Last day in Lima and Peru

Lima

An early start. The taxi turned out to be a Daewoo cab and the immediate problem was how to fit in our big cases. This overcome eventually, we headed out to Arequipa airport and had a substantial conversation (in dodgy spanish) about the cost of hotels and flights, the traffic and cost of cars in Arequipa, and the different types of volcanoes in Peru. Oh, yes, and the impact of earthquakes.

Last view of El Misti

Arequipa aeropuerto only has four departure gates, and unlike British Airports, you only need to check in about half an hour before.

We were met at Lima by a Hyundia taxi that still did not have enough room for our luggage in the boot. After a few minutes we realized taking a taxi was an extreme sport in Lima. We headed down to the Pacific, and in true Lima style it was foggy.

Sign in our hotel room. We'll be safe if there's an earthquake!

Our hotel is in Miraflores, south of the main centre, and from our room we could see the sea.

Surfers

The hotel is very pleasant and a few minutes stroll from the cenre of Miraflores and may be one minute to the beach.


We headed to Miraflores Centro and ate lunch at the famous Cafe Haiti, a bit like a Rive Gauche cafe in Paris beamed up to Lima. The waiter was charming chastising us for not visiting Macchu Picchu. (What Joan did not know is that this cafe is famous for its Pisco Sours.) Miraflores feels quite affluent, with high rise blocks of flats, posh cars and Waitrose like supermarkets.

Lunch (tomato and palta sandwich and chips)

After a light lunch we strolled down to the prom, where we could see surfers catching waves in the old suburb of Barranco. There was a garish statue of two lovers on top of the cliffs and an interesting lighthouse.

Back at the hotel, Kevin especially caught up with some much needed sleep.

Towards evening we headed downstairs as the wifi in the room was not working. When we returned upstairs our bed had been turned down, chocolates were left, plus a forecast for tomorrow's weather. It felt odd.

After a stroll to the supermarket, we headed out for dinner. Though Miraflores is famous for having lots of different world cuisines, Italian seemed (as usual) to be the safest bet. We ate at Donatellas on the main drag. Delicious but we have both overloaded in pasta for the immediate future.

Puno and Chivay towns were really a bit shabby to stand for more than one night. It seems that is as much most tourists stay. Arequipa had a certain ex-colonial grandeur with its old mansions made out of sillar and narrow streets. Admittedly we have come to Mirafloreswhich is the most affluent part of the city, with broad pavements, avenues, department stores, etc. After dark it is softly warm, with lots of people buzzing about and with bigger buses with conductors who will kidnap you to be a passenger if you stand on a corner too long. We know that most of the city isn't like this and many people live in half constructed shanty-like towns. But for tonight and for city-haters like us, Lima seems pretty nice.

Back down to Arequipa

For the third night on the trot, Kevin did not sleep well, mostlikely due to the altitude.

After negotiating our way out of the hotel's garage, we headed out of town to Sillustrani, where there are Inca burial towers overlooking a couple of lakes. Still not quite acclimatised we huffed and puffed our way round, took some photos and headed allegedly down hill to Arequipa.

We found our way through Juliaca and then headed down hill. Two hours later we were more that 700m higher than Puno!

On the way back we saw two accidents. The first invloved three lorries and a few hundred crates of beer on the carriageway.

We then crossed altiplano and found ourselves driving through lying snow...unheard of around here.

Eventually we did descend and the pressure off the lungs was almost immediately apparent. Passing the turn off up to Colca the road sweeps down in a series of bends (curvas peligrosas) to the Arequipa plain. Then all of a sudden K noticed a guy apparently asleep by his motorbike. Then K saw his mangled bike. We pulled over and crossed the road. The guy was lying down, but moving. His bike was in a mess having taken out three curve bollards. We asked if he could walk and he said yes. J picked up his luggage strewn along the roadside. He was more concerned that the police did not come along. We offered him a lift to to Arequipa but a minute or so later a pick-up passed that seemed to know the chap and stopped. We explained to them we weren't spanish speakers and they took over. Relieved the chap was all right, we headed on our way.

Back at Arequipa we parked the car but almost immediately noticed fluid dripping from underneath. It did not smell of anything, but we were worried.

