Collasuyu · the Lake Titicaca road

Arriving

You arrive from Qusqu through a stone punku, a trapezoidal Inca doorway with a carved sign, at the start of the road; in its opening is a painting of Haukaypata. Behind you, “E · Back to Qusqu” takes you back to the plaza, to its Collasuyu gate. At night two braziers burn beside it. The traveler is dressed for the altiplano: a brown felt hat with a red band, a knitted alpaca sweater with patterned bands, a red scarf, long trousers and boots.

Back to Qusqu

Your llama

A few steps past the arrival, on the right of the road, a saddled llama waits tied to a post, by a stone trough and a sheaf of ichu: it wears a colourful woven blanket, a saddle, hanging wool tassels and pompoms on its ears. Beside it, “E · Ride the llama” mounts you; riding, you go a good deal faster along the road, and “E · Dismount” or Esc gets you off (it steps aside). The llama is for the road: it stops and lets you off when you step onto the reed boardwalk, the islands, the piers or the boat, when you leave the road for Sillustani, Taquile or the Titikala rock (those places are visited on foot) and before the punku; it waits at the roadside. While you are on the boat its prompt does not show.

Sillustani chullpas

Beside the road, a path climbs a hill with four chullpas, the funerary towers of the Qolla lords: towers of dressed stone that widen as they rise, with a cornice and a small doorway facing east. One is half ruined, its stones fallen at its foot. On the top stands a ring of upright stones and a sign that names the place. Reaching the top gives a bonus stamp.

Bonus passport stamp: Sillustani chullpas

The Uros floating islands

In a bay, from a landing on the shore, a floating boardwalk of totora (the lake's reed) leads to 5 floating islands made of layers of totora. The boardwalk reaches the central island first and from there each of the others. Their floors are springy and you can walk on them: they have totora huts with steep roofs, a stone hearth, a pole with a flag in the island's colour and a painted board with its group of skills. The central island has a totora watchtower, and reed boats are moored beside some islands. Each island holds one group of the tools and practices I work with: standing on it, “E · See skills” opens its panel, and the ← → arrows browse the other islands.

1. Languages

   • TypeScript
   • JavaScript
   • Python
   • Go
   • Rust
   • Kotlin
   • Java
   • .NET

   Passport stamp: Languages · Uros island

2. Cloud

   • AWS
   • GCP
   • Azure
   • Kubernetes
   • Karpenter
   • Terraform
   • Pulumi
   • Helm

   Passport stamp: Cloud · Uros island

3. Platform

   • Kong
   • Kafka
   • ArgoCD
   • GitHub Actions
   • Grafana
   • Prometheus
   • Loki
   • Tempo

   Passport stamp: Platform · Uros island

4. Architecture

   • Microservices
   • Serverless
   • EDA
   • Micro frontends
   • MACH
   • C4

   Passport stamp: Architecture · Uros island

5. Data

   • Postgres
   • DynamoDB
   • Redis
   • MongoDB
   • Redshift
   • OpenSearch

   Passport stamp: Data · Uros island

The totora reed boat

On the farthest island, a reed jetty runs out into the water, and a totora boat waits there, with a puma-head prow and a reed-mat sail. At the jetty's tip, “E · Board the reed boat” takes you aboard; you stand, pushing with a long pole like the Uros. Forward moves ahead, back brakes and backs, and the sides turn, even at rest (keyboard, joystick or gamepad); running makes it faster. You can sail all over the open lake, never through the shore, the islands, the boardwalk or the piers. Near either pier (the island's or the wooden one below Taquile), going slowly, “E · Get off here” or Esc puts you on it. Reaching the other pier gives a stamp. If you walk to a pier and the boat is far away, the boatman has already brought it.

Passport stamp: Totora reed boat

The Taquile pier

Before Taquile, a short branch leads down from the road to a wooden pier on posts, the other end of the boat trip.

Fishermen say that on still nights something glows under the water not far from the Taquile pier. Legend says the lake keeps an ancient city. Whoever comes close at night and takes a calm look earns a bonus stamp.

