After Uros, it was back on the boat for another 3 hours to get to Amantani island, which had pre-Colombian ruins worth seeing. This is where we were to spend a night with a family, and experience the islander way of life. Some people living on this island had never left it! There is a hospital on the island that is only used only for emergency broken bones. For everything else, a shaman is called and the patient is treated by placing a live guinea pig on his body, which is allowed to run all over the patient’s body to create a mirror image in its body. The guinea pig is then killed, cut open, and based on what issues the shaman determines in the body of the guinea pig, the shaman mixes potions with herbs and other plants, feeds it to the patient, and within 2 weeks, he is cured! So they say.
On Amantani we had a traditional lunch of vegetable barley soup, and an omlete, with a side of Munia tea – an herb that sort of tastes like mint, but is supposed to help you with altitude sickness and provide you with the energy to climb to the top of the island. I kept plucking any Munia I found on the way to the sacred temple situated at the top of the island, and stuffing the crushed leaves under my nose for an extra kick of energy, which I was so lacking at that point...I probably did this, oh, every 2 minutes! We were also told that walking uphill backwards helps. Someone could have told me to do the freakin’ chicken dance at that point as I climbed and if I thought it would make it easier I would have! I’ve never felt so weak in my life! The natives of the island climb up to the temple regularly, with luggage on their backs, in layers and layers of traditional clothing. The temple is quite a ways up from where the homes are (the homes stop at the midpoint of the island because natural spring water only reaches that point...beyond that point, the only thing you see at a distance at the tip of the mountain is the temple). Which we made it to. Breathless. And walked around the centre 3 times for good luck.
On Amantani we had a traditional lunch of vegetable barley soup, and an omlete, with a side of Munia tea – an herb that sort of tastes like mint, but is supposed to help you with altitude sickness and provide you with the energy to climb to the top of the island. I kept plucking any Munia I found on the way to the sacred temple situated at the top of the island, and stuffing the crushed leaves under my nose for an extra kick of energy, which I was so lacking at that point...I probably did this, oh, every 2 minutes! We were also told that walking uphill backwards helps. Someone could have told me to do the freakin’ chicken dance at that point as I climbed and if I thought it would make it easier I would have! I’ve never felt so weak in my life! The natives of the island climb up to the temple regularly, with luggage on their backs, in layers and layers of traditional clothing. The temple is quite a ways up from where the homes are (the homes stop at the midpoint of the island because natural spring water only reaches that point...beyond that point, the only thing you see at a distance at the tip of the mountain is the temple). Which we made it to. Breathless. And walked around the centre 3 times for good luck.
After the temple, we got to return to our family homes, have a traditional dinner, and then get dolled up in traditional island clothing to head to the local dance club. Layers and layers of clothing, and an extra layer of black cloth just would not stay on my head. Island women do everything with it perfectly on their heads. I guess it’s like the Indian saris and the women who do everything with layers of cloth wrapped around them. I danced for about 30 minutes before I couldn’t handle the heat anymore, and had to get my host mom to help me remove some of the layers of clothing underneath. All this was done under public eye, because there were so many layers of cloth no one could see anything anyway!
One thing that was amazing, on an island with barely any electricity or night lights, were the endless stars we could see. After dancing we stayed on to catch a glimpse of some shooting stars, which meant we had to let our host mom, who was our guide back home through the dirt paths, return home alone. “Of course we can find our own way back home, how hard can it be – it’s just dirt path after dirt path!” Yeah, we definitely got lost, in the dark, with nothing but a small flashlight. Luckily we found someone back at the dance club who knew our host family and walked us home. It cost us a heavy 14 Soles though, which we were not happy about (as a taxi ride in Cusco is a mere 3 Soles). Ah well, we were home, and away from the all the night creatures on the island who were staring to stir.
One thing that was amazing, on an island with barely any electricity or night lights, were the endless stars we could see. After dancing we stayed on to catch a glimpse of some shooting stars, which meant we had to let our host mom, who was our guide back home through the dirt paths, return home alone. “Of course we can find our own way back home, how hard can it be – it’s just dirt path after dirt path!” Yeah, we definitely got lost, in the dark, with nothing but a small flashlight. Luckily we found someone back at the dance club who knew our host family and walked us home. It cost us a heavy 14 Soles though, which we were not happy about (as a taxi ride in Cusco is a mere 3 Soles). Ah well, we were home, and away from the all the night creatures on the island who were staring to stir.
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