00:00Today we are on a floating island in the middle of the lake, 4,000 meters high.
00:17Yep, you heard right, we are in Peru on Lake Titicaca and we are here with the Uros people
00:25who live on floating villages on this lake, in the middle of it actually.
00:30The people who live here on this lake are called Uros and there are approximately 2,000 of them left,
00:37living on maybe 100, 120 islands and they are all kind of floating, they are built on reeds.
00:45The plant that is growing everywhere here.
00:48Right now we are staying with a local family here who has three Airbnb houses.
00:53This is one of them.
00:55They have a really nice view over the lake.
00:57All this is a living and breathing environment.
01:00When you walk you sink a little bit in.
01:03But now let me give you a little tour of the place here.
01:07This is the watchtower.
01:08You can go up there to have a view over the neighborhood.
01:12This is the little island where we stay.
01:14This is the dining area, two Airbnbs and here is the local family living.
01:20There is a couple with two children and a grandpa.
01:23And they all drive around with those cute little boats.
01:26They all have these little cat hats in the front.
01:29It is kind of cute.
01:30And over there is the neighbor.
01:33If you want to visit your neighbor you can go only by boat.
01:37Because the reeds are natural material you have to renew it every once in a while.
01:43Otherwise the whole island will sink.
01:46So they told me once a month they have to lift the houses and put new reeds under it.
01:51So it doesn't sink too much.
01:53Of course the people who live on these floating islands.
01:55They don't have access to normal electricity lines and running water.
02:00So they have to provide everything for themselves.
02:02So they mostly live on solar panels and wind energy here.
02:08If they have electricity at all.
02:11Actually this floating island was on a different place two months ago.
02:16The owner said he cut it from the rest of the family and moved away.
02:21Because he didn't want to live there anymore.
02:23I don't know the reason.
02:24It is crazy to me that you can move this whole island to another place.
02:31With all the houses on top.
02:32But let's continue with the tour shall we?
02:37This is the dining area and the common area.
02:41That's where we are having breakfast and dinner.
02:44Then there is this little green smoking area.
02:47Pretty cool.
02:48There is even grass on top.
02:53It is really grass.
02:55Over there we have the showers.
03:00They even have hot showers here.
03:05Crazy to think.
03:07And there is the little kid.
03:11It must be pretty boring here alone.
03:14Only having the parents to play with and the guests.
03:17And over here is our Airbnb room.
03:21Where we are staying.
03:23It looks pretty shitty today.
03:24But that's how it is.
03:27And this is the view that we have from our beds.
03:31Pretty cool, right?
03:32And we have this little patio here to hang out.
03:38It's a good place to relax.
03:40Because they also don't have internet here.
03:54Wow.
03:55It's like this.
03:57This is one meter.
03:59Two mirrors.
04:01Three.
04:02Four.
04:04Five meters.
04:06Wow.
04:06Five meters long.
04:07So we take like this.
04:08We mix with sugar and then we eat like this. That's for me. It's very good
04:22All right, we are going to stop on the little island here to see how they make the local boats
04:40They have two different kind of boats here. This is the traditional boat. It's made only out of reeds, natural
04:47materials
04:49binding with reeds made out of reeds
04:52They can only use it for six months and then it breaks down because of course it's natural and it
04:58rots away
04:59They call it Volkswagen. Yeah, it's the cheap brand
05:03and then they have the cooler boat which they call Mercedes-Benz actually
05:09Yeah, they don't use only reeds here for the binding material. They use plastics and also inside they use plastics
05:17So it's much more durable. They can use it for two years
05:22Yeah, but still after two years they need to build a new one
05:27And over there they are building right now a Mercedes-Benz
05:31Depending on how many people are working on it. They will need 15 days 30 days to build a Mercedes
05:37-Benz
05:38So the Mercedes-Benz has not natural ties, but it's plastic much more durable
05:56This is the hammer they use to build a boat with
06:07And on this island that we are visiting right now are living eight families
06:12And in each of those houses is living one of them
06:18Here we have a model of how the islands look beneath
06:21They are actually built on the roots of the reeds
06:25So all the island we're on top right now is floating on reed roots
06:32And on top they put the reeds the dried reeds and on top the houses
06:38But of course the reeds are natural material and they rot away
06:42So they continuously have to put new reeds on top, otherwise the whole island will sink
07:08We made it to the capital of Uros which is this little island over here
07:15This is it. There's a shop, a bar, that's the kitchen and over there is the restaurant
07:21A real capital doesn't need more than that does it?
07:23And this is the condor
07:25It's the holy spirit animal of the Incas
07:28The Incas were already worshipping it and they still do it to this day
07:32And now we are going to have some lunch. Let's see what I have here
07:44It's crazy they use those reeds for everything
07:46They make their floating islands out of it
07:48They build their houses out of it their boats and they even eat it
07:53Crazy
07:53If you're in Peru don't miss the chance to come here
07:56It's one of the most unique places I've ever been to
07:59When else do you have the chance to stay on a floating, like a really floating island?
08:05So this was Lake Titicaca
08:07What do you think about it?
08:09You want to move here?
08:10Build your own little hut on a floating village?
08:13Nah, it's not for me
08:14Sounds like a lot of work living here
08:17I'm too lazy for that
