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Those floating villages fascinate me. I really wanted to go and see them when I went to Peru for the Milennium, but didn’t have the time.
Also… small bit of useless information… one of the world’s rarest birds, the Giant Pied Billed Grebe, known locally as the “Poc”, lives on that there lake.
Bet you’re glad you know that!
@Lee wrote:
Those floating villages fascinate me. I really wanted to go and see them when I went to Peru for the Milennium, but didn’t have the time.
Lee, they were very cool and I had high hopes for the lake and the Puno area and I was not disappointed.
They are pretty heavily visited but there are a bunch of them of varying sizes. This is where a good guide came in handy. While we transited out to the lakes on a boat filled with groups going to visit the islands our guide got us away from them and had us taken to an island that was small and one that he knew the occupants personally.
Other than the inhabitants we had the isalnd to ourselves. They showed us thier homes and how the island is constructed etc. While I did buy some embroidery and a few other trinkets, it was by no means the hard sell that some of the other islands are known for.
All in all it was pretty cool and a place that since I was young and saw it on a Cousteau docu had always wanted to go see, so it was a lifetime experience for me and my partner.
More snaps to come.
Best,
StivMe? A Llama? Apparently so!
This world famous peak behind the ruins – Huayna Pichu…
Did you climb it?
At 15:00hrs on the 1st January 2000 I sat up there being interviewed by a team from the BBC. There was also a guy up there who’d managed to evade the guards the previous evening and spent the night on top to see in the milenniuim with his Fender Stratocaster, would you believe?!
Great stuff, and excellent pics Stiv. Really like the lizard with the backdrop.
Damn!
No way I have issues with height and falling from it. We did see folks that were doing it so I’ll tip my hat to you and them. Not my bag really at least not without lots or ropes, railings and fences etc On there other hand I also saw lots of touristos hauled away in the back of ambulances for a variety of reasons. This was a trip I was very happy to have invested some sheckles in an insurance policy.
I can certainly understand the allure those hills/peaks have though :?
Best,
StivGreat pics, both.
You make me feel intrepid, Stiv. I climbed up Huayna Picchu 2 days running (having got there soon after dawn – walking, not on a bus – we retreated up HP as soon as the tourist buses arrived, until they left). But that was 30 years ago. I know I couldn’t do it now – the poor abused lungs, apart from anything else. One day we had an interesting conversation sitting at the top with a German nuclear scientist working in Brazil.
The worst bit for me was getting down to the river from MP, straight down, cutting across the zigzags of the bus road. My knees turned to jelly and then stopped functioning altogether. I had to punt myself down the rest of the way on my bum, bump by bump. (Penta’s arse in action.) The next day I took the long route, by the bus road.
It’s encouraging to see, with all the tourist depredations around the world, that in MP nothing much changes. More people, no doubt, but there’s not a lot they can do to ruin it.
:lol:
Funny that gives me quite the mental picture.
Thanks Penta.
I actually think the Peruvians are going to have some issues to deal with as it is the infrastructure is starting to show signs of strain. The airport in Lima was in chaos mode because of all the flights to Cuzco alone.
Aguas calientes is going to be a zoo, it kind os is already around the bus and train stations. Poor quality buildings (say hotels) springing up like weeds. The only thing MP doesn’t have…yet, is wheelchair and handicap acsess.
They have some real issues to confront in the next ten years. Take the money and run or try and preserve some reasonable notion of identity.
Best,
Stiv@Lee wrote:
Yes on both counts. Film and wife.
Wow very impressive got to love gals with that kind of moxie. :shock:
When my gal pal zip lined in Costa rica (Something I never in one hundred years thought she would do, picture Eva Gabor in a helmet) I realized it wasn’t just her head that was hard. Again with the altitude sickness in Peru she showed me just how tough she really is.
Best,
Stiv
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