While driving to Puno, we passed this lake at 4,444 metres ... you already know ... the oxygen ...
Beautiful landscape and to our surprise ...
... Andes Flamingos ... we didn't know of that ...
We had one stop close to Puno, the Grave Towers of Sillustani ... looks complete from this side ...
... but not from this side ...
They are located close to this lake ...
... and it's still amazing how they built it ... this is supposed to be a ramp to get the stones up ...
Well, here's the two of us ... pretty big those towers ...
... and of course - where tourists are - there's people who want the odd Sol to live off ...
When we approached that rock, we didn't see it, but from the side, you can see the Puma, one of the holy animals ...
So we arrived in Puno at our hotel at the Titicaca Lake and the next morning the sun greated us like this ...
This is the city of Puno, seen from our hotel ... again - surprised? - wonderful weather ...
So first thing we took a boat to the floating islands of the people of "Uro" ... here demonstrating how these islands are built. First you have the living (!) reed roots which are bound together ...
... then you place the reeds in a zig-zag way on top ...
... and build the house, fire places etc. on top of it ... when you walk on those islands it feels like walking on a matress ...
The guy explaining all this was so nice, he even let us into his house ... you basically see it on this photo, a couple and two kids live in there ... including TV and DVD (on the bottom right) ...
Here's a house from the outside ...
... and another floating island ...
We were witness to a wedding celebration (several days) on this floating island ...
we went around there by boat ...
... including dancing and a "big band" ...
And that was the view for Thomas, lying on the boat ...
... which was steered by the nice guy who explained the islands to us ...
So we had a last look from a little look-out built on the island ... this is the "wedding" island again ...
... and after taking a photo with our wonderful guide Soledad ...
... we took the boat to Taquile Island ... where we had to climb up the mountain (still 3,400 metres) ...
While walking up there we saw the traditional costumes there ...
... and Cynthia couldn't resist buying a hand-made armband from one of the girls ...
One speciality of those islands are the knitting men, so it's not the women ...
Quite a funny sign on the central square with the distances ... just the directions don't fit ... from a Peru point of view Berlin and Rome should be roughly in the same direction ;-)
As it was Sunday, after church the men and women proceeded onto the square ...
... where the "mayor" announced what was going on in the village and what was planned ...
... everyone listening and interested ...
... whereas the women sat in the background ...
So after an eventful day we were back in the hotel ... and this photo shows Cynthia "skyping" with ... you might guess ... ;-)
While driving to Puno, we passed this lake at 4,444 metres ... you already know ... the oxygen ...
Beautiful landscape and to our surprise ...
... Andes Flamingos ... we didn't know of that ...
We had one stop close to Puno, the Grave Towers of Sillustani ... looks complete from this side ...
... but not from this side ...
They are located close to this lake ...
... and it's still amazing how they built it ... this is supposed to be a ramp to get the stones up ...
Well, here's the two of us ... pretty big those towers ...
... and of course - where tourists are - there's people who want the odd Sol to live off ...
When we approached that rock, we didn't see it, but from the side, you can see the Puma, one of the holy animals ...
So we arrived in Puno at our hotel at the Titicaca Lake and the next morning the sun greated us like this ...
This is the city of Puno, seen from our hotel ... again - surprised? - wonderful weather ...
So first thing we took a boat to the floating islands of the people of "Uro" ... here demonstrating how these islands are built. First you have the living (!) reed roots which are bound together ...
... then you place the reeds in a zig-zag way on top ...
... and build the house, fire places etc. on top of it ... when you walk on those islands it feels like walking on a matress ...
The guy explaining all this was so nice, he even let us into his house ... you basically see it on this photo, a couple and two kids live in there ... including TV and DVD (on the bottom right) ...
Here's a house from the outside ...
... and another floating island ...
We were witness to a wedding celebration (several days) on this floating island ...
we went around there by boat ...
... including dancing and a "big band" ...
And that was the view for Thomas, lying on the boat ...
... which was steered by the nice guy who explained the islands to us ...
So we had a last look from a little look-out built on the island ... this is the "wedding" island again ...
... and after taking a photo with our wonderful guide Soledad ...
... we took the boat to Taquile Island ... where we had to climb up the mountain (still 3,400 metres) ...
While walking up there we saw the traditional costumes there ...
... and Cynthia couldn't resist buying a hand-made armband from one of the girls ...
One speciality of those islands are the knitting men, so it's not the women ...
Quite a funny sign on the central square with the distances ... just the directions don't fit ... from a Peru point of view Berlin and Rome should be roughly in the same direction ;-)
As it was Sunday, after church the men and women proceeded onto the square ...
... where the "mayor" announced what was going on in the village and what was planned ...
... everyone listening and interested ...
... whereas the women sat in the background ...
So after an eventful day we were back in the hotel ... and this photo shows Cynthia "skyping" with ... you might guess ... ;-)