This is quite a large island, and the main feature here is that the local people offer a home stay with a local family. As we discovered these home stays can have quite differing experiences. The general concensus was "interesting".
(Left - arrival at the port for Amantani)
(Right - the local hosts line up on one side, whilst the tourists await to find who they will be hosted by.)
(Left - after being allocated a host family you start the long walk up the hillside to your home for the night. We estimated the walk to be about 1.8kms, and on a constant slope of around 30 degrees UP. We had frequent pauses, and fortunately we all carried back packs which made it a BIT easier.)
(Right - one of the rest stops.)
(Left - ever onward AND upward we dragged ourselves)
(Right - in some parts there were nicely la
yed paths to walk along - it was still hard going up, but a bit easier)
(Left - after being allocated a host family you start the long walk up the hillside to your home for the night. We estimated the walk to be about 1.8kms, and on a constant slope of around 30 degrees UP. We had frequent pauses, and fortunately we all carried back packs which made it a BIT easier.)
(Right - one of the rest stops.)
(Left - ever onward AND upward we dragged ourselves)
(Right - in some parts there were nicely la
yed paths to walk along - it was still hard going up, but a bit easier)
(Left - the view from the front yard of my host family - it is a long way down!!)
(Right - my host house. Notice the building high up
on the right of the picture!! Yes it is the toilet, construced over a large pit!! It quite freaked out the girls who were staying with me.)
(Left - the bedrooms that we used - upstairs. But we did have electric light in the room)
(Right - bedrooms were simply furnished, and other facilities provided - just in case!!!)
(Left - the bedroom was simply furnished, with three beds. There were adequate blankets but they weighed a "ton". The base was of wooden slats covered with a layer of bamboo. In the morning one of the wooden slats in my bed broke as I tried to quietly
arise)
(Right - my host father was obviously a farmer, and there were several types of potatoes drying outside. I noticed that the mother came out to collect some for the meals)
(Left - Mother at the far end tends the cooking on an open fire, whilst daughter prepares some of the food for dinner)
(Right - my host house. Notice the building high up
on the right of the picture!! Yes it is the toilet, construced over a large pit!! It quite freaked out the girls who were staying with me.)
(Left - the bedrooms that we used - upstairs. But we did have electric light in the room)
(Right - bedrooms were simply furnished, and other facilities provided - just in case!!!)
(Left - the bedroom was simply furnished, with three beds. There were adequate blankets but they weighed a "ton". The base was of wooden slats covered with a layer of bamboo. In the morning one of the wooden slats in my bed broke as I tried to quietly
arise)(Right - my host father was obviously a farmer, and there were several types of potatoes drying outside. I noticed that the mother came out to collect some for the meals)
(Left - Mother at the far end tends the cooking on an open fire, whilst daughter prepares some of the food for dinner)
(Right - the daughter prepares some vegetables)
(Left - daughter comes with three bowls of steaming potato soup for us. Dad stands on the left)
(Right - we were dressed in appropriate costumes, mostly made by the locals. These head coverings are amazingly effective.)
(Left - the sun sets over Lake Titicaca)
(Right - for the visitors, the locals put on a dance, and it is
expected that all will join in the tradition and be dressed appropriately. For the girls this appears to be a vert involved process with layer
s and layers of clothing. Our host mother and daughter applied themselves. Not quite sure of the match of the traditional clothes with the slacks that Geena is wearing!!!)
(Left - the dressing continues. In the back corner Sho-Shallah has completed with the black shawl)
(Right - Geena is tied off in the front!!)
(Left - by contrast the male dressing is much simpler - stick your head in the hole in the middle of the poncho and place a hat on your head. This costume is very warm, as I discovered through energetic dancing)
(Right - the locals put on a dance when there are enough visi
tors, with almost nonstop dancing to the music provided by two bands - one at each end of the hall)
(Left - my host family!! My Madre kept asking me to dance, and it fairly wore me out. The dances were all energetic, and considering the altitude it was quite an effort. But no amount of pleading got me off - they were determined that I would enjoy myself - even if it killed me!!)
(Right - we were dressed in appropriate costumes, mostly made by the locals. These head coverings are amazingly effective.)
(Left - the sun sets over Lake Titicaca)
(Right - for the visitors, the locals put on a dance, and it is
expected that all will join in the tradition and be dressed appropriately. For the girls this appears to be a vert involved process with layer
s and layers of clothing. Our host mother and daughter applied themselves. Not quite sure of the match of the traditional clothes with the slacks that Geena is wearing!!!)(Left - the dressing continues. In the back corner Sho-Shallah has completed with the black shawl)
(Right - Geena is tied off in the front!!)
(Left - by contrast the male dressing is much simpler - stick your head in the hole in the middle of the poncho and place a hat on your head. This costume is very warm, as I discovered through energetic dancing)(Right - the locals put on a dance when there are enough visi
tors, with almost nonstop dancing to the music provided by two bands - one at each end of the hall)
(Left - my host family!! My Madre kept asking me to dance, and it fairly wore me out. The dances were all energetic, and considering the altitude it was quite an effort. But no amount of pleading got me off - they were determined that I would enjoy myself - even if it killed me!!)
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