Fiestas, Kayaking, and More!

I apologize now for the length of all of these entries, but they are essentially the only journal I have from our trip (aside from a little notebook where I jotted things down) so this is just as much for me as you. There are lots of details in here that I found really interesting, but that’s probably because I was there. Hopefully reading it won’t be too painful, but I won’t be offended if you just skim!

After our goodbyes in Lampa, we took off with our new guide, Felix, and headed to the community of Llachón on the Capachica Peninsula of Lake Titicaca. We drove along the altiplano (high plateau) to arrive in Llachón. I was really surprised how many people lived there since it is such a high altitude. Felix said only about 30-40% of kids go to school there because there are no roads; the ones that do go have to walk 4-10 km/day to get there! Along the way we also passed through the city of Juliaca. It was a pretty typical big Peruvian city with lots of industry, unstable looking infrastructure, unfinished buildings, LOTS of mototaxis (40,000 in the city! It’s a bike with a seat for two or three people – like a tricycle, but in most places it’s a motorcycle), dirt, and trash lining the streets. Felix said Juliaca actually has a lot of money (even though it doesn’t appear that way) because there are lots of factories that produce imitation goods (like Nike products). However, we did see something I have never seen before. It was their market day the day we drove through and we drove along a good mile of second-hand cars for sale. It is really rare in Peru to have your own transportation so I was really surprised to see so many cars. Some of them were really nice and in great shape. Felix told us that people come from all over the country and even Chile and Bolivia to buy cars there!

After leaving the city and driving for a while longer, we finally came upon the lake and boy did it take my breath away. It was spectacular! The lake is HUGE and looks like an ocean – it made Lake Tahoe look like a puddle. We drove on this really windy, narrow, dirt road high above the lake. It reminded me a little of the Pacific Coast Highway in California, but much more rustic. The views of the lake and some glaciers in Bolivia (because the lake is on the border of the two countries) were breath-taking. After driving for a few hours, we finally arrived in Llachón, just in time for lunch.

In Llachón we were staying with Valentin Quispe – another pioneer in promoting rural tourism. His house was much more rustic than Oscar and Mily’s – reed mats and straw mattresses, no hot water (or any water at times) and spotty electricity – but each room had an incredible view of the lake which made up for everything else. Valentin’s story is really quite incredible. He only has a high school graduation and never studied tourism, but he recognized the potential his community has for tourism. He tells his neighbors, with the views that we have no one can complain that they are not rich. So nine years ago he started out on this journey to promote tourism with very little money (his own) and no previous knowledge. He started having guests stay at his house five years ago and has had to expand the “restaurant” (dining room and kitchen that is its own building) three times in order to accommodate the number of tourists that are arriving to his house! His goal is to use tourism to create jobs for everyone in the community. To date their organization consists of 15 groups – 8 host families, 3 transportation companies (boats, cars, etc.), 2 artisan groups, and 2 others I don’t remember. He has self-financed everything along the way and has become so successful that the Director of the Ministry of Tourism (I think that’s what it’s called) has personally visited him and sent him to Cusco to give training sessions to people there so that they might develop a similar type of thing in their communities! He is also personally responsible for getting water, electricity, and telephone on the peninsula from a meeting he had with President Fujimori when he visited their community during his time in office! His next project is trying to get internet because he thinks they suffer a lot without it.

The community of Llachón has already seen many benefits from promoting tourism so they are working hard to expand the industry. Many families are currently fixing up their houses to have guests and they are also trying to get the road paved. One of the biggest benefits has been the construction of a Centro de Autoeducación (Self-Education Center) with a few computers, library and games. It is like an after-school recreation center for kids, where they can study and play, and is completely run by the youth of the community! I would LOVE to develop something like that in Bambamarca. Talk about an inspiration!

