Remember your primary school geography?

What? Where and when did you go to school? Yes it was a long...long...time ago. In fact the teacher...yes we did have a teacher and not digital you tube learning ha!...used chalk to write on the blackboard. And...and...and we had been drummed into our classroom...lining up in a single line and marching to the beat...it was at least ten years after WWII...having repeated like parrots our commitment to Australia and the Queen of England. Waste of time would you say? Yes I agree. Time Australia became a Republic but.....
So what has that to do with your present travel topic? Well I am of that age where I can't stop thinking back...to...hearing about Lake Titikaka! The largest and highest fresh water lake in the world! And...and...all of a sudden I am there. Amazing!!

On the shores of Lake Titikaka...in our hotel...and about to climb into a boat to spend some time (well, a day) on an island...with a family who spent time every year in New York, would you believe, attempting to interest New Yorkers in buying their craftwork and visiting them in their isolated existence. We had been invited for lunch and prepared ourselves for anything.

Yes lunch had been a minimalist experience. As had been their existence on this island. No running water...a visit to a spring would satisfy their need...an extensive display of handicrafts to tempt us...yet a solar panel and TV antenna...round and of an impressive size...led us to believe that their isolation was not as extensive as we had been led to believe... not to mention the solid brick house in which they lived.



Although I took photos of our lunch I wondered if .... would five different sorts of wrinkled small potatoes and chunks of cheese impress? No nor did some flour spread on concrete ... one of the brothers holding a flat stone and attempting to imitate a scene of cracking wheat to impress the tourists. But bigger and much better things were to come...on the island home of our guide. Here we couldn't believe our eyes! Things I had never heard of or imagined came our way in PUNO... see the next BLOG!