After Machu Picchu and Cusco we made our way to Puno, a small town on the shore of the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. It sits at 3,811 m above sea level on the border of Peru and Bolivia. Lake Titicaca is the highest commercially navigatable lake in the world.
Anna had some work on a boat where it had been agreed that we could stay. We arrived late so we decided to check into a hostel and find the boat the next day. In the morning we took a taxi to the boat. We didn't know much about the boat other than we were welcome to stay. We didn't know if it was a sail boat, a passenger boat, a cargo ship, if we'd have beds, hammocks of if we'd sleep on the floor. Turns out the boat, Yavari, is quite famous, not only is it mentioned in the guidebooks but it is also one of the main attractions that people come to see on the lake in Puno.
Yavari is the oldest iron hulled ship in the world. Its history is quite interesting. Yavari was built as a gunship in the UK in 1862 at the request of the Peruvian government. The ship was built in kit form with no piece weighing more than 3 ½ cwts, the maximum carrying capacity of a mule. The parts were then shipped to the port of Arica, a Peruvian port bofore the war of the Pacific. After this they were transported 40 miles by railway to Tacna and from here mules carried the parts the remaining 220 miles to Puno over the Andes. This journey was expected to take 6 months but actually took 6 years. Yavari went through various transformations over the coming years until in 1987 the Yavari Project was formed in an attempt to restore the boat. A full history of Yavari and details of the Yavari Project can be found on their website. Yavari is now open to the public daily from 8am to 5pm and also operates as a Bed and Breakfast on Lake Titicaca. Yavari does not sail at present but fund raising is underway to raise the required money to get Yavari sailing again. Fund raising details are available here.
Part of Annas work was photographing some of the Yavari merchandise that is available to purchase on the boat. This was going to be much easier to do if there was someone to model the clothes and hats. Luckily Niall and I were volunteered to act as models.
The second day on the boat the Captain took us to lunch in a local restaurant so we could try Cuy a local Peruvian dish. Cuy is a deep fried guinea pig. We arrived a little late and all but one of the guinea pigs were sold so Niall and I shared a dish.
After lunch Niall and I decided to wander down by the railway line by the lake. After walking for about 20 minutes we accidently stumbled upon a Peruvian band filming a music video. We kept our distance as we didn't want to disturb them. As soon as they spotted us they called us over and started chatting. First we were speaking with the singer and the guitarist but soon the director of the video joined in. The Spanish was fast and the accents strong but my general understanding was that they wanted us to join them in the music video. We agreed and at the end I gave them my camera so we'd have a photo of the occasion.
 |
| Sunset on Lake Titicaca |
Anna had some work on a boat where it had been agreed that we could stay. We arrived late so we decided to check into a hostel and find the boat the next day. In the morning we took a taxi to the boat. We didn't know much about the boat other than we were welcome to stay. We didn't know if it was a sail boat, a passenger boat, a cargo ship, if we'd have beds, hammocks of if we'd sleep on the floor. Turns out the boat, Yavari, is quite famous, not only is it mentioned in the guidebooks but it is also one of the main attractions that people come to see on the lake in Puno.
 |
| Yavari on Lake Titicaca |
Yavari is the oldest iron hulled ship in the world. Its history is quite interesting. Yavari was built as a gunship in the UK in 1862 at the request of the Peruvian government. The ship was built in kit form with no piece weighing more than 3 ½ cwts, the maximum carrying capacity of a mule. The parts were then shipped to the port of Arica, a Peruvian port bofore the war of the Pacific. After this they were transported 40 miles by railway to Tacna and from here mules carried the parts the remaining 220 miles to Puno over the Andes. This journey was expected to take 6 months but actually took 6 years. Yavari went through various transformations over the coming years until in 1987 the Yavari Project was formed in an attempt to restore the boat. A full history of Yavari and details of the Yavari Project can be found on their website. Yavari is now open to the public daily from 8am to 5pm and also operates as a Bed and Breakfast on Lake Titicaca. Yavari does not sail at present but fund raising is underway to raise the required money to get Yavari sailing again. Fund raising details are available here.
Part of Annas work was photographing some of the Yavari merchandise that is available to purchase on the boat. This was going to be much easier to do if there was someone to model the clothes and hats. Luckily Niall and I were volunteered to act as models.
 |
| Yavari clothing models |
The second day on the boat the Captain took us to lunch in a local restaurant so we could try Cuy a local Peruvian dish. Cuy is a deep fried guinea pig. We arrived a little late and all but one of the guinea pigs were sold so Niall and I shared a dish.
 |
| Cuy - deep fried Guinea Pig |
After lunch Niall and I decided to wander down by the railway line by the lake. After walking for about 20 minutes we accidently stumbled upon a Peruvian band filming a music video. We kept our distance as we didn't want to disturb them. As soon as they spotted us they called us over and started chatting. First we were speaking with the singer and the guitarist but soon the director of the video joined in. The Spanish was fast and the accents strong but my general understanding was that they wanted us to join them in the music video. We agreed and at the end I gave them my camera so we'd have a photo of the occasion.
 |
| Niall and I with the band |
 |
| The band performing without us! |
No comments:
Post a Comment