Lake Titicaca and the Floating Islands

Yesterday we took a half-day trip out to the "Floating Islands" on Lake Titicaca. The islands are actually man-made of reeds. The Uros people stack the reeds in alternating directions until it is thick enough and then build huts from reeds on top of the island. The top layer of reeds must be replaced once every month to combat the decay of reeds underneath. The tiny islands are anchored down at the corners with stones and they actually pull up the anchors and let the islands shift sometimes. It was really neat, kinda felt like walking on piles of loose hay. We also got to take a ride in a boat made of reeds and learned something about the Uros people's culture and life on the islands. Of course, they tried to sell us souvenirs too. You can't escape it here- the little old ladies pop out of nowhere and follow you around until you buy an alpaca toque or sweater or some freaky Incan looking statue.
In the afternoon we did another trip, this time out to some ruins of Incan tombs. It was interesting seeing how they built their altars and burial towers according to their beliefs at the time. Later that night we took a bus from Puno to Cusco, arriving this morning at around 6am. The bus was FREEZING and smelly and cramped as usual. We didn't get much sleep and haven't for the past three nights or so. It's starting to take its toll. Miriam is getting a cold and I have a stuffy nose and a fever today. It may be partly due to the altitude change, which should go away in a day or two.
Today we scouted out possible Machu Pichu and jungle tours, then did a 4 hour horseback riding tour of some ruins outside of the city. It was disappointing as our "horseman" was about 12 yrs old and didn't give us directions (probably because he didn't speak English, in fact, almost nobody here does). My horse also had a bit of an attitude and tried to buck me off within the first 5 minutes, but eventually he settled. The boy would point and say to walk 15 minutes in that direction. So we would, then wonder what we were supposed to see! There were clumps of rock here and there at the edge of a farmer's field, which we supposed were the ruins. Who knows... We booked a tour to Sacred Valley for all of tomorrow, where we will see more ruins, tourist markets, and a small town with colonial buildings. Hopefully we can sleep on the bus... ta ta for now.

ps- If you read the blog, feel free to comment! It is always nice to hear from the outside world.