Bonus passport stamp: The sunken city

Taquile, island of weavers

Further on, a terraced hill runs out into the lake: Taquile. From the road a path climbs and passes under a stone arch with a little slab roof and a sign, up to the village plaza: stone houses with thatched roofs and blue doors, and on the north side the weavers' workshop, with a pedal loom in front of the door and a line of chullos and belts hung out. On the plaza, seated men knit chullos on needles and women spin with the pushka. By the loom, “E · See education” opens a panel woven like a Taquile belt:

Education

• Master's in Big Data, Data Science & AI · Universidad Complutense de Madrid · 2023–2024
• Systems Engineering · Universidad Peruana de las Américas · 2009–2014
• Computing & Systems Technician · Cimas · 2005–2009

Certifications

• AWS Solutions Architect – Professional · 2024–2027
• AWS Developer – Associate · 2024–2027
• AWS Solutions Architect – Associate · 2020–2023

Passport stamp: Taquile · education

People of the lake

By day, on the central island a woman in a pollera and bowler hat waves at whoever arrives, another tends the hearth and two children run in circles; on the other islands people are weaving and binding bundles of totora. On the lake, three fishermen standing in their little reed boats go round the open water and now and then haul on their lines. On the puna a herder sits watching her alpacas and another spins on her feet beside her sheep. Two walkers go back and forth between the Uros landing and Taquile, and all along the road, both ways, travellers come and go: women in polleras and bowler hats carrying their bundle in an aguayo on their backs, men in chullos or felt hats, some loaded too. At the ends of the road they turn back, and out of your sight they sometimes reappear on another stretch. At the end of the road, at Titikala, people are gathered for an offering to the Pachamama (see below). At nightfall almost everyone goes home: only the woman at the hearth, the alpaca herder and, at Titikala, the paqo and one pilgrim by the brazier stay; the little boats rest on the water.

Isla del Sol · Titikala, end of the Collasuyu

The road ends on a headland that stands for the Isla del Sol. On its plaza stands the sacred rock Titikala, “the puma's rock”: a long reddish rock that looks like a crouching puma, with a stone offering table in front of it, a gold disc of Inti on a stela behind it and a ring of low stones round it, open toward the road. Down the north slope an Inca stairway runs to the water. In Inca legend, Inti made Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo rise from the lake here.

On the plaza's east side, off the walk to the rock, an offering to the Pachamama (a pago) is under way: on a woven cloth on the ground lies the despacho, with coca leaves, red and white carnations, a shell and a paper packet, and beside it a clay brazier. A kneeling paqo lays out the coca leaves and now and then lifts a k'intu to his lips; round him sit pilgrims, and a woman stands raising her hands toward the rock. To the west, a mother with her bundle watches her children play. At night only the paqo and one pilgrim stay, and the brazier's embers glow.

The first time you reach the rock on a visit, a short tune plays (with sound on), a shower of sunrise-gold sparks bursts from the rock and drifts slowly down (not if your system asks for reduced motion), and the Inti disc and a halo flare for a moment. Then the panel “You made it!” opens, with your traveler name if you set one, four true figures and buttons to make your postcard, book 60 minutes, download the resume, go back to Qusqu or back to the site. By the rock, the E key opens it again. At night, the Inti disc glows faintly.

The panel's figures

• Islands · skill groups: 5
• Skills on the islands: 36
• Studies on Taquile: 3
• Certifications: 3

Book 60 min · Download resume · Back to Qusqu

Passport stamp: End of the Collasuyu

Wildlife of the lake

Titicaca grebe Rollandia microptera

Where

On the water, in the reed beds along the shore and round the Uros islands.

When

By day they swim and dive; at night they sleep on the water.

What it does

A flightless bird with a dark back, a chestnut neck and a white throat. Each one paddles slowly about its patch of reeds; every so often, or if you come within a few steps, it dives and comes up a few metres away some seconds later.

Stamp

Titicaca grebe

Parihuana · Andean flamingo Phoenicoparrus andinus

Where

In the shallow bay between Taquile and the Isla del Sol, beside the road.

When

By day they feed; at night they stand still with their heads tucked in.

What it does

A pink flock with black flight feathers and yellow legs. They wade slowly with their heads in the water, sweeping them side to side to filter their food; now and then one raises its head and spreads its wings. If you come close they walk away.

Stamp

Parihuana · Andean flamingo

Andean gull Chroicocephalus serranus

Where

Circling over the Uros bay, over Taquile and over the shore; a few rest on the water by the islands.

