And Now for Heaven
My Lake Titicaca adventure started with a ride to Llachon on Capachica Peninsula. I went with a guide named Guido from Explorandes’ kayaking outfit called Titkayak. The Capachica Peninsula in combination with Chucuito Peninsula which is on an opposite shore create the Puno Bay portion of this enormous lake. Our plan was to stay a day in Llachon, kayak along the peninsula before crossing a portion of the main part of the lake to Amantani Island where we would stay a night, kayak around Amantani before making another long crossing to Taquile Island where we would stay another night, kayak around Taquile and then boat back to Llachon to end the adventure. Although kayaking on Lake Titicaca, supposedly the world’s highest navigable lake, was the focus of the trip, we would see some great nature, beautiful landscapes, Inca and pre-Inca ruins and meet some wonderful indigenous peninsula and island folk.
Llachon is a small village sitting on the lake and is dominated by farming and sheep herding. It has very little tourism, but has some homes that you can stay in. We stayed at the Quispe residence next to the cemetary with beautiful views over the lake. On the drive from Puno, I was amazed by the beautiful farms along the lake with the peaks of the snow-covered Andes in the background. The farming here is dominated by wheat, quinoa, maize and corn. Wheat and potatoes were being harvested as winter is closing in on the area. While days are still warm with very bright sunlight, the nights get quite cold. Llachon has a dirt road, but I don’t think any of the local people have vehicles. Visiting there is like going back in time. The women wear very distinctive clothing including large skirts, blouses and diamond shaped hats with pom-pons on them. The pom-pons signify if they are married or not. The men wear fairly normal western clothes.
We took a hike up to the top of the peninsula’s peak overlooking Amantani and Taquille Islands as well as much of the lake. The hike was kind of crazy because it is all farm land that has been split up into small patches separated by rock walls. I have never seen so many rocks in my life. We were constantly climbing over them. We were on a path for some of the trip which was “paved” in rocks and lined with rock walls, too. I thought Vermont and England had some rock walls, but they are absolutely nothing compared to these ancient walls. At the top of the hill about 500 meters above the lake level, we found an ancient temple ruin that is still used at times by the local population. Guido believes it dates back about 3000 years. We took another route down over more walls and passed ancient stone dwellings of similar age. I liked that none of these ruins have names, have been restored or are being looked at by scientists or tourists (other than me and a few other visitors to Llachon).
The next morning we started the kayaking trip. I was really excited to see the great equipment that Titikayak provides. They basically have what I am used to using in California and, in fact, they buy it from the US. After getting the kayaks out of the shed, we were joined by Pepe the Alpaca. Pepe sat down in the water next to the kayaks and bid us farewell. He’s a very friendly alpaca and I told Guido that there is probably nowhere else on earth where an alpaca sees you off on a kayak trip. The day was absolutely beautiful with a nice wind blowing from Puno towards the main lake – the direction we were headed. We followed the peninsula looking at the villages and farms as well as stopping at some trout farm pens. When we got into the main lake, the wind changed directions and things became a little more challenging since waves started to break over our boats. I wasn’t worried especially since we had all the safety equipment like spray skirts and pumps and a support boat following, but I did wonder how much harder it could get if the winds started blowing more.
All of a sudden the winds died completely. Relief! We finished the last few kilometers quite easily. We stayed in another home on Amantani and spent the afternoon hiking up to the top of one of the two hills that dominate the island. We chose Pachatata (Father Earth) which has an ancient temple dedicated to him instead of the other hill called Pachamama with another temple dedicated to you know who. I’ve seen a lot of Pachamama in the Andes and it was nice to see the hubby being honored. The views out over the lake were spectacular and we watched the sun set across the lake. The hillsides were once again covered with a maze of stone walls made from the rocky farm soil, but this time we had a nice, direct path to follow. The women on Amantani also wear distinctive clothing of bright skirts and patterned blouses and married women wear black skirts. As with Llachon, we were fed very well with local products including quinoa, trout, kingfish, beans, corn and, the always present in Peru, potatoes of many varieties.
