Morning in Taquile

After last night's roaring party on Amantaní, this morning we the crew said our farewells to Amantaní and to our one-night-stand families there, and headed for the next island on the Peru side of Lake Titicaca: Taquile. On this famous island, we completed the arduous hike from lakeside to village, we relaxed in the sleepy town, and we checked out the local craftsmanship offerings.

Back on our boat, it was only a short ride of about ½ an hour from Amantaní to Taquile. Once we reached Taquile, we hopped off the boat, and commenced the island's infamous 500-stair hillside ascent, from the lake's shores to the island's town centre. I was feeling pretty damn energetic this morning, after the party and a solid sleep last night; so I powered up the stairs, ahead of everyone else, and enjoyed the fabulous views along the way.

View while climbing Taquile.

Unfortunately, when I reached the top of the island ahead of everyone else, I took a different path to my mates. I headed straight for the town centre; and once there, I sat down and waited for the others to catch up (assuming that they couldn't be that far behind). However, they'd taken another road, that went around the island on a fairly big detour, and that passed through a set of ruins, before curving back around to the town centre. So I was waiting quite a while for them; and when they finally arrived, I realised that I'd missed out on the ruins that they saw (although they assured me that I hadn't really missed much).

Main square of Taquile.

Apart from running up endless stairways like a madman, and getting lost, I also did some hat shopping in Taquile, and relaxed over some chocolate and a bottle of Inka Kola. Then, it was time for us to return to our boat, and to a long ride of 3½ sleepy hours back to Puno, over the expansive blue waters of Lake Titicaca.