Puno to Cusco

We got up early and made our way to the bus station in Puno to catch our eight hour bus ride to Cusco. There were a few other travel groups on the bus, including a GAP group with, what V called, the "hot guide". She was hoping that he was going to be sitting next to her, so she was checking her make-up, adding more perfume, and spraying some on his seat ... she wasn't impressed when her seat-mate turned out to be a not-so-good looking passenger from his group, and not him! The ride was long and not very exciting - the scenery was mostly scrub brush. The movie died after only 15 minutes, so V gave the driver her "Chick Flicks" CD to listen to (over and over again!). Our only stop was at the half way point, where everyone rushed to use the bathrooms, take a few pictures, look at the always present handicrafts, then hope back onto the bus. We got to Cusco around 4 pm, and went to Bembos for a very late lunch. Bembos is the Peruvian version of McDonalds, but the food is better, cheaper, looks like the picture, and is made fresh when ordered. We sat upstairs where we had a great view of the main plaza. Our next stop was to go to the tourism office to pick up a pass that gave us admission to a lot of the historic sites in the Sacred Valley. V also gave us a quick tour around town, showing us things like the Inca stone with 12 edges in one of the alleys - this stone appears in almost all the brochures.

Before heading off to supper, we had a meeting with our guide for the Inca trail. Since only C, D, and I are doing the trek (K isn't trekking, and L and H are doing Lares), we are joining 6 people from another GAP trip - 3 Norwegian ladies, a British couple, and a girl from Canada (R). We were given our packing list, told how far and high we would be hiking each day, and a bit about what to expect. I think we were all a bit nervous about what we had gotten ourselves into!

Floating Islands of Uros

Our breakfast at the homestay was great - fried bread with muna tea. And they made sure we ate until we were stuffed! We got back on board our boat and sailed for a few hours back towards Puno, stopping at the floating islands of Uros. The totora reeds that grow in the shallows of the lake are used for making everything from the islands themselves to the boats and the homes. The islands are made up of layers upon layers of reeds; as the layers closest to the water start to rot, they are replaced with fresh reeds on top. We were given a tour of one of the islands, including a lecture on how the islands were created and are maintained, and then were given a few minutes to explore. It's a weird feeling to be walking on the reeds - it isn't as solid as the ground, but it isn't as unstable as a water bed either. It's more like walking on a piece of foam. We were given a simple lunch on the way back to Puno and were given the rest of the afternoon to explore the town - I ended up spending the afternoon in a cafe with C, D, and K.

Taquile and Amantani

After a 15 minute down to the port in a "bike cart", we arrived in the port of Puno. We bought some fruit and rice for our host families, then hopped on board a private boat to Taquile Island. The ride took about three hours - we sat up on the roof for a while, but after about an hour it got too cold and rough, so we had to go back to sitting inside the boat (which smelt like exhaust - ugh).

We did the "easy" hike to the top of Taquile Island (if you can call any uphill hike above 12,000 ft easy) and where given some time to explore the town centre. On this island, the women spin the wool and the men do all the weaving. The men also weave the hats they were to indicate their status: red and white hats mean the guy is single, an all red hat means that he's married, and a colourful hat or black bowler means that he is a community leader.

The restaurants on the island take turns being open and all serve the same thing at the same cost (to keep things fair). The meal for this day was freshly caught trout. We took the harder route back down to our boat (all stairs) and part way out into the lake, V, D and I jumped off the top of the boat for a quick swim. The water was freezing cold, but it was an experience - how many other people have swum in a lake that high? We got to Amantani about two hours later. We were assigned "mamas" for the night and were shown around there homes where we would spend the night. I was too much of a chicken to spend the night with a family by myself, so K and I shared a family. Celia, a 28 year old woman, was our "mama". She shared the house with her parents, sister, and nephew. She spoke a few words of English, but most of the family only spoke Spanish (except her mother who only spoke Quechua).

We met up with our group again in the town square and decided to hike up to the top of the mountain to watch the sunset. Of course, there was a cloud bank on the horizon, so there wasn't much of a sunset to watch! We came down and had a hot chocolate in the small bar, then went back to our families for supper. As they were cooking, we practised the few phrases of Quechua that we were given, much to the amusement of the father! Supper was good - a corn and vegetable soup followed by stir-fried potatoes, peas and egg on rice (lots of carbs in their diet).

After supper, Celia dressed us up in traditional clothes and brought us to the hall for a dance - they do this for all the tours. K was just given a poncho, but I had a blouse, two skirts, and a long wool shawl to wear. At least I wasn't cold. The dance was fun - hard work though! After about two hours, we headed back to our house to bed. I tried to find the best bed of the three in the room I was given, but they were all pretty bad. The one I ended up sleeping on sagged so much that I could feel the boards underneath it!

