Taquile Island.

Located on the Titicaca Lake, Taquile Island possesses 5.72 square/km of fertile lands on which inhabit some 300 Quechua families that live keeping their ancestral customs.
The special and beautiful cloth that they wear, are product of their textile art, as old as the same history.

Taquile Island was a two-hour trip away from Amantani Island. Here, we hiked the stunning and beautiful island which is a half a mile wide and four miles long. It is littered with Inca and Pre-Inca stone ruins.
The hillsides are laced with Inca stone agricultural terraces. Initially, we climbed up 866 steep` feet , viewed the famous textiles of the island, had lunch and then climbed down some 580 steep steps back to our boat for the four-hour trip back to Puno.

Heights of the village which one reaches after having climbed more than 500 steps, From this arch are the sight on the lake, the bay of Puno, Bolivia in the fogs and the altiplano reward for all the climbing efforts.

An interesting footnote, i.e., the men do the knitting in this culture.



Arriving in Puno, we went to a cafe for a cup of coffee and a sweet treat to come back to civilization.

Click here to find out more about Peruvian coffee.

We left vibrant, lively Puno that evening all too soon to go to Cusco. It seems that there is little time to do everything that we want to do. However, we are making a good effort, I think.