The first day we were there, Valentin served us a typical dish for lunch in honor of their town’s fiesta that began that day. It was fried cheese (that even Dad ate – what a good sport!), a variety of potatoes (about 4 different kinds) and haba (fava?) beans (in a pod like peas and then another shell). In the afternoon we headed to the Plaza de Armas with Felix to check out the fiesta. We stayed for about two hours watching different groups perform many traditional dances of the region. It was beautiful and made me so proud to live here! Their dress and dances are gorgeous and each one tells a different story. We all loved watching it because we have nothing like that in the States and we felt so special to be able to partake in the festivities. I was especially happy that mom and dad got to witness this because if anything explains Peruvian culture – this is it! I was laughing though because when we got home, mom and dad were commenting on how loud the music was – welcome to Peru! I told them it would probably go on all night and sure enough, it didn’t stop until about 5 am! Unfortunately for us, that is about the time we had been waking up because we’re so exhausted at the end of the day that we usually go to bed right after dinner – around 8:30 pm!

We woke up the next morning to a delicious breakfast of these little fried dough things and a thin pancake. The fried dough was extremely addicting and I could have easily gained about 10 lbs. on those alone, but I tried to exercise a little self-control. After breakfast we got ready to go kayaking. We thought it would be really cold on the water so we bundled up – dad was wearing 3 pairs of pants (haha) – but they told us we would get hot kayaking and that we should wear shorts and only one shirt! We thought they were crazy, but figured they knew better than we did. Plus they gave us a thermal top to wear with a life vest and a “skirt” that attaches on to the kayak so you stay dry. We also got gloves and little booties that smelled DISGUSTING. I hate wearing communal things and it really grossed me out – my hands REEKED for the rest of the day…..ewwww! We looked hilarious, but we stayed dry and even got HOT (thank god we took off all of our layers or we probably would have passed on right there on the lake). I went in a double kayak with mom and dad went with Felix. It was SO COOL! I couldn’t believe we were actually kayaking on Lake Titicaca – who does that?!?!

In the morning we were a little skeptical about going since none of us are very experienced kayakers, but we are so glad we did it. It was definitely a highlight of the trip. The water was really calm and still as glass. It was also really clean – we could see to the bottom even when it was 10-15 meters deep! Sometimes we would stop to rest and just enjoy the moment. There we were on Lake Titicaca with a view of a reed island in front of us and a Bolivian glacier to our left! It was so surreal. It took us about an hour and a half to arrive at our destination that was 9 km (almost 6 miles!) away. We were proud at how well we did. Mom and I had a little trouble because I was in control of the rudder (controlled by a foot pedal) – not a good idea for someone who has trouble with right and left – we were always off course while Dad and Felix went in a straight line the whole time. Plus I wasn’t exactly coordinated enough to paddle and control the rudder. I would get really good at paddling – pushing rather than pulling (as we learned in our little lesson before we left) – and all of a sudden I would notice we were really off course so I would focus on the rudder, but then poor mom was doing all the work because I would forget to paddle. Hahaha. At least we had a great time laughing about it.

Our destination was one of the Uros floating reed islands. The Uros people are Aymaran and their total population is only 1,000. They are only found in the Lake Titicaca area. The island we visited is one of the islands with less tourist impact. There are about 30 floating islands on the lake, including one for a primary school and one for a health clinic. Since the islands are only made of reed, they float very easily and the people used to wake up in a different spot than where they went to bed. In 1985, however, El Niño was really strong and caused the lake to grow 2.5 meters. As a result some islands broke in half, so since then, they have started anchoring their islands down. Reed is very flexible so the people living on the island can easily expand or downsize their island. They make reed boats that only last about seven months so when they can no longer use them, they attach the boat to the side of the island and it eventually becomes part of the island. Felix also told us that because reed is so easy to cut, sometimes a family will cut themselves off the island if they don’t like living there and start their own island!

The particular island we visited is called Uros Titino (meaning Native Uros) and there are only seven families living there. They all speak Aymara with each other, but some also know Spanish. The “leader” of the island is the grandfather and everyone living there is related somehow. It is very much communal living, though everyone has a reed hut that they sleep in along the outer rim of the island. The center of the island is the common area where everyone spends their days. Fishing is their livelihood and the only way they can live on the islands. They also have rifles to shoot birds for their meat and raise some birds for their eggs. They only go into town a couple of times a month to buy rice, sugar, potatoes, etc. Often times they will exchange their fish and reed (which they also eat – tastes really bland) for these staples. They cook everything on these homemade “stoves” they have and sometimes heat flat stones for baking. The base of the island can be up to 3-4 meters deep, but the dry reed on top is only 20 cm deep and constantly has to be replaced. When constructing their reed huts for sleeping, they have to build them on top of reed bases as to not get wet inside! They use reed for everything, including their roofs, which have to be replaced every 7-9 months so they are constantly rebuilding.