Journey to Puno

We retraced our route back over the high mountain pass and then headed east towards Puno today. I slept for part of the trip, read for the rest, all the while with V's CD "Chick Flicks" playing on continuous repeat (much to K's annoyance). We wandered around Puno for a while, but there wasn't too much to see, just the regular handicrafts and the town market. For supper, we went to a place that served cuy (guinea pig). Of course, I had to order it! It came sitting up on my plate with a cute little tomato crown. It's taste and texture were very similar to chicken, but the skin was too tough and thick to eat, and there wasn't much meat on it - lots of bones.

Colca Canyon

Today, we spent the day exploring the Colca Canyon - one of the deepest canyons in the world. We got up fairly early to drive deeper into the canyon to Cruz del Condor - a popular place to watch the Andean Condors soaring. These birds are huge, with wingspans around 10 ft! It was awesome to watch them soaring through the canyon and swooping down over us, all in complete silence (condors don't make any noises).

I also spotted a humming bird visiting the flowers while I was waiting for the condors to reappear.

On our way our of the canyon, we stopped at a couple view points to admire the Inca terraces that are still being used by farmers today. It was the end of the dry season so there wasn't much growing, but it was still beautiful.

We arrived back in Chivay in time to watch the locals celebrate the patron saint of police with a small ceremony where they gave bread and flowers to the police, followed by a parade around the main plaza. Many of the older women were dressed in traditional clothing.

After a relaxing soak in the hot springs, we went out for supper were we were given a show of traditional music and dancing. Our group was the only one to join in the dancing, and K and I were also pulled in to the dance "I love you because you hit me". I this dance, one partner makes the other partner lie on there back on the floor with their face covered. They then WHIP the person on the floor a few times, pull them back onto their feet, and continue dancing. K got whacked pretty good by the girl a few times, but the guy just hit the floor beside me :) Sometimes it pays to be a girl!

Drive to Colca Canyon

We did a lot of driving today! After picking up all sorts of coca products (leaves, cookies, candies), we headed up into the Andes. After a couple of hours driving, we stopped to have some coca-muna tea. I found that the coca tasted and smelt a bit like spinach, and the muna - used to open up your airways - tastes like mint. The combination was pretty good, actually. The next part of the road was rough and rutted as we traveled through an animal sanctuary where we were able to see vicunas, alpacas, and llamas.

Our next stop was the highest we would be in Peru - Patapamba, at 15,750 ft above sea level! We walked around for a bit, but were careful not to do too much because of the thin air. Our guide for this part of the trip showed up how to roll the coca leaves around a piece of special rock and then lightly chew on the bundle. At first it didn't have much taste at all, but after a minute it started giving off a bitter and gross flavour (I didn't chew it very long after that). After being up there for about 15 minutes, I had a bit of a headache, but it wasn't too bad. K ended up getting pretty sick from the altitude, poor guy.

We descended into the Colca Canyon and at the first view point were greeted by the always present women and children selling handicrafts and a chance for a picture with a local.

After lunch, we were given the opportunity to go for a short hike above the village we were staying in, but I decided to wander around a bit by myself and just take it easy - being above 12,000 ft makes me a bit lazy!

Arequipa

I slept well enough on the bus to not need a nap after getting to Arequipa, so after cleaning up, headed out to a cafe that our group leader had told us about - they provided free phone calls to North America! After my breakfast, I called your mom and talked to her for a bit (Oma and Opa were in Alberta, so I couldn't call them).

I met D in the hotel lobby and decided to spend the day exploring with him and C. Arequipa sits at 7600 ft above sea level, so we used the day to acclimatize to the altitude. The city was built from a very light coloured volcanic rock, so the older buildings dazzle in the sun, giving the city its nickname, "the White City". Our first stop was to see a frozen Inca girl who was sacrificed to one of the volcanoes surrounding the city - "Juanita".

After walking around the main square, we went into the Santa Catalina Monastery. It was a lot larger than we expected, but beautifully decorated and very colourful.

We had a light lunch at a French Crepery, then found a grocery store and bought some water and snacks for our ride the next day. I also picked up some postcards, stamps, and some more cash. We visited a few more colonial style churches, had coffee on a terrace overlooking the main plaza, then returned to the hotel to met the rest of the group for supper. That night, most of us tried alpaca steaks. The restaurant cooked them perfectly - alpaca is a very lean meat, but they managed to keep it tender and moist. It was delicious!