A kid from the hire car company came and we told him (in spanish) that this had only just occured. He put his hand underneath and found a pile of snow!

For dinner we went back to El Italiano, which seems to be the best place around and then headed back to our hotel for an early flight to Lima tomorrow.

Lake Titicaca

Floating island made of reeds


This morning we were picked up from our hotel and taken to the port to go for a half day trip to the Uros Islands. They are artificial floating islands on Lake Titicaca, which guides tell us is the world's largest, highest navigable lake at over 12,000 feet.

We were the first on the bus and it picked up at a range of other hotels across Puno. At the quay there were many other boats waiting. It took about twenty-five minutes to cross the four kilometres to Uros. On the way we saw a boat made in Birmingham that was disassembled in Arica and shipped by train and mule to Lake Titicaca.

Also we saw a former gaol for Peruvian political prisoners which is now a five star hotel.

Former gaol turned 5 star hotel

There are 52 floating islands and they allegedly the home to 1,500 people. The people speak mainly Aymara and the islands were created when the Incas took power and the locals did not want to have to deal with them.

As we approached we could see women lined up on each island in brightly coloured dresses. They were urging the boats to land at their particular isle. The better tour operators rotate which island they visit to make it fairer.

Stepping on to the island we visit, it was a bit like walking across a water bed. In a carefully rehearsed performance, the islanders sang us a song, showed how the islands were constructed and showed what food they ate. (Mainly fish, dried potatoes and the reeds themselves.)


After that individual took us to there huts to show us their lives. The young man hosting us was 23 years old with a wife and small child.

Our host,his wife and young son

He explained he was a fisherman, but the family made money from the tourist visits. If he was lucky the boats would visit twice a week. He lived in a one room hut, maybe three metres by five. The bed took up the most part and the reed roof had holes in it. Last night it rained hard so they must have got wet. However he also had a solar panel so he had a light bulb, radio and very small black and white TV. We bought a tapestry from his wife, more to ensure that they had some income that week.

Seemingly the number of families living there is increasing, encouraged by the tourist trade, like us, visiting, but one could not help worry about the sustainability of this lifestyle. There already seemed to be too many families desperate for boats to visit them.

After that we were offered a trip on a kontiki style boat to the main island where there are stalls, restaurants, schools and a health centre. Two gentlemen rowed us across.

Heading back, we sat on the top deck of the boat, until the crew saw a police boat approaching. The we had to go on the lower deck and if you were outside put on a life jacket.
Along the quayside were several basic cafes। We called in at one for lunch, and ordered a beer and sandwich. The beer came but the young girl serving (8-10 years old?) said there was no bread.

An annoyance as we sat was the number of people coming round trying to sell things, playing Peruvian pipes or just begging।

Hungry we headed back to the hotel via a tricycle taxi। It was quite unnerving as he hassled his way through the traffic, but we got to the hotel and he overcharged us. (A common occurance in Peru. There is one rate for locals and another for extraneros like us.) Still we got his photo!

After a recovery break in the afternoon, we headed in to town for an early dinner. As we approached the centre of town we could see lights and hear a loud speaker. Many people were gathered and waving flags. We could not hear very well the speeches being made, but were a bit perturbed to see the riot police had turned out en masse. However it all seemed well tempered enough, and when we returned an hour or so later, everything was being dismantled. We suppose it is a bit like the rallies going on about the Tory cuts in England at the moment. The police always have a presence.

Blogger.com is being a pain and isn’t uploading pictures today. Will try again later.

Of bread (well calzone) and circuses

Plaza de Armas

Last night it was Kevin's turn not to sleep.  Puno is just under 4000m, and insomnia is a classic symptom of altitude sickness.  Still a cup of coca tea seemed to do the trick.

We were the last to take breakfast in the hotel - an extravagant affair with pancakes, spanish omelette, cereals and yoghurt.  But the guidebooks tell you not to have big meals at altitude so we were quite abstemious.

Rather than rush around, we decided to rest in the morning and upload a few photos to Facebook.  We also booked a trip to the Uros Floating Islands on Lake Titicaca for tomorrow.  Mysteriously the hotel also changed our room.  We thought that we were going to be put in the broom cupboard as we had booked the hotel on an Expedia ultra-cheapo offer - but no, we were given a room with two double beds and a bath, but no kettle!

