Homestay experience

The homestay at Isla de Taquile was highly recommended by San Paul @ Inka Rest as well as by Lonely Planet’s South America on a Shoestring so we booked a night stay as part of our island visit to Lake Titicaca.

It turned out to be the highlight of our trip 🙂

Tip: We booked our homestay with Inka Rest, which cost S35/person, to be paid directly to the host. It includes the overnight stay plus dinner and breakfast. Another S35/person is for the boat visit to Uros as well as the transfer back to hostel the next day. (US1 = S2.7)

It was raining when we started the boat ride to Uros, the artificial floating islands. As mentioned by many online as well as guidebooks, they’re quite touristy and commercial, ie. the people try hard to sell you something. We were at the Santa Maria island (there are close to 60 floating islands with different names) and were given an introduction on how the artificial islands were formed. After that we were invited by villagers to their respective homes for a visit. Blue eyes and I, along with 3 other visitors, were invited by Rene to his home where he and his wife and two kids, Anita and Angel lived. It’s a small hut made by the same plant that formed the island. There’s a bed and everything else is hung around the house. Rene said the house was rebuilt four times in the last year.

After some small talk, Rene brought his kids and asked them to pose for photos with each of us. Then he led us out and showed his family’s handicrafts made by himself and his wife. They were very well done but I didn’t have any use as they’re mostly winter accessories such as woolen hats and scarfs – imagine wearing them in Malaysia! The table mats were too big to carry since we still have another 2.5 months of travelling to go. Blue eyes saw a hat that he liked and he decided to buy it.

Visitors are invited (for a small fee) to take a tour on their boats that are shaped like a puma. Before the boats departed, the local women lined up and sang some songs to wish them safe journey. They’re dressed in their traditional clothes, which are really colourful – bright orange, blue and red skirts, and straw hats.

Soon we were on our own boat, on the way to another Uros island. This one was bigger and has proper shops and restaurants. The rain got heavier so I sought shelter at one of the restaurants. We didn’t stay long on this island.

The ride to Isla de Taquile was 3 hours. By the time we arrived, the rain has stopped. We walked about 40 minutes up to the village plaza. Taquile has no vehicles or bicycles. To go from one part of the island to the other, the only option is by walking. We met our host, Celso at the plaza. Another traveler, Andrew from the UK, is also joining us for the homestay. Celso brought us to his home up on the other side of the hill – it was another 20 minutes walk – to put down our bags. We met his wife, Juana, who was at work (weaving), as well as his 5-year old son, Huatta.

We were shown our respective room, which was above expectation as there’s a bed with linen. The toilet, located about 20 metres outside of the room, is clean. There’s no running water but Celso prepared a large pail of water for flushing. There’re no electricity but Celso has a solar panel that offers about 3-4 hours of electricity in the evening.

After showing us around, we walked back to the plaza where Celso’s restaurant is located. We had lunch comprising soup, trout with vegetables and french fries, and tea. The total cost was S15/person.

After lunch, Celso brought us for a tour around the island, to visit some of the Inca ruins as well as the ceremonial worship for Pacha Mama, or Mother Earth. The island is quite a gem, almost immediately we felt calmer and more peaceful. The sun was shining by then and the skies were blue with some white clouds. Celso doesn’t speak much English and we barely speak Spanish but somehow communication wasn’t as difficult as we imagined it to be. We understood quite a bit of Celso’s description of the island and his village.

Men in Taquile are skillful weavers as well. During our walking tour, Celso was knitting most of the time as he’s making a winter hat. He says it takes about 3 to 4 days to finish. He learned how to knit at the age of 8 from his father. At the Pacha Mama altar place, we met another group of visitors and a fellow guide. Celso took out the coca leaves from his bag and exchanged them with his friend as a way of greetings.

We returned to Celso’s home around 5PM and rested until 7PM when we’re invited for dinner. Juana made omelette with rice, a simple meal but tasted good. After dinner, Celso and his nephew played us some local music using flute and drum. The evening ended with tea and good chats with our fellow traveler, Andrew.

We went to bed early after a tiring day. I woke up at 2.30AM with a bad tummy ache and had to visit the toilet. It was raining heavily outside and it’s dark but we brought our torchlights so the toilet visit went without much hiccup.

We woke up to heavy rain in the morning. We took breakfast, which comprised of pancake and bread with jam and tea. The rain stopped about 10AM and we took a stroll towards the beach. As we have to be at the jetty by noon for our boat ride, we didn’t manage to visit the beach area but saw it from afar. It’s a pity cos’ the sun was shining brightly by this time and the view of the lake was gorgeous.

We returned to Celso’s home to get our luggage. Celso had to gather some materials so he asked us to walk ahead. Blue eyes and I got a bit lost towards the end as Andrew was way ahead and we somehow forgot the route. Fortunately, after several turns and some annoyance on my part, we found Celso’s place.

We bid Celso and his family goodbye, and thanked them for their kind hospitality. It was a long walk to the jetty as there were many steps down. Good workout I guess 🙂 We’re definitely glad we made the homestay as part of our Peruvian visit as it really gave us a different perspective of the country. Blue eyes were saying, if we only did Machu Picchu and didn’t have this homestay, we would reflect on Peru quite differently.