Puno, Peru

Feb. 23, 2006-Low O
(Photos:Reed island,
Baby Anita,
Reed boat,
Wet landing)

I read this email to David and he said that it was not up to my usual standard. My brain just needs more oxygen. This is the edited version. Such a critic! Maybe it was because he was one of three in our group who had a night of Montezuma’s revenge. Most of us also feel as if we’ve been run over by a truck. We would have to be here a lot longer to be comfortable with the thin air. I learned that blood gets thicker after two weeks due to the production of more red cells. We’ve all decided we’ll never visit Nepal or Tibet. I’ll never climb Mt. Everest. Some have had incessant dreams, not nightmares, but just constant dreaming. I don’t know how athletes adjust in a week. Oh yes, they’re young and incredibly fit. Everyone in the group exercises but, alas, we’re old. We’re all over fifty-five. I think the meds help with dizziness and headaches, but breathing is a chore. I pity those with emphysema.

Predictions for a cold and rainy day were wrong. We put away our ponchos, umbrellas, and winter coats and slathered on sunscreen. This is a very congenial group even though there are only two couples out of sixteen people who are on their first marriages. We have two honeymooners, two doctors, a nurse, and a PhD in psychopharmacology.

Charo, our guide, joked that a llama can carry 80 lbs. If any more is loaded on their feelings get hurt. They spit, lay down, and tears pour from their eyes. They won’t eat and can starve to death from the insult. Peruvian women can carry 130 lbs. Men say they’d rather have two wives than four llamas.

Military service was compulsory for men and women until 2000. Their military is shrinking now that it’s voluntary while Chile keeps buying more armor and planes. Chile is a force to be reckoned with and has taken land from its neighbors in the past. The Andean Community is getting off the ground ala the European Union. It now includes Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Columbia, and Peru. Argentina wants to join too.

Reed Culture

Before we went to the reed islands in Lake Titicaca, we made some stops to see how totora reeds were used. They eat them, feed them to animals, dry them and build houses, make mattresses, use them for fuel, and build islands with them. We saw three generations of a family making mattresses. The men cut and haul the reeds from the water. Families own an area of reeds and replant them but don’t own that part of the lake. Women weave the reeds between strings made from straw. They’re easy to keep clean and bugs don’t like the smell. The children rolled around in the dry cuttings while we snapped photos. We’ve noticed that the Indians have perfect teeth and don’t need braces. Even the older ones have their teeth. They chew coca leaves that are rich in calcium. There are 200 kinds of coca leaves. Only three varieties yield cocaine.

Lake Titicaca is 3,340 square miles and 35 miles at its widest point. Jacques Cousteau measured the deepest point at 900-feet. The lake is warmer than the land. At night heat rises from the water and is trapped by the mountains making it possible to survive the severe winters. Since the mountains start almost immediately at the lakeshore there are few houses on the mountainside of the road and fewer on the shore. The houses that exist have bright blue outhouses and grow several varieties of potatoes. One gift that Peru gave to the world was the potato. They grow 7,000 kinds. The next gift is quinua. It has 20% more protein and vitamins than any other grain.

When we arrived in downtown Puno we took cholo taxis to the dock. They’re rickshaws propelled by tricycles at the rear. We raced each other in and out of traffic and our driver won. As we walked the rest of the way to our boat we passed boats with animal-shaped heads. They’re for hire for fun rides but when it’s slow they’re used to collect algae that grows so thick on the lake that birds walk on it. The algae are used for fodder and are considered healthy for humans too. Akron could have changed its algae-in-the-water- system from a problem into an industry.

Our 25-minute cruise was on a nice boat with an upper open deck and partially enclosed lower one. Life jackets were only required for the upper deck. It must be some form of natural selection. Landing and debarking was a kick! As I jumped off the deck onto the manmade reed island it felt like when I was a kid jumping on a mattress. There was definite give as we walked. One of our fellow travelers is an orthopedic surgeon and said it’s great for the back. We’d arrived on La Isla Uros Santa Maria. Uros are an indigenous tribe.

The island foundations are clumps of reed roots imbedded in the mud. Metal bars are inserted in them and they’re roped together. Anchors of stones are dropped to stabilize them and prevent too much drift in a storm. All is covered with green reeds. Since the reeds absorb the water, they rot and have to be added to every fifteen days. Wood framed houses are built on high reed foundations that last two months. It takes six men to lift the house when the foundation needs to be replaced. If you stand in one place too long your feet can get wet. One tourist lost a backpack after setting it down and walking away. We asked about children sinking into the reeds or drowning over the side of the island. They just nodded sadly and said it happens but parents are vigilant.

