kamiseraki!

Next we visited Taquile island which Unesco have declared a heritage site to protect the culture of the local people who live there. Taquile was really a jewel in the middle of Lake Titicaca, really tranquil and set in the mirror like waters of the lake with access to the island via a steep 45 minute climb up old terraced countryside.
Taquilenos have maintained their traditions and culture pretty much unchanged for centuries and still speak Quechua. The local people use their dress to show whether they´re married or single, their standing in the community and even the mood they´re in! The women wear a long black shawl which has two sets of different coloured pom poms on it and depending on which set they are displaying this lets their friends know if they are in good mood or in bad mood! So much easier! The men all wear hats and depending on how they wear it you can tell if they are married or single. Also the leader and all of the leader´s family are the only ones allowed to wear a really brightly coloured hat!

There are no police on the island and the locals run their society based on community collectivism and on the Inca moral code "ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhella" (do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy). If anyone has a problem they come to the island leaders and explain the issue in front of everyone on Sunday and then they resolve it together.

Visiting both the Uros and Taquile was like stepping back in time, really amazing to see how they have maintained their culture inspite of everything and also very peaceful and beautiful