Headed South for the Winter

Buenos Dias:)

It has been a pretty quiet week, mostly migrating South on buses toward colder and colder weather. Our last day in Cusco we went to Pisac, yet another amazing site in the Sacred Valley. Derrik and I had visited Pisac on our trip to Peru during the rainy season but it was like seeing a totally different place during the dry season (winter is their dry season). It was also quite the treck with the sun beating down on us as we climbed the 1000 meter mountainside while already starting at 3000 meters! That night we caught a bus for Puno. Unfortunately, the old lady behind me was quite large and refused to let me put my seat back all the way. I tried to explain that I had paid for a full reclining seat so if she can't fit she should move but my broken spanish and her stuborness weren't going to make that happen, so I spent the next 6 hours trying to sleep straight up. We arrived in Puno at 5am so we hung out and grabbed some breakfast until we could check in to our hostal. We spent the day wondering around the tiny city of Puno located right on the banks of Lake Titicaca. Joining a boat tour of the lake, we were able to see and learn more about this beautiful place. Lake Titicaca is the largest lake in South America and straddles the border of Peru and Bolivia. On our tour, we were able to visit the Uros islands. These islands are pretty amazing because they are artificial islands. That's right, they are all man made! Using the reeds that grow in the lake, people are able to use their roots and the shafts to build large floating islands for their family and friends. This system first began during the time of the Incans when another minority population was trying to flee persecution by the Incas. They first began by living on reed boats off the shore of Puno and eventually began building these islands. Many people still live on them too which was very cool to see. Later, the tour took us to Taquile Island, a place famous for its tradition and handicrafts. It is an interesting place because it is not the women who knit the handicrafts, but the men, and they are quite famous for it. Some of the things they knit are hats for the community. These hats are worn for a very specific purpose: to show marital status. If a person is wearing a red hat it means that they are married, but a red with white hat means that they are single. Children wear colorful hats and leaders wear colorful hats with a black one over it. While we were ther, the people of Taquile were at the end of a festival to celebrate the new year (the Andean year just began on the 1st). They had a huge performance in the plaza where the married men and women danced and played music in fancy costumes. The women wore large colorful peticoats and the men wore pants and colorful shirsts in addition to wearing their wife's braided hair attached to their heads! Its amazing to see these traditions still being practiced today. The next day we took a 6 hour day bus to Arequipa. This major city is so beautiful and likely much more wealthy than the places we have been so far. We have just been wondering through the city, eating good ceviche and shopping mostly. We might take a trip to Colca canyon, which is deeper than the Grande Canyon, or climb the active volcano Misti located right next to the city in the next couple days.. the adventure continues:)
Love you guys!