When we arrived in our kayaks, everyone on the island got together while the leader introduced himself and the community and welcomed us in both Aymara and Spanish so we could hear what Aymara sounds like. They were very friendly and a little shy because they have only been having tourists for the past two years. You can imagine how scary it is for these people who live on a tiny reed island their whole lives without electricity or running water to open up their lives to these blond-haired, blue-eyed people. Felix told us they were extremely shy in the beginning, but we thought they were very welcoming and sweet. Through my translating, Dad expressed his gratitude to these people for being so courageous to allow us to visit them and get a glimpse of their life. He explained that by doing so, they are promoting a global understanding that is very important for world peace. They were really responsive to his words and all had big smiles on their faces. I thought it was really sweet of him to say that because these people need all of the encouragement they can get and they need to know that we have a tremendous amount of respect for them and their lifestyle. I could NEVER imagine living my whole life on this tiny little island with only 20 other people. Their lives seem so hard in many ways because they are so isolated without many resources, but on the other hand, it was so simple. I have a hard enough time in Bambamarca, I could never last there. It reminded me of this exhibit we saw on the Mall in Washington, D.C. when I was in high school about different living situations around the world – except this was real life.

Felix told us that they built a primary school a few years back to promote education among the Uros people. Kids have to leave around 6 am to row to another floating island for school and don’t return until 4 or 5 pm. Although they speak Aymaran on the island, the leader speaks Spanish because he has to be able to speak to authorities, and it is now being taught in school to the kids. Because the Uros population is so small, there are many cases of inbreeding, but they are starting to invite doctors and nurses to their islands to give talks about the risks of such behavior.

Before we left, we took a ride on their reed boat and even got a turn to “row” (it is HARD – way harder than it looks). We paid them for the boat ride which supports the entire island. We also bought some crafts from them. I bought this reed mobile for 20 soles ($7) that took the girl one month to make! Mom and dad bought a night wall hanging (that took 3 months to make!) so we felt like we helped the island and the families in a small way.

As much as we enjoyed kayaking, we rode back to land on a boat (owned by a local community member of Llachón). When we got back to the house, we saw Valentin’s wife and her friend weaving – by hand and with a loom. Their work is so fascinating and tedious. Felix told us that it takes them 2-3 months to make a 3x3 cloth! They had some of their work on display for us too so mom and dad bought hats because it was so cold there at night. Valentin’s wife asked mom and me if we’d like to try on their native dress so we got to do that after lunch! It was so much fun and we were really happy that she allowed us to do that – recognizing we want to do it out of respect rather than mockery. I had the traditional dress for a young, single woman and mom had the dress for a married woman on market day (because she was wearing the black veil that they only wear for special occasions). We were laughing at ourselves because we didn’t look too authentic in our sneakers and white socks (or digital cameras!), but we REALLY enjoyed it. Where else would we ever have had an opportunity to do that? We were so LUCKY to have the travel agent we did who looked for rural tourism opportunities like this, rather than just putting us up in a hotel – this was way better, even if there wasn’t always water or electricity!

After playing dress-up, we headed back to the Plaza to take in more of the fiesta. There was more dancing that afternoon, but different from the day before. This time each group had its own band and about 60 dancers with very fancy costumes. Each group did the same dance, called the Rey Moreno, and at the end a winner was announced. Every group also had a madrina and padrino (godparents) because what big occasion in Peru doesn’t have a madrina and padrino. They were identified by sashes and were the ones in charge of organizing everything (rehearsals, food, transportation, costumes, etc.) for the whole group of the fiesta that year. Every year the group picks a different madrina and padrino and although it costs a lot of money, it’s a big honor. We really enjoyed watching the different variations on the dance and listening to the bands – although dad said they kept playing the same four bars of music over and over again and sometimes three bands were playing at once – it was great!

