Uros Floating Islands, Part II

2/20/14, 2:30 PM

When we arrived at the island of Taquile, we disembarked by way of two other boats. Our tour boat was lashed to another boat that was lashed to the dock. To reach the dock, we had to crawl over these two other tour boats.

Boats in the dock at Taquile Island

Once on the dock, we were tasked with a steep 30-minute hike to the top of the island where the main plaza was I was dying. I've been sick for the last couple of days and have been having trouble breathing regularly. This hike was miserable. I couldn't catch my breath and my chest hurt. Add to that the fact that Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world; the altitude makes physical exertion difficult.

Terraces on the side of the island

Finally, very out of breath, I made it to the plaza at the top of the island. Alli and I visited the knitted goods store before rejoining our group for lunch at a local restaurant. We had an option of trout or omelette. Being vegetarian, I obviously chose the omelette. It was okay, and like many of our meals here, the main came with rice and french fries.

Taquile Island

After lunch, the guide explained a bit more about the local people of Taquile and showed us examples of their red hats and colorful hats. We walked back down to our boat by way of a different, less steep, stone path.  And now, here we are on the boat traveling back to Puno. Tonight, we will arrange for our transportation to Arequipa for tomorrow and will hopefully go to sleep early.