Much coca tea was drunk, as well as a few coca leaves sucked - a local cure for altitude sickness, or as they call it here "soroche."

We headed into town around midday but soon returned for sun tan cream as within 5 minutes you could feel the sun's heat.  Duly protected we headed out again in to town.  There isn't much to Puno save a few pizzerias and day trip operators.  We decided to lunch in a small first floor cafe in Lima Street.  "Sweeney Todd" by Tim Burton was on the TV and it says something for the service in the place that we left having seen virtually all of the film.

After a short break at the hotel, we made our way to the Big Top and the circus.  It was due to start at 5.30 so we arrived half an hour early, and sat there alone for the next half hour.  It wasn't the biggest of audiences and we soon knew why.

It was all a bit shabby, with dancers out of sync as the opening.  The funabulist (tight rope artist) slipped in his Batman outfit, the hula hoop girl dropped her hula hoops more than once, and the unicyclist fell of her cycle.  We were quite worried about the lion tamer, but luckily the lions weren't awake for most of the act.

The best bit was a guy on the high hoops and two cyclists on the high wire. Luckily it was all over soon enough.

We headed back in to town to a veggie restaurant recommended in the guides.  It had been raining whilst we were at the circus so that explained why we kept getting wet during the show.  A hole in the Big Top.

K quickly spotted that the veggie place wasn't licensed and suggested we eat elsewhere.  We piled into the first pizzeria we could find.  There was a wood burning oven in the restaurant but the service was unenthusiastic, watched over by an unsmiling Senora.  Dinner (vegetable calzone because the lasagna was off) was equally unenthusiastically eaten and we headed back to the hotel a.s.a.p.

Arequipa to Puno

We woke up early in Arequipa and were the first for breakfast. Today is Sunday so the roads were not so mad as we left the city. Unlike last time when we headed out north, we seemed to get caught behind many VERY slow lorries, especially on blind bends. The road to Lake Titicaca rose for an hour and a half before reaching altiplano. Buses on the side of the road stopped so the passengers could take photos of the vicunas.

It took five hours to Puno. The scenery was hilly but without the mad drops. There were a few one donkey towns along the way. A curious feature was that many dogs lay by the road, watching traffic go by.

Eventually we came across a laguna and K took an excellent video of flamingos flying.

At Juliaca, we were pulled over by the cops when K nearly went down a one way street. He inspected our documents and passports, before giving us remarkably good directions through the town centre to Puno. (not so sure about his aftershave though!)

Puno is only 45 km from Juliaca, and we reached it in no time. Then we came across views of Lago Titicaca. It really does feel like the top of the world. We found our hotel with ease, except that we drove down a one way street the wrong way. The hotel hadn't got our reservation from Expedia but still let us in. The rooms are huge and comfortable, with kettles and hairdryers!!!!!

The Expedia booking had not reached the hotel, but we were given a room anyway. Eventually we managed to prove that we had booked and pre-paid.
We took a stroll in the town and down to the edge of the lake. The town was poorer and shabbier than we had imagined. There were taxicholos but also human powered cabs. In a couple of places we came across youths playing volleyball in the streets.




We decided it would be best to head back in the centre. We saw a circus and hopefully we will go tomorrow.






After a while we found the restaurant we were looking for. Called Pizzeria del Buho (Owl), the waiter was very nice and spoke only Spanish.


The hotel was only a couple of blocks away so we decided to call it an early night.

Majes - Arequipa

Late last night, we spoke with Julio about our plans to drive to Nascar. He said that the Pan Americano skirted the cliffs for quite a while and that the lorry drivers were "loco". With this in mind we decided to review our plan and visit Lago Titicaca instead. The roads are quieter and we are now acclimatised to high altitude.

So after breakfast (10.30 am) we said goodbye to Julio and Durby, and headed south to Arequipa. The main road rose on to the most Northern part of the Atacama desert and we made good progress. However as we neared Arquipa we seemed to get stuck behind very slow lorries and we lost time.

We realised we would not make Puno in the light so we decided to have a night at Arequipa at the same hotel. It was a nightmare to find, but suddenly K said "The next road is the Avenida S. Martin. " Miraculous! Our hotel.

