The Long Way Down, Up and Around: April 29 - May 2: 700km to Lake Titicaca

The view over Lake Titicaca. It is great-lake sized - you can just barely see the mountains on the horizon.

The real reason to visit Lake Titicaca, other than seeing something that resembles Lake Erie at 14,000 feet with the Rockies coming out of it, is to take a trip back in time.

There are indigenous communities living on islands where life hasn´t changed very much in, oh, maybe a 1,000 years.

The Spanish never colonized the area, and urban life never really intruded. Electricity didn´t arrive until a few years ago, when solar panels became affordable for villagers.

There are people living on islands made of reeds. People weave textiles that look just like the ones in the museums (which are hundreds, or thousands of years old). Until lately, all these communities were completely self-sufficient.

If there was ever some sort of terrible apocalypse in the modern world, these people might never hear about (ok, well today, they probably would). But their lives would probably hardly change.

Coming from the fast-paced US, where change is constant and progress is a sacred concept, this place blew my mind. What a different world.

Picturesque place for a soccer game. I´ve noticed that on Sunday a lot of the taxis wind up parked near soccer fields and the entiere

Huge, welcoming signs for villages in the middle of nowhere. But it does feel nice to pass these.

Funny little rickshaws.

Welcome to Lake Titicaca - these people actually live their whole lives on these beds of reeds. No way.

Slow down and show your ticket! And don´t hit the cows with your boat.

Getting around the old-fashioned way.

People live on reeds, build houses with reeds, and get around in reed boats.

Welcoming the visitors! Folks here speak Aymara, while everyone around them speaks Quechua. Spanish is a second language in most of Peru except for the big cities.

Home hasn´t changed in thousands (?) of years? Except for that solar panel.

A diorama modeling village life on the reeds.

The locals still live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. They fish, hunt ducks, collect eggs, and trade some of this for potatoes and corn from the mainland.

Duck-hunting demonstration. The gun is a matchlock, by the way. It´s probably 300 years old - we are talking revolutionary war technology.

She remembers a time before tourists and solar panels.

Creative take on the view from our teaching aid.

Children are cute in every culture.

Getting rowdy around town.

The kitchen. Really.

Local entrepreneurs opening restaurants.

And a convenience store.

Getting around in a reed canoe. This technology hasn´t changed in thousands of years.

Day 1 - Meeting our homestay hosts. Do they also look at us and think ¨hey, all these white people dress the same way?

The local deal guy. Homestay schedule.

There are about 10 communities on the island and they rotate who gets to host tourists. It´s a pretty big supplement to their subsistence-farming way of life.

The view from our house. Pretty nice.

And down towards the rest of the house. People don´t really use railings around here... not usually a problem, but it does make me a little nervous when I have to use the bathroom after dark (which, is downstairs).

My room. Simple but nice. Also, I haven´t seen central heating since... Boston? It gets chilly (like, near freezing) at night.

Local architecture. The folks here lead simple but dignified lives. No trash, no litter, and everything was well kept. It was a really uplifting experience.

A sack full of an altiplano relative of the potato.

A glimpse of local life.

Tourists against a spectacular sky.

The view across Lake Titicaca. They get some hairy weather out here - just the night before it hailed. The altitude, mountains and moisture off the lake are an explosive combination.

Temple - not ruins - it is still used by the local for festivals (including some offerings to the gods! really!).

Saying goodbye to our host. And yes, I am aware that I need a haircut.

Next - traditional weaving. There isn´t much of a distinction between traditional and modern here - all the ¨traditional¨stuff is just normal. There is no ¨modern.¨