The following day we paddled around Amantani and then made another crossing to Taquile Island. We had some wind going in our direction, but that soon stopped blowing. It seems that early morning and late day winds are common on Titicaca, but by late morning they stop. It was another brilliant day. The huge mountains on the eastern shore loomed above us and being in the middle of the lake is absolutely breathtaking. It also makes for a difficult paddle because it doesn’t feel like you are going anywhere. Taquile sat in front of us and for the longest time it didn’t appear to get any bigger/closer. The paddle started to wear on me mentally and I had to find some landmarks on the shoreline to look at to assure myself that progress was being made. By time we got close to Taquile, I was getting tired which doesn’t happen too often when I am paddling. A lot of it was just mental fatigue from being such a small bob in such a large pond, but I am sure the altitude also factored in. I think we paddled more distance the first day so it seemed like a lot of the fatigue was more mental than physical. When we reached Taquile, we climbed up a path that led up and around the lake to our new home. An old indigenous woman carrying a large load in her blanket on her back was ahead of us and she was shuffling up that hill faster than we could move. She made me feel old and I was once again in awe of a resident of the Andes.
We took a walk to the village in the afternoon and I was quite disappointed to find the textile market closed. Taquile is considered the home of the second best weavers in Peru after Paracas. Taquile gets a lot of day-trippers from Puno so I guess they closed after the last boatload left. We continued on our walk to another ancient ruin which again was quite nice because it felt undiscovered. We saw lots of friendly locals living their tranquil lives and no gringos which will be the thing I remember most about these islands and peninsula. When we returned to the house I learned that Senor Flores, owner of the home, is a world-famous weaver. He showed us a book that was done for his tour of New York, London, Paris and somewhere in Asia in the 1980s. It has pictures of him in twenty years younger than he is now, but quite recognizable by his distinguished nose. We laughed with him about that. He had some great stories about his experiences in New York having never seen anything like it living his life on Taquile Island. He was invited because of his own skills plus he is an expert on all other Peruvian textiles. In fact, seven of his textiles are still on display in the New York Natural History Museum and I will definitely get a look at them next time I make it to NYC. I was able to buy some pieces from him which almost made up for not seeing the market. One of the pieces is a belt. It has two halves one of which contains his hair and is part of the wedding ceremony. He needs money because he is building a museum to showcase Taquile textiles, but I knew he also really did not want to sell this personal item. We came up with a good solution by dividing the belt in its two parts and he kept the half with the hair. For me, it is truly great to be able to buy such fine artwork from the artist and his work will get a prime location in the future La Casa del Mundo.
The last morning we decided to paddle around the island and take the support boat back to Llachon rather than do another long channel crossing. The trip around the island was much more interesting than the middle of the lake. We watched one young woman taking her flock of sheep down a steep hill and over rock walls. She had the normal Andean womens’ blanket over her back and this one was packed with some kind of greens. The sheep were reluctant to climb down the steepest parts which she just glided over so she would unpack the blanket and entice them with the greens for which they gladly leaped. Another woman washed her clothes in the lake with her flock nearby. On one side of the lake some ancient stone homes still in use were near the shoreline and on some rocks were spread colorful skirts drying in the sun looking like giant doughnuts. We also saw a lot of birdlife which is not as common in the middle of the lake. We finished the paddle and then climbed up the path to the village so that I could go to the textile marketm – a last minute change made possible by Guido being really flexible. We encountered hundreds of day-trippers from Puno, the first real amount of visitors I had seen since being in Puno, and I was really happy that I had been able to experience Lake Titicaca people and islands without having it feel like Disneyland. I zipped in and out of the market quickly while most of the visitors tried recovering from their walk up the hill gasping for air in the town’s square. I’m going to be an athlete when I get down to sea level after spending so many weeks at altitude. I bought another nice handmade textile and one that is probably mass-produced, but with colors and design that appeal to me.
The ride across the lake was uneventful and relaxing. Upon getting to the dock, we looked up the hill to see Pepe coming to greet us. He came all the way out onto the pier and practically gave us each a kiss so excited that we were back. I pet him affectionately after getting some nice photos. Pepe might be the last friendly alpaca I ever see and he might be the only one on earth for all I know. If I could take him home, I would, but I have no home and I don’t think he would like California. We headed back to Puno after some lunch at the Quispe residence and I prepared for my “nice” trip to Cusco the next day which I already wrote about as being not so “nice”. Lake Titicaca is one of the most special places I have ever visited and I believe the Inca knew they were as close to heaven as it comes living on its shores and islands.
Tags: peru, south america, Travel
vagabondrick
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