This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

Floating islands

The Uros is the name of a tribe of pre-Incan people who live on 42 self-fashioned floating man-made islets located in Lake Titicaca off Puno, Peru. The Uros use the Totora plant to make boats of bundled dried reeds as well as to make the islands themselves. Around 3,000 descendants of the Uros are alive today, although only a few hundred still live on and maintain the islands; most have moved to the mainland. More on Wikipedia.

All boats have faces of deities that keep away evil forces.

After a day of relaxation and minor hiking around the hills of Puno (blogged over a month back!), I set out on a two day excursion to lake Titicaca. It was with a tourist group and they made arrangements for overnight stay in a village in one of the islands (next post).

It was almost unbelievable to see habitable islands made from reeds. When you walk on these islands, you can feel the softness of the reeds. It is slightly wobbly at some places and the villagers ask us not to stand at the same spot for over a minute or it might be risky.

Villagers selling souvenirs

The purpose of the island settlements was originally defensive, and if a threat arose they could be moved. The largest island retains a watchtower almost entirely constructed of reeds.

The Uros traded with the Aymara tribe on the mainland, interbreeding with them and eventually abandoning the Uro language for that of the Aymara. About 500 years ago they lost their original language. When this pre-Incan civilization was conquered by the Incans, they had to pay taxes to them, and often were made slaves.

A large island with a number of houses and a watch tower

The Uros do not reject modern technology: some boats have motors, some houses have solar panels to run appliances such as TV, and the main island is home to an Uros-run FM radio station. Just as our school buses, we saw some school boats !!

Traditionally dressed woman

How wonderful the world is, who knew that people could live on islands made of grass!

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Puno Photo Gallery

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

• Andean Explorations - 9: Arequipa to Puno (24)
• Andean Explorations - 8: Trekking in Colca Canyon (18)
• Andean Explorations - 7: Andean Condors in Colca (26)
• Andean Explorations - 6: Arequipa (16)
• Andean Explorations - 5: Lima to Arequipa (8)

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

Shantanu asked me to write something about Peruvian food. Now unlike him, I am not a foodie, so I don’t really enjoy food by the same magnitude as he does. In fact, for a long time I thought that eating food is a waste of time and there must be ways to avoid it. hmm… sounds strange, I know.

Before leaving, my Peruvian friends told me that Peru is not easy on vegetarians, so I started preparing weeks in advance in Toronto by eating meat - chicken, pork, ham, various kinds of fish.. While a vegetarian guy can comfortably survive in Peru, this meat eating did help me get around.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner:
Govinda chain of restaurants which is present in almost every city. They make simple food that is fully vegetarian, nutritious and cheap – just what a backpacker needs. These restaurants are managed by Hare-Krishna (ISKON) people and if you are Indian you will get a royal treatment.

Lunch at Govinda: Mixed spicy vegetables with rice. I love lemonade. (Everything on table - $3.5)

Potato and rice is the staple diet and most meals have a potato soup, potato vegetable and even a potato dessert in a typical 3 course meal. In one of the villages I stayed, the house lady prepared lunch which consisted of about 10 varieties of potatoes – different tastes, shapes, sizes and colours. Potato is native to Peru and there are about 2,000 varieties cultivated here. When the Spanish conquerors first came across the potato, they called it ‘food for Indians and animals‘ (Indians i.e. natives). The potato has gone a long way since then.

Potato Soup

A couple of times I ate at cheap restaurants where Peruvian worker class (taxi drivers, laborers, sweepers etc. and uh, backpackers who have no money) eats, I ordered a five course meal which cost me S/. 5 ($1.6 or Rs. 60). This is extremely cheap food by Peruvian standards. The first course was a potato salad, followed by starters (fried potatoes), Potato soup, and then the actual meal was simply cooked potato’s with rice. It tasted very similar to what’s called उपासाची बटाट्याची भाजी (potato vegetable made during fasting days) in Marathi. Just when I thought this was over, they brought desserts - yes, made of sweet potato. Oh God!

Potato with rice. (5 course meal at a cheap restaurant - $1.6)

Other than that, I am big on breakfasts and I have a gigantic breakfast early in the morning. Eggs, bacon/ham, bread, butter, jam and tons of caffeine. That’s the recipe for a great day. I usually snack on some fruits – bananas, apples etc during the day which is convenient if you are traveling in a bus or a combi. It can be shared with fellow passengers and is great tool to strike conversations, afterall everyone I met loved sharing food with a foreigner. Remember to carry your own knife, always peel the fruits and never wash them with tap water.

Typical Breakfast ($2.5-$4)

Peruvian eating style is very ‘western’, probably influenced by Spanish. I never saw anyone eat but with forks and knives. Table manners are fun to watch, esp in cheap eating places - people talk loudly, call the waiters loudly but in a friendly way, share food with each other and are not overly concerned if a few bits are stuck around their lips. Tipping is not very popular except in touristic places.