When

They fly by day; at night they all settle on the water.

What it does

White, with grey wings tipped in black and a dark hood. It glides in wide circles, flapping now and then.

Stamp

Andean gull

Titicaca water frog Telmatobius culeus

Where

On the lake bed, in the reeds west of the Taquile pier.

When

It comes up every so often, for a few seconds; more often if someone waits nearby.

What it does

A huge frog with baggy olive skin (it breathes through it). It shows its back and bulging eyes above the water and sinks again. It is hard to spot.

Stamp

Titicaca water frog

Alpaca Vicugna pacos

Where

On the puna beside the road, between the Uros landing and the Taquile pier, watched by a herder sitting beside them.

When

They graze by day; at night they lie down where they are.

What it does

A woolly herd in many colours that walks a few steps, puts its heads down to graze and looks up when someone comes close. Walk into the herd and they step aside.

Stamp

Alpaca

Llama Lama glama

Where

On the puna beside the road past the Taquile pier, before the flamingos' bay.

When

They graze by day; at night they lie down where they are.

What it does

Taller than the alpacas, with banana-shaped ears. They graze, look around and step aside if you walk among them.

Stamp

Llama

Vizcacha Lagidium peruanum

Where

Sitting on rocks on Sillustani's hill and on the slopes west of Taquile.

When

By day; at night they hide.

What it does

A grey rodent with long ears and a curled tail. Sitting on its rock it looks about; if you come near it hops off behind the rock and only comes back some seconds later.

Stamp

Vizcacha

Huallata · Andean goose Oressochen melanopterus

Where

On the shore grass between the road and the water, past the punku and before Sillustani.

When

They graze by day; at night they sit down on the grass.

What it does

A white goose with black wings and tail and a pink bill and legs. It walks slowly in a loose group and lowers its neck to graze.

Puna ibis Plegadis ridgwayi

Where

On the wet grass by the water, between the Uros landing and the Taquile pier.

When

They feed by day; at night they stand still.

What it does

A dark bird with a green sheen on its wings and a long curved bill. It walks slowly, probing the ground with its bill again and again.

Puna teal Spatula puna

Where

In the reeds either side of the Uros boardwalk, near the shore.

When

They swim and feed by day; at night they float still.

What it does

A brown duck with barred flanks, a black cap, white cheeks and a pale blue bill. It paddles slowly in small groups and now and then tips its head under water, tail up.

Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

Where

In open water off the Uros islands and the Taquile pier.

When

By day, when you are nearby, it leaps every so often; not at night.

What it does

A silvery fish with a pink stripe. It leaps out of the water in a short arc and falls back, leaving a splash ring.

Sheep and their sheepdog Ovis aries · Canis familiaris

Where

On the puna south of the road, between Sillustani and the Uros landing, watched by a shepherdess spinning on her feet beside them.

When

They graze by day; at night the flock and the dog lie down where they are.

What it does

A flock of woolly sheep, white with a few brown or black, that walks a few steps and puts its heads down to graze. The dog runs round the flock, now one way, now the other, and every so often sits down to watch it.

Guinea pig (cuy) Cavia porcellus

Where

In a low stone pen on Taquile's plaza.

When

They scurry about by day; at night they huddle in the middle of the pen.

What it does

Small and round, white with brown patches. They dart from one side of the pen to the other, stop and nibble the alfalfa.

The map

The paper map opens with M (or the gamepad's Y button): the road from west to east, the lake to the north with the Uros islands and their boardwalk, Taquile and the Isla del Sol. Fast travel between places opens once you reach Taquile.

From any world, the “Travel” button at the top (the V key, or the gamepad's LT trigger) opens a small map of the Tawantinsuyu with every world: Qusqu in the centre and each road in its direction. Pick one and, once you confirm you want to leave, you travel straight there; the ones you've visited (any stamp in your passport) carry a ✓ and the world you are in shows as “You are here”.

Collasuyu stamps

These count toward completing this passport page:

• Languages · Uros island
• Cloud · Uros island
• Platform · Uros island
• Architecture · Uros island
• Data · Uros island
• Taquile · education
• Totora reed boat
• End of the Collasuyu