That afternoon we were invited to watch the festivities from the platform in front of the Municipality with all of the town authorities! It was a huge honor because Valentin told us the “common people” (we aren’t considered “common” since we’re gringos) aren’t even allowed to approach that area – it’s considered sacred. We had so much fun watching the dances from there. The cultural heritage in this country is absolutely amazing and it is inspiring how much they embrace it. What an impressive spirit these people have!

In the middle of one of the dances, 17 men came riding through the Plaza on horseback. They rode through various times and it turns out it was a horse race. One little campesino was declared the winner of the race and they recognized him in front of the whole community. He was so cute and humble. He gave a speech that I couldn’t understand over the microphone, but you could tell he was so prideful! He kept saying thank you and bowing. He tried to get his horse to stand up on his hind legs, but he wouldn’t move. Felix told us it’s a big honor to win the race and represent the community. In his speech he said that even though they all have their problems, they all still come together every year to celebrate their town and their roots. It was so cute.

One of the funniest parts of the nights was this huge tour bus that approached the plaza and wanted to pass through. The dancing was still going on and the people were not about to let it pass so it just sat there waiting for about an hour. Finally when the official dancing was over and people we dancing to the three different bands playing at the same time (one playing cumbia, one huayno, and the other moreno so no one would get bored – haha), the bus attempted to get through the plaza. Instead of letting it pass though, the people formed a blockade while they were dancing and wouldn’t let it pass! The driver was mad, but it was really funny for us to watch! The best part about the fiesta though was that it didn’t matter if you were playing the right notes or doing the right moves – as long as you were out there and enjoying yourself, then nothing else mattered!

The next day we headed to Taquile Island. It is home to about 2200 people and is only about 12 miles long and 3 miles wide. Although they are only about a one hour boat ride from the peninsula where we stayed, they have a very unique culture. They dress in only black, white, and red (although the younger people are starting to use more colors) and are known for their high-quality tightly-woven products (the hats are so tightly woven that you can carry water in them). There products are only found on Taquile island at a cooperative market they have in the plaza. Nothing is shipped off the island to be sold in other places. Every product is marked with a number to identify the artisan and a fixed price because the artisan who made the good most likely will not be there when the item is sold and therefore you cannot negotiate the prices. All of the artisans take turns working at the co-op for 10 days and are paid by the commission left by other artisans (2%) when their goods are sold.

Taquile is a very autonomous society. The people on the island live very much like communists, sharing in the collective goods and taking turns with jobs such as construction of locales and working in the market. The people decided they did not want any donkeys, horses, llamas, or dogs on their island so the only animals are sheep, cows, and a few pigs and guinea pigs. I guess this is what Lenin intended, but it really seems to work for them. It’s really incredible. I could never imagine something like this working in the States since everyone is always in it for himself and trying to out-do his neighbor.

The government tried to “intervene” in the island only two times when they attempted to put a prison there. The first time was in 1931 and the second time in 1981. Both times the islanders were very upset and protested so much that the prison did not last and the government has not bothered them since. President Fujimori is the only president to ever have visited the island and it is because of him that there are schools, health clinics, and solar panels.

Tourism began on Taquile Island about 35 years ago, but it was not well received in the beginning. The people were scared of tourists in the beginning and hated them. They blamed the tourists for bringing bad spirits (because a few animals were struck by lightening) so they tried to reject them from arriving on the island. In one case, they held a boat of tourists captive for 2-3 hours! However, one community member, Pedro Wily (only 19 years old at the time) helped the islanders see the benefit of tourism. He explained to the community that tourists come to learn about their island, to meet the people, and to see beautiful views of the lake. They do not come to mock them or their lifestyle. For the past 20 years, the islanders have been more open to tourism. There are now 23 restaurants on the island and 200 beds (that are used on a rotating basis to be fair) for tourists to stay at in a home-stay situation. Today tourism is the leading industry on the island!