Mint sauce (chutney)

Alpaca – the Andean sheep, Llama – the Andean camel and Guinea pigs are meat specialties. I had Alpaca and Llama only once and while it was not bad, there is only so much meat I can happily eat. Ceviche the seafood is something I liked a lot and is very hardcore Peruvian. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of Llama and Ceviche dishes.

Alpaca meat. (Dinner at upscale restaurant - $6-$8)

Desserts are my weakness and cakes, pastries and icecreams are available everywhere. So are fresh fruit juice and milk shake stalls but avoid them if you are worried about your stomach.

Desserts and dark coffee - nothing like it really. (Dessert bars - $3-$5)

Street food:
There were a number of roadside vendors in most of the cities making barbecue meat or kebabs. This is hugely popular among the tourist crowd, especially the Israelis who are all over the place. I kept away from street food mostly except for Chicken kebabs until the last day when I committed the sin. Only 6 hours prior to my return flight, I ate fish on the street with a newly made friend and that was it. Within few hours, I was sick with diarrhoea and my whole return journey was ruined.

Its strange to write about food because unlike many travelers, I am not curious about food. Do let me know what you think. Maybe some day I’ll discover the joys of eating!

cheers,
Priyank.

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

• Andean Explorations - 9: Arequipa to Puno (24)
• Andean Explorations - 8: Trekking in Colca Canyon (18)
• Andean Explorations - 7: Andean Condors in Colca (26)
• Andean Explorations - 6: Arequipa (16)
• Andean Explorations - 5: Lima to Arequipa (8)

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

Ever since some European backpackers told me in broken English that “We make pictures at Penis temple”, I was curious to check that place out.

Inka Uyo

It’s a rock, it’s a farm, it’s an erect penis! The Inka Uyo

Chucuito (चुकुअीतो) is a little village about 18 km south of Puno along the coast of Lake Titicaca. There is nothing much to see here except for an archeological site called “Inca Uyo” (अीन्का अुयो). “Uyo”, in Quechuan (one of the original ‘native’ language of central Andes and the second largest spoken languages in Peru) literally means ‘penis’.

Dedicated to that idea, was the ancient Temple of Fertility at Chukuito. The site contains dozens of mushroom shaped erect penises few feet long. They are symbolically pointing towards the Inti (Sun God) and Pacha mama (Mother Earth).

A penis, hard as a rock, symbolically mating with Pacha mama, the Mother Earth

Someone told me that on specific days, virgin women arrive here at night, perform rituals to the God of fertility and sit on the phalluses. It is a symbolic ritual to increase their fertility.

A fake site?

Temple of Fertility

I was surprised that the Spanish left this site intact while they destroyed most of other Incan/Pagan temples. Infact, there is a large colonial church right next to this temple! The other thing I observed (and is quite obvious) was that the penises were circumcised… something that the Incas did not do. Some articles question the authenticity of the temple in its current form, although the authenticity of the stones itself is not questioned. Someone might just have rearranged and touristified what was otherwise a broken temple.

I purchased some phallic souvenirs and came back to Puno.

Look! A foreigner

Me and a school boy in a Combi

Traveling with local people in the crowded Combi was the best part of this journey. They were all staring at me, watching my every action, and even laughing at my broken Spanish. Earlier that day, a roadside banana seller told me in Spanish how to go to Chucoito (I was nodding as if I understood everything). From the local Collectivo stop in Puno, a ride to Chucuito costs only Uno (one) sol. The lady money collector however was teasing me and asking for “Uno Americano Dólar, Señor” (अुनो अामेरीकान्यो दोलर, सेन्योर) while I went “Si” (सी=yes) and joined the laughter.

A Collectivo could be any vehicle such as a bus, mini van or a car that is used for public transport. Specifically, a Combi is a shared taxi. The driver will wait until the vehicle is full and then leave. Often he will stuff more people in. Combi’s in Peru are the same as ‘Tuk-Tuk’ or ‘Phat-Phat’ (or any other names I dont know) in India or ‘Sherut’ in Israel or ‘Marshrutka’ in Russia or ‘Jitney’ in US/Canada.

Inside a Combi just before it got too crowded. Women are usually seen wearing round hats.

The rest of the town is pretty much typical - A Plaza de Armas, Churches, few shops around and houses and fields.

Colonial Church at the Plaza de Armas, Chucuito

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Puno Photo Gallery

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

• Andean Explorations - 9: Arequipa to Puno (24)
• Andean Explorations - 8: Trekking in Colca Canyon (18)
• Andean Explorations - 7: Andean Condors in Colca (26)
• Andean Explorations - 6: Arequipa (16)
• Andean Explorations - 5: Lima to Arequipa (8)