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| Children on the reed islands of Lake Tititaca |
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| Stunning scenery in the Colca Canyon region |
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| A street scene in Arequipa |
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| Coca tea- good for altitude sickness! |
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| Dinner with Ron and the group he was leading up the Inca Trail. Find out more www.cfc-foundation.org |
Peru has long since been on my wish list so I decided that this summers' trip would finally take me there.
And so began a long journey via both New York ( an overnight stay) and Atlanta. I finally arrived in Lima late in the evening but had prearranged a pick up by my hostel. On the plane over I had the pleasure of meeting Ron Farb, an incredibly interesting guy who runs a cancer charity with his wife based in Florida (See link) and he was heading to Lima then onto Cusco with a group of 12 people who he was leading up the Inca trail. He is an experienced climber, having himself climbed 5 of the 7 highest peaks on each continent, including Mount Everest. To say I was in awe is an understatement! He invited me to join the group for dinner in Lima the following evening.
I only planned to stay in Lima for a day so soon booked a coach for Arequipa for the following day. The hostel was lovely, an old mansion designed by Gustavo Eiffel. I had a cute private room and there were some lovely touches in the communal areas. I was not prepared for the cold though! First day I bought a pair of gloves!
So what to do in Lima? A walking tour of the city's colonial heart seemed a good place to start. I navigated my way to the Plaza de Armas, the centre not only of Francisco Pizarro's settlement but of the whole of the Spanish Empire in South America. It was bustling and a changing of the guard outside the presidential palace was keeping the crowds entertained. The Lonely Planet has a walking tour which I followed before finding a recommended place for lunch-Domus- where I tried a classic dish of potatoes and cheese ( although with something a bit spicy added).
Lima in winter had a melancholy air. From April through October it is shrouded in a fog known as 'garua' which prompted Melville to describe it as 'the strangest saddest city thou can'st see' in his famous novel, Moby Dick. That evening, I had dinner with Ron and his group at a well known Lima restaurant called Huaca Pucllana which overlooks some illuminated Incan ruins. It was quite a spot and I had a lovely evening of good food and company. I tried my first Pisco sour too!
I was due to leave Lima mid afternoon on day two so decided to visit the museum conveniently located over the street from the hostel - the Museo de Arte de Lima. Known locally as MALI it is housed in a beautiful beaux arts building. I spent a pleasant couple of hours in an exhibition to one of Peru's most famous artists Sabogal. As with most galleries, it had a lovely cafe too to wile away a bit more time.
Then it was the bus to Arequipa, a 16 hour journey. I was fortunate enough to meet Helen in the queue and we spent the first few hours chatting away about our travels. A great way to pass the time. We arrived in Arequipa the next morning and Helen decided to join me in staying at the recommended hotel 'Casona Solar'. A room was amazing, an we knew we were in for a treat and one at a very affordable price. Helen has spent 2 nights on buses so felt she was owed it. We explored the city, having an early lunch and taking lots if photographs as made out way to the main square, also called the Plaza de Armas.
Arequipa is a geographical and architectural gem. It is guarded by three dramatic volcanoes, one El Misti stands over 5000m, and it has the worlds two deepest canyons on its doorstep.We visited the Museo Santiarios Andinos which has the famous Juanita the Ice Maiden, a a 500 year old Inca girl found mummified when plucked from a volcano a few years ago.We were a bit disappointed with the way the case housing her was misty from the cold temperature of the museum.
One of the main reasons for heading to Arequipa is to visit some of the stunning scenery and wildlife nearby. I booked a trek with the recommended Colca Trek tour operators which left early the next day for an overnight trip. Unfortunately due to landslides, trekking in the canyon itself was out. Our first stop was the Reserva National Salinas y Aguada Blanca, a vast area of national park where the highest point is 4910m is the Paso de Patopampa ( see picture). Fantastic views are afforded of the surrounding volcanoes, including the highest Chachani at 6075m and Ampato at 6310m, weird wind-eroded rock formations and lots of wildlife including vicunas, llamas, Andean deers and alpacas. We also saw the plant Yareta which lasts for millennia in this barren landscape.
We spent the night in a small village about 30km from Chivay ( the main town of the Colca region and where we had stopped for lunch). It was a very special place and the log burning fire, hot water bottles and fantastic evening meal made it extra special.
It was an early start the next day to the Cruz del Condor, where you can see many condors in their natural habitat. It also meant we missed the huge number of tourists that had started to arrive as we left. We hiked for a couple of hours before visiting the thermal springs just outside Chivay, then back to Arequipa. Next stop: Puno
After Arequipa, I made the overnight bus journey to Puno. I stayed in a lovely hostel who let me go straight to the room when I checked in at a very early hour. After a few hours rest I set off to explore Puno. Yet again, most action is centred around the Plaza de Armas. Another beautiful square with an imposing cathedral. I found a cafe and spent a relaxing afternoon reading and writing postcards. At the cafe I met two French girls who had just completed the Sankantray trek to Machu Picchu. We chatted and arranged to meet for dinner. We were also joined by Bashka and her daughter Naomi, who we had met at the station in Arequipa.
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| The Colca Canyon |
Puno is the city people stay to organise or use as a base for trips to Lake Titicaca. I organised one through Edgar travel. It was a good trip in that I paid a bit more and the quality of the service was impressive. We had a speedboat out to La Tranquile. We hiked up to a village where we saw traditional handicrafts being made. In this community, the men did the knitting by hand and the women spinning and weaving using very basic equipment.
We did a lovely walk following on from that and had time to walk barefoot along the edge of the lake. It was too cold for a dip. We then got picked up by the boat to take us to the peninsular for lunch. It was made in a very traditional way- in an earth oven. Whilst I did not try the meat or fish cooked this way, I tried a number of types of potato.
The final stop after lunch was to the famous reed islands of Uros. People in this community live on floating islands and have done for centuries. It was a strange experience setting foot onto the island, similar to walking on a water bed I thought. The people here live very primitive lifestyles and I did feel like this part of the trip left me feeling a little ill at ease. As if we were being intrusive and it was easy to feel incredibly sorry, particularly got the children. However, they seemed happy enough playing with kites and helping sort out the fish that had been caught. Sometimes I feel we are in danger of judging based on our lifestyle.
Next stop: Cuzco.
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| Traditional handicraft |
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| Lake Titcaca |