Another unique characteristic about the island is that the men often are the ones that knit here and the women work the fields! When we first arrived, we saw women helping out with construction on the port because they are expanding it. In this way it seems really advanced, but at the same time, the island is still deeply rooted in tradition. Marriages are still arranged on the island. The couple lives together for 2-3 months and then gets married in 99% of the cases; however, sometimes it does not work out, though this is a huge embarrassment for both the families. They are not allowed to divorce.

The Plaza de Armas on Taquile is located at the top of the mountain so we walked up this stone path for an hour and a half to get there (we stopped a lot for pictures though). The walk was so peaceful with breath-taking views of the lake. The lake is absolutely incredible – impossible to capture its beauty and expanse in photos. [Sidenote: We saw more tourists on the path than we’d probably seen our entire trip so we felt bombarded by them even though there were probably only 200 total!] Along the way, Felix told us about many interesting plants they have – such as one that is a natural chewing gum and another that is ground up and used for laundry detergent! We finally arrived at the plaza and after visiting the market and taking pictures of the view, we headed back down the other side of the island where we were to have a weaving “exhibition” and eat lunch.

I thought we were just going to have a little lecture about their work and leave, but boy was I wrong. It was 1,000 times better than anything I had imagined and probably one of my favorite memories of our trip! Our exhibition was on a little family compound with about 10 families. They have only started hosting tourists in the past 8 months so they are still a little shy, but extremely gracious hosts. The women were all beautiful, the men handsome, and the children absolutely adorable – I wanted to take them home with me!

Our visit started with an explanation of the symbolism in their weavings. One of the most interesting was a calendar belt that all men make for their wives. The belt has 12 different sections and each represents something special during the year. For example, January is a hexagon that represents the six different sections of the island. In three of the sections there are dots to identify where they have chosen to plant seeds for the harvest season. August is a fish because it is the beginning of a new planting season and they go out on boats to look for fish – if they see trout and kingfish in the shallow waters, they know it is going to be a good harvest. It was really fascinating because we look at the belts and think they are just little pictures, but then you find out that they really are full of meaning and symbolism for these people.

The women also make a belt for their husbands that they give them when they get married. The belt is a symbol of their marriage and very sacred. Men wear these belts for their entire lives, instead of a ring. The belt also has symbols representing their daily lives, but the more important belt is a thicker one, attached to the first, that is worn underneath. The thicker belt is black and white stripped and made of natural wool and alpaca (no dyes). It is very heavy – weighing up to one pound – and 80% of it is made of the woman’s hair, which her mom has saved throughout her life (in a little box or bag) from whenever it was brushed!

During our visit, we got to see the men knit – they hang it around their neck and even do it when they are standing up! It looks so hard, but they knit such intricate designs that they must have all memorized because it looks as if they are making patterns without even thinking. We also watched the women weaving – I was in such awe of their handiwork because you expect it to be done by these delicate little hands, but they all have big, strong hands. Then they invited us to watch a few traditional dances that they prepared for us. It was amazing – our own private concert. This little three-year-old girl who we were in love with came up to mom during the second dance and asked her to dance – I could have died it was so cute! Then the little girl wanted to do a dance for us so they changed into different costumes and did a dance about sowing seeds. At the end they asked all three of us to join so we finished the dance with them. I felt like I was dreaming the whole time because it was all so incredible. We felt so honored to be treated to such a warm welcoming by these loving people.

While we were getting ready to eat lunch, they insisted I try on some of the clothes so they dressed me up and we took lots of pictures. On Taquile, single women are identified by a black veil that they wear everyday to cover their face a little bit. They also talk in a very quiet voice, but all of that changes when they get married – their face is more exposed and they use their full voice. I was about to take the clothes off as lunch was being served, but they told me I had to eat in them because my white skin looked so beautiful next to the black veil! It was really fun, but hard to keep the veil on. The food was excellent – quinoa soup (one of my favorites) to start with and then fresh kingfish from the lake for mom and dad and an omelet for me. Believe it or not, I loved their fish and wished I had that instead of my omelet
After lunch they brought out tons of their goods for us to buy. I was laughing so hard because I was still wearing their clothes and they were throwing all of these things in my face for me to buy. We ended up getting a calendar belt and a few regular belts. While I was using the bathroom before we left, every member of the family shook mom and dads’ hands and kissed their cheeks to show their appreciation (because we had also left a tip for their hospitality). The grandfather (and leader) of the community was so grateful he kissed dad right on the lips! When I came out they all hugged and kissed me too. It was so cute – we didn’t want to leave! Apparently the little girl didn’t want us to leave either because she kept telling us to regresa (come back). We said “chau” to her and the whole way down the path you could hear her little sing-songy voice saying chau, chau, chau…you just wanted to eat her up she was so cute! All in all, it was an incredible day – one that we will not soon forget!

