太陽神遺失的鏡子

從庫斯科到普諾的巴士要開一整天。車一路從海拔3000米開到普諾海拔3800米的地方，窗外的景色跟青藏高原越來越像，一望無際的黃色土地，低低矮矮的大片云朵掛在飽和度超高的藍天上。玻利維亞是這里最靠近天空的國家。

普諾是去Ttikaka湖的交通樞紐，Titikaka在秘魯和玻利維亞的邊界處，大概有40%左右在玻利維亞境內，秘魯的部分叫Titi，玻利維亞的部分叫Kaka。每天有班輪往來于秘魯湖岸的普諾和玻利維亞的小港口瓜基之間。

湖上最神奇的是大大小小的浮島。當地人用蘆葦的根和莖建成一座座湖上浮島，世世代代生活在這些島上。Titikaka湖上有36座這樣的島，聽說大的上面還有學校和籃球場。我們去的是一座最色彩斑斕的小島，島上住了6戶人家。

當地婦女穿著艷麗，頭上頂著大草帽，百褶燈籠裙拖至腳踝，和加西亞一樣的兩條麻花辮垂至腰間，辮梢各系著一搓彩色大絨球，全身火紅配翠綠、寶藍配嫩粉，搭配上絲毫沒有任何不協調。男主人邀請大家圍坐在捆扎的干蘆葦堆上，給每人發了一根蘆葦，他示范我們從粗的那頭剝去外面表層，吃里面白皙鮮嫩的根肉。輕輕咬一口，根肉口感清爽多汁，當地人把蘆葦根當水果吃，大家邊嚼著蘆葦根邊聽他講述著浮島上的家族歷史。

原來烏盧斯人的老祖宗為了躲避戰亂而逃到高原湖邊，然后他們將高大的蘆葦砍斷曬干，扎捆成島。島主一邊說，一邊用一個小型模型演示這座島的構建原理：先用蘆葦根和土做成能浮在水面上的厚達一米的大土團，然后將兩層大土團疊起來，就成了一座小島。整座島必須像船一樣用錨固定在水面，島上可根據需要用蘆葦造房子，有時大浪打來，島上一切都會晃動，如諾亞方舟一般。據說這些島可以維持20多年，可島上的年輕人去大城市打工后通常都不會回來，不知道這種古老的生活方式還能維系多久。

The Lost Mirror of the Sun God — Bolivia

The bus to Puno took us a whole day. As we approach the 3，800 meter plateau from 3，000 meter Cusco， the views outside the bus started to look like the those of the Tibetan Plateau， where heaps of clouds hanging low over the boundless yellow land against a pure blue sky. In this part of the world， Bolivia is the closest country to Heaven.

Puno is a traffic hub to Lake Titikaka. which sits at the border of Peru and Bolivia. With 60% in Peru and 40% in Bolivia， the lake is called Titi on the Peru side and Kaka on the Bolivia side. Ferries commute every day between Puno of Peru and the port of Guaqui in Bolivia.

The most amazing thing about the lake is the big and small floating islands. Built with the root and stem of reeds， these islands have housed the locals for generations. There are 36 islands in total， the largest is said to have a school and a basketball court. We went to the most colorful island， on which lives 6 households. The women here wear big rimmed straw hats， ankle-length pleated dresses， and two braids running down to the waist with a colored flurry ball at the tips. They often match red with green， or blue with pink， but you won’t find it odd on them. One house owner invited us to sit on his dried reeds bundles， distributed a fresh reed to each of us， and showed us how to peel the skin and eat the white and fresh root. Accompanied with the local “fruit”， we listened to his family history on the floating island.

It so goes that the ancestors of Ulus came to the lakeside to escape from wars. At here they cut and dried the reeds and bundled them up to build islands. He used a small model to show us the structure of the island as he spoke. First they would make a one-meter-thick mass with reed roots and mud that can float on the water， then they would pile two layers of masses together to form an island. The islands have to be anchored in the same way as boats， and houses could be build on the islands if necessary， also with reeds. At high tides， the islands may shake to the waves like the legendary Noah’s Ark. The island could last more than 20 years， but as the younger generation of the villagers go to the cities and choose not to come back， none could tell how long this ancient lifestyle could last.

Tips

玻利維亞波托西省西部高原內烏尤尼鹽沼的水反射天空的光線，像是一面光滑的大鏡子掉落在高原上，天地一線。白日里，火烈鳥在鹽湖上嬉戲，夜晚，漫天星宿閃閃發光，一整條銀河在頭頂上流瀉天際。

The waters of the Salar de Uyuni in the Potosi Department of Bolivia reflect the rays of light of the sky like a gigantic mirror on the plateau connecting the sky and the earth. At day， flamingos would dance on the salt lake. At night， stars would twinkle with its reflections as the Milky Way flows across the sky.