Puno

What is there to discover on this Tour?

The CHIMU community is a community historically specialized in the crafts of the totora. It has its origin in the migrations that occurred during the reign of Huayna Capac to contain the rebellions of some peoples conquered by the Inca empire. It is considered that the Chimu community and in general the communities of the populated center of Ichu are a mixture of people from the north of the empire, descendants of the “mitimaes”. This is how the community has maintained the tradition of crafts based on reeds, as was the custom in the north of the Inca Empire. Over the centuries, they have developed a unique know-how in the field of weaving and making reed objects. The men, who originally lived on the shores of the lake, could carry out expeditions of up to 4 days, more than 20 km from the town, to collect reeds, fish, hunt or collect bird eggs. For this purpose, small floating islands were created that served as a base camp for expeditions on the lake. During these expeditions, the Chimu had to learn to cook inside the reeds with a unique system with eucalyptus sticks raised to the level of the lake, to sleep directly on their boat thanks to a reed roof system integrated into the traditional rafts, to shelter in case of rain. All these customs and skills have gradually disappeared over the centuries. However, thanks to the United Nations program integrated into the Qhapaq Ñan project, these customs and traditions were recovered with the aim of reviving the Chimú cultural identity, a cultural identity that is now shared with tourists who visit the floating islands.