Ladies weaving on Taquile Island, Lake Titicaca
These are the weaving ladies of Taquile island on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca.
I love the colours on this photo which are really a function of the high altitude (about 3,800m) and an incredible crispness and the resulting saturation of light and colours.
Taquile Island is famous for its weavings, many of which are incredibly fine and worked completely by hand. The island also has a good line in knitted hats.
As the women busy themselves with the weaving, it seems that the men stand around knitting hats. It’s a slightly surreal sight, women parked on the grass weaving away while the men stand leaning on a tree in the shade with knitting needles gently clack-clacking.
Everyone working away with a spectacular backdrop of Lake Titicaca and the Andes.
I’d love to be able to tell you the names of these ladies but chatting to them really isn’t much of an option. Clearly this is a traditional community living in a fairly remote place so social structures are fairly rigid. Our guide explained to us that women are taught to speak only in whispers. He wasn’t joking.
As far as I understand it, there’s no problem with them speaking to men generally or visiting men like me. However, it’s very tough to understand someone who is speaking incredibly softly, usually from behind their hand. Add to this the fact that Spanish is not their first language either (their mother tongue is either Quechua or Aymara) and you have a mild collapse of verbal communication.
Non verbal was fine though. As ever, the children sitting around were very receptive to any amount of clowning or watching themselves on the display of the camera.
I must say that I loved Taquile Island, it was a fairly short stop en route to the glorious rustic luxury of Suasi Island but actually was a highlight of my holiday to Peru. There are very touristy parts of the island but there are means of avoiding these to see something more authentic and strikingly silent.
If you would like to visit Suasi Island, it’s part of our Peru Uncovered holiday or see all of our Peru holidays.
We also have a holiday guide to Peru if you would like to know more about this and other parts of Peru.