These famous islands are not far from Puno so have become very commercial. The idea of living on a floating island occurred to Indians hundreds of years ago to provide security from attack from more aggressive tribes and its pretty neat to go there and see how they did it. Liz had recovered from her problems and was waiting for us with Juilo, our tour organizer. The place was very colourful and they told us how it worked and we went for a row in their reed boat which they put together with the use of lots of plastic bottles hidden underneath to help with flotation—finally a use for plastic bottles after people have finished with them. The reeds are used for everything including the houses and the only thing they really have to be careful of is their use of fireplaces
