Puno is an international tourist destination, probably by the same people that also come to visit Cusco and Machu Pichu. It has a few museums, many hotels, and plenty of trips to different parts of the lake. The street traffic is as crazy as all over Perú and takes a lot of skills to drive through the city. Very popular is the local version of the auto rickshaw:
Being so close to the lake we were anxious to take the tour of the lake and the islands. First we landed on the floating island of the Uro people. This people inhabited the shores of the lake until the arrival of the Incas. At this point they decided to build islands using the reeds growing on the shores. That allowed them to put some distance with the unwelcome visitors.
With time they started the reeds not only to build the floating islands but also to build boats and houses.
Today these people lives out of tourism, and they have well prepared shows to keep the tourists interested.
Our next stop was in the Taquile Island. This is a real island inhabited by some 2500 people.
They live out of agriculture and a little out of the tourists. They grow all sort of vegetables like corn, different varieties of potatoes and wheat and complement their food with fish and some chicken. The island is very clean and they make full use of the available land by terracing the slopes of the hills.
Life is hard in the island. They struggle to make the most out of limited resources but maintain strict ethics to preserve their life style. As an example, they forbid the tourist from giving tips to the local kids, otherwise they will skip school trying to collect more tips.
It looks like a paradise, however I don’t know whether I would like living in such a remote place.
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