Titicaca - Where Men Knit and Villages Float

What a lovely day on the lake. Titicaca is renowned for its floating islands, which together create the village of Uros. The village consist of many floating family homes, which are anchored down and can be moved in times of unrest to calmer waters. Everything is built of buoyant totora reeds. These same reeds are used to build their homes and traditionally even their boats. The outdoor kitchens do have stones for the fireplace, but other than that it's pretty much totora all round.

The islands are built from layers of totora and have to be constantly replenished from the top as they rot from the bottom. Walking on these island is springy and soft - reminiscent of jumping on the bed as a child.

However, we tourists have done our work all too well. Little was left of the original magic of the place - each float seemed to have a tour boat moored to it and the main livelyhood appeared to be selling knicnacks to tourists.

A happier surprise was the visit to Taquile island, where the 2250 inhabitants still ply their traditional trades - fishing, farming, handwork - seemingly undisturbed by the occasional tourists. And what lovely handworks they made! 

Here handworks are a unisex industry. All the lads have to knit their own bachelor hats (red with a white tip). And on the ferry back all the men were knitting. Such skill! Using the thinnest of thread and making intricate and colourful designs.

Taquile had its own hat code. Pointy red caps with white tips for bachelors, all red caps for married men. People in Taquile first live together for two years after which they decide either to marry or separate. Should a couple marry, its for life and divorce is unheard of. In the state between marriage and bachelorhood - when cohabiting with a potential future wife - the men wear bachelor caps, but also colourful man-bags, which are usually worn only by married men. Now wouldn't it be practical for us single girls to see at a glance if someone is single or not?