These are the friendliest, happiest, most gracious people. Their skin is naturally dark but it takes on a ruddy appearance, as they get older. That’s due to windburn and frostbite. The children are adorable even though my sunglasses terrified a nine-month old, Anita. She was too adorable. She wore a red knit hat with a brim. Even though they’re not prone to skin cancer they do cover up. Her little green jacket was embroidered with red and yellow flowers, and below her red pouf of a skirt were pink booties. Delicious! They’re very unlike the Bolivians we saw who never smiled.

Nine families (forty-five people ) live on the island. Food is communal and families take turns with chores. Children go to elementary school on another island but have to pay for education beyond that in the city. They go to other islands for mates. Dating starts when a group goes to another island for a volleyball game. Volleyball is popular and one way to attract a girl is to toss a volleyball at her. Small reed boats are used for trysts in the reeds where the couple can’t be seen. When it’s serious the boy will come after the girl’s parents are asleep. Because weddings are two-day affairs and very expensive couples live together several years during which time they may have children. When they have enough saved they go ashore to be married at the Catholic church. The bride wears an elaborate white shawl, red skirt, and a fancy bowler hat. There has never been a divorce on that island.

Burials are on shore. They have a section of the cemetery to use. Funerals are expensive and some of the poorest people wrap the bodies in blankets and leave them in the mountains. Cremation isn’t an option. They believe that the soul burns with the body and won’t be reincarnated.

They treated us to fry bread just like the Navajos make and shared some of their medical knowledge. Flamingo soup is eaten by pregnant women two weeks before they’re due and during labor. It eases discomfort and relaxes the cervix for easier dilation. A drink of fruit juice and frog prepared in a blender is their version of Viagra. Clay rich in magnesium is used for indigestion. They have to travel five-minutes by boat to the latrine so they better have a good cure for the runs. They need a good diuretic since many women suffer from heart disease, edema, and kidney problems. They live a sedentary life and drink the slightly salty lake water.

The villagers were so wonderful to us we wanted to buy some of their wares, but I couldn’t find a tapestry I liked. One woman even rowed to another island where she had something she thought would work. It didn’t. As we were leaving I spotted a Quechuan hat and bought it right off the lady’s head. It’s very colorful and will look great hanging on a wall.

I now have a mysterious non-itching rash on the back of my hand. I think it came from shaking hands with the people on the reed island. One little girl was fascinated with my skin and freckles and kept stroking my hand.

Nick and Louise in our group brought Halloween false teeth and entertained the kids. They also distributed balloons and candy with permission of the parents. They did this in a marketplace as well and we felt like Pied Pipers. The kids knew what to do with the balloons. It’s carnival. They filled them with water and threw them at each other. We sailed off in a large reed gondola powered by four men and went to the next island, which was much like the first. We had three native children aboard and during the fifteen-minute ride they sang us a song, which gave me the idea to ask if they knew some of our songs. They chimed in with the Spanish version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Old McDonald. They knew Frer Jacques in French then I got them all on their feet and we did the Hokey Pokey.

Happy Landings

When we went back to town the bus took us to a lookout point for a photo op. There was a statue of Manco Kapac the male founder of Incan civilization. Where Mama Ojillo his partner in creation was I don’t know. There was a huge stone curving slide that some of us couldn’t resist. Charo warned us that the turn was nasty so we practiced on the smaller one. Two of us tackled the larger slide & I turned at the curve and came down sideways. I landed at the bottom on the stones and in a puddle. No ground up tires to cushion landings here. I had a scratch on my wrist and walked around with wet pants the rest of the day. David was really angry that I tried it.

The coca museum was next. It turned out to be a video on the tribal costumes for carnival. There was a group that put on blackface to represent the slaves from Africa. It was explained that slavery was abolished in 1854. Spaniards thought the blacks had a black soul, whites had a white soul, and Indians who were neither had no soul and weren’t human. There was only a tiny exhibit on the history of coca. Blessedly we couldn’t get into the church on the square. There was a political rally and the streets were blocked.

As far as our group is doing altitude-wise, two requested oxygen last night. It was brought to the room and they breathed it until their heart rate slowed. Then the hotel clerk took it back to the desk. The 86-year-old woman with us who has managed to keep up just fine was not one who needed oxygen. Most of us didn’t sleep well and when we had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night we were short of breath when we got back in bed. I took deep slow breaths until my heart rate slowed but it was definitely unpleasant. Most are reporting that when they blow their noses it’s slightly bloody. That’s probably from the dryness as well. Lima is at sea level so there’s hope. Since this is getting to be too much information I’ll end. We need to pack for our flight to Lima tomorrow. They’re strict about weight. We may have to give all the water we bought away.

Toby