Neal Bierling, Archaeological Adventures

Friday, September 26, 2014

Neal Bierling, Archaeological Adventures: Getting High in Peru, Year Two: 12,689 to 13,164 f...

Neal Bierling, Archaeological Adventures: Getting High in Peru, Year Two: 12,689 to 13,164 f...: On Lago Titicaca heading to Isla Taquile Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Sept 19, 20 & 21 A Two-night trip to Puno and Lago (Lake) ...

Getting High in Peru, Year Two: 12,689 to 13,164 feet high, Taquile

On Lago Titicaca heading to Isla Taquile

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Sept 19, 20 & 21

A Two-night trip to Puno and Lago (Lake) Titicaca—Here Isla Taquile

On-site map of the Lago and sights

From Islas de los Uros we boated to another island, one that has a firm foundation, Isla Taquile (about 35km/22 miles) east of Puno. It is small, only 7-sq-km, with perhaps two thousand residents, who speak Quechua. After getting off the boat, we hiked a gradual slope up to the top (13,164 feet in elevation) to the village. I noticed that a mudbrick structure under construction back in 2013 is now set up as a restaurant. If you have traveled to or lived on the Greek islands as I have, life on this island is similar. In fact, I told some students about the comparison recognizing that the cultures are different. Remember too, that this day was sunny and warm, even at 13,000 feet. After spending some time in the village square checking out the local textiles, and now that it was late afternoon, most of us put on warmer clothing due to the now cold breeze. It would be easy for me to relax on this island, and some people do overnight here—confirmed by Profe. The floating Uro Island overnight would be quite the experience (especially if you walk in your sleep), but here you actually have enough room to hike around and explore.

Beginning our ascent

I'm focusing on how many miles to Jerusalem

Another archway before the Plaza

While in the village square, we were taught about the local clothing traditions. For example, the women weave colorful and wide waistbands for their men. The men also carry a woven bag containing their coca supply. When the men meet each other they may swap coca leaves. When I heard this, I took out my coca bag from my vest and swapped some coca with a local resident. The pictures will also show him wearing a woven wool red cap. Red meaning that he is married, and other young men wear a red and white cap, meaning that they are available. They tried to get me to wear a red cap last year, but it was way too small, and I was unable to get it onto my head. It is said that the men rarely marry outside this island community.

In the Plaza learning about local customs above and below

Are they married now--red cap and wide waistband?

Another red cap--another marriage?

Our boat had moved to a different port. This way we were able to experience more of the island as we descended to the dock on another side of the island. Profe mentioned that back in her visit here in 2000 she had ascended and descended on this path. This island opened up to tourism around 1998. This is a steeper path and our earlier and easier ascent was a more recent construction.


This is the arch currently featured on Lonely Planet's latest edition on Peru.

I tried to capture all the students passing under it above and below.

Another arch a bit below the above. From here I 'shot' the students above me.

Once back on board and late in the afternoon, the winds stirred up the lake making for bigger swells. For a while, we were up to 11-12 mph; sometimes some water came over the stern; sometimes the boat slid sideways in the swell, so the pilot slowed down. One of the students asked if there was a problem, but I responded ‘no pasa nada.’ The pilot had slowed due to the swells, but then we did not arrive back to the Puno harbor until after sunset at 6 pm. Nine hours on Lago Titicaca. Wow! I have never spent that many hours on a boat on Lake Michigan. What a treat. The students had plenty of time to bond and to share. And now, some had enough time to do shopping before meeting in the restaurant for supper at 7:30 pm.

The students encountered sheep and the shepherdess on the trail


Profe remembers that she ascended and descended here in her 2000 visit.	Paz.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Neal Bierling, Archaeological Adventures: Getting High in Peru, Year 2: Lake Titicaca, Islas...

Neal Bierling, Archaeological Adventures: Getting High in Peru, Year 2: Lake Titicaca, Islas...: Lago Titicaca with its Islas Flotantes (Floating Islands) Islas de los Uros y las Isla Taquile Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Sept 19,...

Neal Bierling, Archaeological Adventures: Getting High in Peru, Year 2: Lake Titicaca, Islas...

Getting High in Peru, Year 2: Lake Titicaca, Islas de los Uros

Lago Titicaca with its Islas Flotantes (Floating Islands)

Islas de los Uros y las Isla Taquile

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Sept 19, 20 & 21

A Two-night trip to Puno and Lago (Lake) Titicaca—Islas de los Uros y Isla Taquile

Our international group from the US, Columbia, and Mexico

We left for our trip to Puno and Lake Titicaca Friday afternoon around 4 pm, so we were able to see Misti, Chachani, and snow-covered Ampato as we left Arequipa and ascended. Profe had advised us to take cold-weather gear along since we would be boating and hiking above 12,500 feet. In addition, we ascended above 15,000 feet with the bus. Saturday morning was sunny and a few of us wore t-shirts for at least part of the day. This year we arrived here with 24 students from the US, Columbia, and Mexico.


On the boat above and below

Numerous boats waiting for passengers

A family trying to avoid us

A local fisherman

The channel through which we pass to get to the main body of Lago Titicaca

Our international group above and below

Love the sun.

Upper deck

There was a ring around the sun, but I forget its proper name.

We left the hotel a bit after 8 am to hop on board a boat to travel on Lago Titicaca. It took at least two hours to arrive at Islas Flotantes (Floating islands) inhabited by the Uros people. The man-made islands float on reeds approximately 7 km east of the Puno harbor. I had my GPS and noted that the fastest our boat went was 9.5 mph. But we were on the lake for 9 hours covering about 75 km (approx. 40 miles) roundtrip. I remember reading about this lake and these islands decades ago in National Geographic, but I never dreamed about coming here since for the past 40 years (1972-2012) my life was devoted to archaeological work in the Middle East. And now, here I am for a second time. What a treat.

One of the floating islands

Explanation talk about the island

First off, once we disembarked from the boat onto the reed surface of the island, we were presented with a talk on the island construction and many of us ate pieces of the totora reed, the hearts of, which add fiber to the diet. The reeds are used to construct the homes and boats, and the students were treated to a reed-boat ride (Profe paid). The roots of the totora reeds are buoyant. They tie clumps of it together and then pile the reed tops in a crossway fashion on top. The islands are anchored, so we tied the boat to the island and stepped on the soft and springy reeds.

These particular islands are geared for and survive solely from tourist dollars and are fairly new. But, originally, the small Uro tribe fled to the lake and constructed the islands to escape the more aggressive on-shore tribes. The Uros speak Aymara language. The families live, fish, and use the tourist dollars to buy other staples. The children, who you will see in the pictures, are boated to school. These islands have solar panels to provide light in the evening. Some of the pictures will show some of us gathered around the small homes.

Birds are part of their diet

It is possible to overnight here, which Profe and I could do at some point in the future since we have additional questions about life on the islands. It was interesting to watch the little children go right to the water’s edge to play. When the students boarded a reed boat, they needed to be careful to not step into the water. Since the reeds do rot, newly cut reeds are constantly piled on top, but in some places I noticed water seeping up onto my shoes—more reeds here please.

Too soon after the students returned from a ride in a reed boat, it was time for us to depart for another island, Isle Taquile. Some of the Uro residents here waved ‘adios’ to us. For me, this was another interesting visit. Paz.

Back on the boat and heading for the next stop--next post, IslaTaquile