De regression a Puno

Hola. After we left Llachon, we travelled by boat for another hour to Taquile Island, a beautiful island in the middle of lake Titicaca. From the dock we walked for an hour with our local guide, Joven, up over the island (it was so steep) to the local village. Along the way he told us many stories about Lake Titicaca, from the mysterious city found under the water, to the giant frogs and sea horses that inhabit it. I would happily spend my life exploring this lake, and discovering the wonders below. The village itself was very small, so we were given 20mins to look around, before we headed to lunch. Lunch was served on the top of a roof overlooking the lake. It was amazingly beautiful. Just wait until you see the photos! Lunch was a veggie soup and I had the local trout, and Steve had an omelette. At lunch we also learnt about the marriage rituals of the island, which involves different kinds of hats and a wedding belt rather than a ring. It seems so fun! Apparently in order to let a girl know that your interested you use a small mirror to reflect the sun in her eye. If the girl likes him back, she uses her mirror to reflect the sun back to him. Also, once married, they are married for life. There is no divorce on Taquile Island! It was really cute to listen to these stories. After lunch we walked down millions of stairs (ok, maybe an exaggeration) to another dock and boarded our boat back to Puno, a three hour trip. When we got to Puno, we got a shuttle back to our hotel, and then after a shower went out to a local coffee shop to try a local Peruvian coffee, which has actually won an international award! Needless to say it was amazing, especially after this long without a coffee. We even bought a bag of coffee beans to take home (dad- will make sure we save you a cup!). After coffee, we met the group for a debrief about tomorrow, then went to dinner at a local restaurant, where we got to try what I had been waiting for: guinea pig!!! And let me tell you it did not disappoint! It tastes kind of like chicken, but the only downside was that there wasn't really a lot of meat. After watching the local traditional dances, which were awesome, we headed back to the hotel for a semi early night. Off to Cuzco tomorrow... 3 sleeps til the Inca trail!!! The excitement is growing!