On the boat ride back to Llachón, I was thinking about how sad I was that our trip was coming to an end. We had the most incredible time. I’m so lucky to get along so well with my parents and even more lucky that they took me on such an amazing trip. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime and one I know I will be talking about forever. It made me sad though that Peruvians have so many beautiful vacation destinations at their fingertips and can’t even afford to visit them. Mom, Dad, and I know much more of this country that at least 95% of the people in my community. Hopefully some day that will change.

That night – our “last supper” – was just the three of us because Felix had gone back to the plaza for the fiesta (I don’t know how Peruvians have so much ENGERY to party for a week straight – mom calls Felix a “mountain goat” for all of his energy running around at this altitude – haha). We had a great time reminiscing about the past two weeks and laughing at dad’s stories about his sleeping fiascos. I’ll have to have him do a guest entry about that because he tells it so funny! He gets really tangled up in the sheets and blankets so one night he wore his rain pants to bed to try to help the situation, but apparently it didn’t work! Hahaha.

The next morning dad and I sat outside reading, enjoying our last few hours with our feet at Lake Titicaca. We were reading right near Valentin’s pet alpaca, Pepe, who apparently had a thing for dad and HUMPED him everytime dad walked by – but did nothing when mom or I walked by. It was hilarious! We also talked with Valentin for a while before we left. He is such an inspiration – I wish I could take him to Bambamarca with me to talk to my community. We were telling him how grateful we are to him for all the work he is doing for his country and what a pleasure it has been to stay at their house. He was happy to hear that, but told us that unfortunately, many big companies are trying to kick them off their land to build huge hotels. Luckily, the locals are fighting against them (“throwing rocks” as Valentin said) and have so far been successful in keeping them out. What a shame that would be!

On the way to the airport we visited Sillustani – a place of ancient pre-Incan and Incan funeral towers where the most important Incans are buried. You do not find anything like this in Cusco and it is a mystery how they found this place and why they chose it as the burial grounds for their royals. It is believed that they may have built there because it’s a volcanic crater and close to the sky – a very important aspect of the Incan religion. The largest funeral tower took 3,000 men to construct it because they carried huge volcanic rocks (sillar) from Arequipa, 80-90 km away, plus quarried rock from 100 meters away. All of the towers were built with the entrance facing to the east and with the door open so bad spirits could not get captured inside.

The pre-Incan towers were much more primitive compared to the ones later built by the Incans. They improved upon what was already there by polishing the stones and constructing bigger and better towers. In addition to all of the towers, there was also a sun dial and a moon dial that were places of ritual and sacrifice. The entrance to the sun dial had a three-tiered stone to represent the three worlds the Incans worshipped – the condor (or sky), puma (earth), and the snake (underworld and water). It’s significant that it is only one stone with three tiers, rather than three different stones because it is only one concept.

The ruins were really fascinating so we were all happy to have stopped there. However, by the time we finally got to the airport we were ready to relax – it had been two weeks of non-stop action. Whew! After checking our bags, we said our goodbyes to Felix. He really was a good guide, even though we were unsure of him in the beginning. His English wasn’t that great, but he had a great spirit and such passion and enthusiasm that it was hard not to get excited about everything right along with him. He thanked me for what I’m doing for his country (so sweet) and thanked the three of us for such a great time. This was his first four-day tour and he was really happy to have been blessed with such a nice family to lead around. We really were lucky to have such great guides with so much knowledge all along the way.

At the end we all asked ourselves if there was something we would have changed or took out, what would it be? Our unanimous decision was…NOTHING! Now on to Cajamarca where the fun really begins…haha.