The gateway to Taquille Island on the Peruvian half of Lake Titicaca. Apparently this island still follows traditional customs, for example all the men wear nightcaps, various colours, sizes and style of wearing show their martial status. Another example of following customs is their notion of a three year trial marriage, where man and woman live together but the man has the ability to break it off after three years. Wonderful.
The Peruvian half of the lake also has floating islands made from reeds, the islands are maintained by putting more reeds on top of one another when ever they rot away. There have been many suggestions that the islanders are planted for tourists, I myself remain unsure of these islands. They are hugely commercialised but they desperately want tourists. The photo above shows the women waiting at the edge of their island to see if they get tourists that day, it is a lottery. The islands are very basic but have solar power and TV. Not completely sure about them but they were very cool and it was interesting to learn about them and their traditions, even if they no longer exist.
Part of the commercialisation is that I had to dress up in their clothes, yes I look amazing, the hat is incredible.
View over the islands, there are around 60 in total, each containing 3 to 5 families.
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