There are no photos for today. We ate at the same good restaurant and thne came back to the hotel to catch up on the blog...................

Avocados, skeletons and the place of the dead cows

We'd decided to sat two nights in Majes to give us a break from the up and down driving. Julio sat with us at breakfast and gave us his lifestory. Then he showed us around his hotel. In the gardens there were many trees including papaya, mango,fig and avocado, as well as grapes. He had built his own bull ring and church as well.

Avocado (palta) tree

He was keen to take Kevin kayaking on the river, but we graciously declined saying we wanted to rest after the day before. In the afternoon, Julio said he would take us up to Toro Muerto, the largest collection of petroglyphs in the world.

We took our pick up and on the way we stopped at a pre-Inca cemetery. The hillside was strewn with human bones and skulls, and Julio explained that graverobbers plundered these graves to sell the artefacts to tourists and collectors.

Next we continued to Toro Muertos. Just on the edge of Corire, the petroglyphs are in a desert like hillside over looking the lush Majes valley. It was quite difficult to find and for anyone getting off the bus with a back pack, it is a steep walk up hill across hot desert. Luckily we had the HiLux and could drive right up there. Julio also advised us to go late afternoon when it was coller and there was a wind.

Many of the rocks depict local animals such as llama, and fertility ceremonies. One in particular seemed to be a map of Brazil and Peru showing the Majes river running down to the Pacific and the Amazon running down to the Atlantic.

We stayed until sunset, with Julio telling us his interpretations. He's wriiten an (unpublished) book of his theories. He doesn't want to publish it until he dies.

Julio has lived here since a child and he believes he has a special communication with the people who made the carvings. He showed us many stones but we were most shocked that they are unprotected, and vandals have carved their names on the rocks.

Back at the range, Durby had prepared a delicious pumpkin soup, sweet empanadas and spaghetti with stir fry veg. Delicious!

Down hill from here - Andagua to Majes

We both had possibly the worst night's sleep ever. The room was cavelike and we left the toilet light on all night to give a bit of comfort. The sheets were heavy, but not warm; the bed was tiny and there was only one pillow each (Joan likes three or four). The fitted sheet kept coming off and there was a plastic sheet covering the mattress.

For nearly four hours Joan could not sleep and instead paced the courtyard with the ducks for company, staring up at the Milky Way and an upside down Orion. (Take That on the IPod helped too!) Kevin slept sporadically. Eventually both of us dropped off, which was a blessing.

Breakfast was at the same Cafe as the night before and the lady brought bread, jam, cafe con leche and cheese. The highlight was fresh pineapple juice mixed with sugary hot water. Very delicious.

After settling our bill for the room, we headed into the Valley of the Volcanoes. The road dropped swiftly, into lava fields and a series of volcanic cones. It was very hot and unforgiving. The road seemed to keep dropping and after 20 km, we decided it would be better to move on than risk spending another night in Andagua.

So we took a few photos of the cones and the town, and headed back towards Arequipa. The road did not seem to be the way we came in to Andagua. It kept rising unrelentlessly, steeply up a mountainside. Some doubt set in so we called at a farm and the old lady there confirmed that this was the road to Arequipa. The road kept rising - again wide with steep drops to the side. Eventually it flattened out - much to our relief. In the distance was the mountain Nevada Corupuna - over 6000 m -and we were not much below. At the highest part people made piles of stones to ask the mountain gods for safe passage.

Then we stared to descend................... Five hours later, we were still zig-zagging down the mountains to the Majes valley. We met crazy lorry drivers and ill balanced buses on the way. We thought the road was so mad that we were lost, but again we were on the right route. After nearly eight hours of driving we called in to the Majes River Lodge - a modest but comfortable hotel with a Tyrannasaurus Rex tastefully on the entrance.

The owners, Julio and Durby, were away in town but Julio's 85 year old mum welcomed us. She phoned Julio on her mobile and he headed back.

We were exhausted but when Julio arrived he proudly showed us his hotel, including his winery and Pisco still. He was born in the Majes valley, and has retired here with his second wife.


For dinner Durby made us an omelette with chips, veg and palta. We drank Julio's own wine and Pisco. His neighbours had called round to celebrate the Epiphany. They too want to build a hotel.

We excused ourselves and slept deeply.

Pictures from the Majes valley