Island Tour: day 2 - Taquile

..as soon as I got out from under those blankets I wanted to immediately jump back in, it was quite cold in the morning. I was served pancakes for breakfast with a hot Munia tea, a mint herb abundantly growing in the area. Still feeling the cold I ate them with shaky hands, but enjoying the taste:))

Around 8:00 a.m. we all met up at the little harbor and boarded our boat to go to Taquile, the last of the islands in the tour. It took us more than an hour to reach it, even though it didn't seem very far. The lake is quite big and the distance perception changes. On the island we've had a plan to hike to the other side of it, on a gentle trail we were assured, to visit the town, have lunch, and head to Puno.

During the walk we stopped only once for a brief history and traditions lesson of the island and people inhabiting it. I found out that divorce is still not allowed in some parts of the island, but a young couple is also coached extensively before the matrimony. Also, the way and style of hats the locals wear signify different things: virginity, attracted to someone, in love with someone, married, etc.

In the town I met a group of Polish people, all with hefty life's experience (that's right, not my age group, he he:)), touring Peru with a Polish tour guide married to a Peruvian woman (yes, he was traveling in his young age too, came to Peru, and got stopped in his tracks by a Peruvian girl, for whom he stayed over here:)) However, I didn't have a lot of time to talk to them since my group was headed to lunch, and I was hungry as well. And, to my joy, for lunch we were offered a very tasty trout.

The boat ride home took about 3 hours, but afterwards, I went out for dinner and some drinks with the new friends that I made during the tour, two Buenos Aires natives. Funny as it was, the Polish group ended up in the same bar, out of quite a few in Puno, so I had couple of drinks with them at the end of the night, which gave a shaky walk home (..no, I wasn't that bad:)) Well, I felt the effects of alcohol a little bit since I hardly have been drinking during my trip (I'm saving money this way).