Living over Water - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 275

FIGURE 14.41 Traditional reed and modern metal housing on the reed islands closest to
the mainland city of Puno.
avoided in the future restored marshlands of Iraq. Here many of the Uros Indians
actually live on the mainland and travel out to the islands early in the morning before
the tourists begin to arrive, and there get dressed up to sell their handicrafts. There
is a Hollywood-like unreality to the whole “show” (and that word is chosen deliber-
ately) that is off-putting if one has experienced the untarnished island villages found
in the remoter sections of the lake (this is similar to the situation in the Tonle Sap as
described above). When an arriving tour boat from Puno is spotted by a villager situ-
ated atop one of the observation towers (Figure 14.42), bells are rung and the actors