Uros Islands, Lake Titicaca, Peru

Back in 2001 Hamish and I were in Peru and as part of our tour of the country we visited Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world.

I do not remember too much about Puno apart from it being blessed cold in September, the starting point for the iconic Puno to Cusco express train and the gateway for the intriguing Uros Floating Islands.

The islands are entirely made of reeds that are collected from the lake and bound together by hand to form a buoyant surface sturdy enough to live on.

Maintenance is carried out constantly to keep the ‘map’ of the area in tact and to ensure there is no danger of sinking into the lake.

Our boat out to the islands was also made of reeds as were some of the fishing boats, the primary profession of the islanders alongside the burgeoning tourism industry.

It felt quite weird lounging on the islands knowing that they were effectively a giant waterbed made of straw!

There were plenty of souvenir opportunities, but I made do with purchasing a hand drawn postcode made by one of the local children. I remember giving the boy a sweet as a tip. Two hours later when I left the sweet still remained in its wrapper, something to be savoured much later! (see full story by clicking UROS BOY)

Other memories include watching a small boy happily devouring his lunch and there being a giant bird on show made of, you guessed it, reeds (see photo near the top).

Have you ever visited somewhere made of something unusual?