The Andean Explorer and Lake Titicaca
We have had another brilliant four days on board the Andean Explorer and enjoying Lake Titicaca. On leaving Machu Picchu, we returned to Cusco by train and minivan, arriving back at the same hotel to spend the night and reclaim the rest of our luggage.
The next morning, Tuesday, we got a taxi down to Wanchaq station and boarded the Andean Explorer. This is a luxury train run by Belmond, which runs a number of different route options between Cusco, Puno and Arequipa. We had chosen the 1 day version as our means of getting from Cusco to Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. It’s a very scenic route over the Altiplano, peaking at the station of La Raya, which at 4,300m is supposed to be the highest station in the world with a regular train service.
The train left Cusco at 11am and arrived in Puno at 10pm, with lunch and dinner served on board. We remained on the train overnight to sleep. Unfortunately (at least for Belmond), the train was pretty empty - just 6 travellers in total and 22 staff to look after all of us! The tourist industry was obviously badly hit by Covid and whilst a slow recovery was under way, political unrest earlier in the year meant that the line was closed for 4 months and only re-opened in June. A number of countries (albeit not the UK Foreign Office) are still advising against travel to this region of Peru.
We met two Argentinian sisters on board and they transferred with us to the same hotel on Lake Titicaca, so we’ve seen a lot of them over the last four days and they have been great company. Some photos of the train and the wonderful scenery we passed through below.
Our hotel on the shores of Lake Titicaca has provided a very restful and relaxing interlude to our holiday. We’ve been delighted with all of the hotels we’ve chosen thus far - even the airport hotel in Lima got top marks, if only for being directly opposite the terminal - but this is a special place, about an hour out of Puno.
The hotel is a bit unprepossesing from the outside, a bit like a 1960s ‘architect-designed’ house although it’s only been here since 2015. Inside it’s much nicer and the views are to die for. It only has 18 rooms, so very much a boutique hotel, and for the reasons quoted above it’s half empty. But the atmosphere is lovely, all very friendly and relaxed and they can’t do enough for you.
The hotel operates on an ‘all-inclusive’ basis, including a variety of activities. On our first day, we went out in a small boat to look at the bird life in the reed beds that fringe the lake.
On the next day, Thursday, we joined a day trip with our two new Argentinian friends to explore two of the indigenous island cultures. The hotel has it’s own launch and we were taken about an hour and a quarter across the lake to visit a floating reed island, where 5 families in the local Uros community live. There are over 100 such islands in the fringes of the lake. We suspect these communities are not going to survive much longer and are already reliant on government support and tourism. Our hotel supports this particular community and they were very friendly and welcoming. We had a ride on one of their reed boats, were shown how they construct their floating reed islands and houses, and various other aspects of their culture. They eat the insides of the reeds, fish and eggs which they take from the birds nesting in the reeds. They barter fish for anything else they need in the local market. It all looks idyllic but it must be hard work, boring and really unpleasant in the rainy season. Still, they’ve had solar panels on the islands since 1997, so they can generate electricity and as well as the ubiquitous mobile phones, they apparently have TVs inside some of the reed houses!
From the Uros islands by boat on to the island of Taquile, which is UNESCO-recognised for its traditional way of life and its textiles. It is a largely self-governing community of 2,500 people, and very much a patriarchal society. The men knit and the women spin and weave. Each family is allowed a maximum of 15 sheep and they cultivate their plots growing quinoa, barley etc.. There is a small hospital on the island and both elementary and secondary schools.
We were treated to a display of traditional dancing and then taken to a family’s house which has a partnership with our hotel to provide lunch (shown below with our Argentinian fellow travellers).
Our guide explained the varieties of hats which are worn by the islanders - different colours for boys and girls up to the age of 5, then different hats for singles and married people. The photo below shows the use of the pom-poms on the adult hats - worn on the right it means “I’m happy”, worn on the left, “I’m sad”, worn at the back “I’m fine”.
All very interesting, but even with UNESCO support you wonder how long this traditional way of life will survive.
A lazy day around the hotel today (Friday) before our transfer to the Colca Canyon tomorrow. We are looking forward to sundowners at around 5.15pm. A couple of photos from last night’s drinks below.
