The women wear bowler hats and brightly colored skirts called polleras. Sometimes ten or more skirts are worn at one time. When carrying a baby they wear a shawl over their shoulders called an aguayo. Life on the Altiplano is very harsh. The hard soil and lack of rain for much of the year, plus the cold nights and high winds, produce meager crops.
Most farmers use hand labor to do all their work.
Potatoes are the main food staple for Altiplano Indians. Meat is eaten mostly at fiesta time - usually pigs and chickens. The Indians keep their llamas and sheep for wool, so they can weave all kinds of clothing and blankets. However, there are many kinds of fish in Lake Titicaca to eat. They also make a variety of delicious cheeses out of goat's and cow's milk.