Of policemen, shepherdesses and salt lorries

Salt deposits and Volcan Ubinas in the distance

El Misti from our hotel

Today the cloud cleared and we could finally see El Misti. We decided to go and have a look at Laguna Salinas, which is, on the map,not far from Arequipa. Usually we have used Nelles maps and they have always been detailed and remarkable, but for some reason, this time we bought a Michelin road map of Peru. Compared with Nelles, it doesn't have the delicacy of detail, and Arequipa is just a red blob with five roads converging on it.

Also, as previously mentioned, the Peruvians don't go a great deal on road signs.

Using Google maps, we managed to work out that the route to Ubinas was south east of the city. We only had a tourist map of the centre that did not include the one way system, and certainly did not run to the suburbs of the city. Still we constructed a vague plan and head off.

Kevin is unfazed by the chaotic driving displayed here, and, with the odd missed junction, we gradually inched our way out of the city. Eventually we found signs to Paucarpata, a suburb of the city, and the gateway out. It is a busy place, and there were no signs to say the way to go so we pulled up beside some policemen and asked them the way. They were charming and spoke clearl, slow spanish - go left, go right at the college, turn right at the top of the hill. We wished them Happy New Year, but then got called back. One of them who we hadn't spoken to asked where we were going, and told us to follow him. So for a few miles we had a police escort who led the way, and miraculously the traffic seemed to abate. Rising out of the edge of the town with views of El Misti volcano, he pulled over shook hands and pointed the way ahead. We'd made it out of Arequipa for the second day running!

Police escort with sheep and cows

El Misti

On our Michelin map, the village of Chiguata is clearly shown as being on the main road to the altiplano. The road is a main one running eventually up to Puno and lake Titicaca. So we were bemused when we came across a junction. The road ahead seemed to turn into a dirt track, but the road to the left was a metalled road. We took this and in a couple of miles we reached Chiguata. We drove around the main square a couple of times but the road disappeared. Eventually we turned on to the most substantial road out, along a cobbled street and came across a dust track. It was bumpy and windy, barely fit for a tractor,so we were shocked when we saw a huge lorry coming our way. This couldn't be right. We asked the lorry driver where the road to Puno was, and he seemed to say it was a long way off,above the clouds.

We continued for a couple of kilometeres and asked a local villager where the road to Puno was, and again he suggested we were on it. So we continued on this dirt track, and could see a road zigzagging high above us - improbably high - disappearing in to the clouds. Every so often a double trailered lorry would come the opposite direction and we would pull in to let them pass. This was indeed the main road to Puno. After some time we found a sign which revealed we were at 3,800 m and in the national park.

By the side of the road there was a crucifix in the clouds.

Soon we were driving in cloud and the road narrowed to a single track tunnel. Luckily we did not meet any lorries.

We had driven up the side of Volcan Pichupichu,which was swaithed in clouds, and had reached the altiplano. The air was rarified,but we didn't feel any side effects of altitude.

Volcan Pichupichu

Soon we came across Laguna Salinas, a huge salt flat.

We stopped forlunch near a herd of llams and alpacas. Within a minute an old shepherdess had appeared from a building no bigger than a garage,asking for a "present" for the children.

Further on there was a very barren settlement by the side of the laguna.

The clouds began to clear and there was a salt storage facility. In the background you could see the silhouette of Volcan Ubinas on the horizon - Peru's most active volcano. It erupted in 2006 and then again in 2010. We had read on the intenet that the locals had been complaining about the gas it was emiting - as if the local council could just switch it off!

Again, we reached a junction and there was no sign to say which way to go, so we guessed and followed a bumpier road for a short while. On a bend, near a stream, we came across a goup of vizcacha playing. (See video below.)

Also we came across a baby llama in swaddling clothes, lain by the road. We stopped for a photo and again a shepherdess appeared, For a gift she and the baby's mother posed for a photo.

It was starting to get late and the road came to an abrupt end so we decided to head back. The cloud had got lower and it was quite difficult making the descent, though the road was wide and the salt lorries had signed off for the day. By the time we got out the cloud it was dark. The road back seemed even longer.

In the village of Espiritu Sanctu, locals were dancing in the roads, looking somewhat worse for wear.

Eventually back in Arequipa, the roads were as mad as ever. Somehow we negotiated our way across town to the centre where the streets were packed with revellers, taxis and traffic cops. It was nearly ten when we reached the hotel, so rather than try and find a restaurant we ordered a take away pizza and drank a warm beer. We had intended to see in the New Year, but fell asleep!

At midnight we could hear fireworks, crackers and revellers outside but we just turned over and slept.