Truthfully, before setting out on my 15 hour journey, I was a bit worried about altitude sickness. Lying in bed with naseua and poorly working lungs does not constitute not my ideal trip, yet thankfully that did not come to pass. A 1,000 meter increase from my current altitude isn't that bad an adjustment.
After taking a day of rest to recover from the buses, I headed out to see the islands of Lake Titicaca. Moses, our tour guide, had the probably the most famous site in Puno, the Uros Islands, planned as the first stop on our day long tour. Named after the Uru people, the indigeous group that lives there, the 120 Uros islands are incredibly awesome (as in inspiring awe) for one simple yet mind-blowing fact. They are all man-made, crafted out of the native reed (totora). Everything from the floating islands to the houses are crafted out of the lake plant. Unfortuately, I am unable to cite Moses word for word, but basically every island is constructed out of pallets several yards in area that are formed out of blocks of root. These pallets serve as the main foundation of the islands and enable them to float, but to keep the floating islands from floating away, the pallets are anchored to the lakefloor with long eucalyptus poles. Finally, totora reeds are packed on top to form the surface. Incredibly, because it is made of natural plant material, the entire surface of the island is replaced every two weeks or so to prevent the homes from rotting away!
While engineering floating islands is impressive, to me the origin of the name "Uru" is even more impressive. "Uru" means indomitable, and the Uru people are proud of the fact that they were unconquered by either the Incan and Spanish Empires.
