Hola from Peru 2

Taking advantage of another bus journey, this time on a public bus between Puno and Cusco, I am drafting another mail which I hope to send from Cusco. Outside the bus is the stunning scenery of the "Altiplano", a high altitude glacial valley littered with farms and surrounded by mountains. The altitude is somewhere between 3,400m and 4,312m. Puno, which is at an altitude of 3,830m, is behind us. Cusco, our next destination is 3,400m. At these elevations, even simple tasks such as climbing stairs can leave you breathless and out of puff due to the low levels of oxygen.

 

When I left off from the last mail, we were heading to Arequipa. It was, as well as a visit, an acclimatisation stop but that didn't stop most of the group feeling the effects of altitude sickness once we'd reached Puno later. Cusco, fortunately, is a little lower so we should all be getting a bit better soon.

 

Arequipa, nicknamed "The White City" because the off-white/pale volcanic rock which most of the buildings are built of glisten in the sunshine but also because it was originally populated by a lot of Spanish (white) people, had a very nice historic centre, but otherwise it's a massively sprawling, extremely polluted & dusty city. The brown smog hanging over the horizon isn't the best sight to wake up to in an otherwise fairly blue sky and sunny day.

 

We had a busy city tour starting with a lookout over three of the volcanoes that surround the city and a sample of "Queso Helado" (literally translated "Cheese Ice-cream") but actually made from milk, ice, vanilla and cinnamon.

 

We returned to the City Centre to visit one of the Jesuit Churches. This has a chapel with a dome roof covered with murals depicting rainforest plants and animals.

 

The Monasterio de Santa Catalina (Santa Catalina Monastery, actually a convent) is a 20,000m2 citadel complex occupying a whole block in Arequipa where we had an hour-long tour. It was founded in 1580 by a rich widow. Unlike most convents where nuns lived a life of poverty, these nuns came from the best Spanish families and had servants and slaves. When they became an apprentice nun, they had their own (fairly large) room, but once they became a fully-fledged nun they had their own apartment. One of the trees in the gardens had a Hummingbird nesting in it.

 

We had a short tour of the Cathedral where we got to go to the top by the bell towers and got a 360' vista over the city, before heading to a Creperie for a late lunch.

 

"Museo Santuarios Andinos" was our afternoon visit. It is now the home of "Juanita (pronounced Wan-e-ta), the ice princess", the frozen body of an Inca teenager (12-14yrs) sacrificed on the summit of Nevado Ampato, a  snow-covered volcano to north-west of Arequipa, more than 500 years ago. A tour of the museum climaxes (if that is the right word) in respectfully viewing the frozen body in a freezer.

 

Finally dinner was at a rooftop eatery overlooking the main square & mountains beyond. I had Alpaca steak with risotto, but it wasn't as nice as the previous night's Alpaca Lomo Saltardo (for anyone thinking of sampling alpaca). 

 

Arequipa to Puno was another reasonably long drive but in a cramped bus on a rough road. It was fairly uneventful apart from the wild vicunas, domesticated alpacas and the dizzying heights of 4,500m where a stop for coca tea was a necessary option.

 

Puno is a melting pot of Aymara and Quechua cultures. Most of the inhabitants speak at least Spanish, Quechua and Aymara, with different levels of English comprehension. It is also the gateway to Lake Titicaca (pronounced Te-te-kar-kar). A boat tour across to Islas de los Uros was an informative trip. These are floating reed islands built from buoyant Totora reeds on which up to half a dozen families live. We had a demonstration on how the islands are built and maintained. The reeds grow abundantly in the shallows of the lake and are used by the Uros people for houses, boats, crafts that they create to sell to tourists and are even partially edible. The Uros began their unusual floating existence in an effort to isolate themselves from other aggressive tribes including the Incas. The visit included two islands (picked on a rotation basis so each island gets their fair share of visitors), the trip from the first to the second on an optional reed boat ride. The islands are fairly basic living standards though some of them now have solar panels and so some of the houses also have a TV and radio!

 

Now we are nearing Cusco, the old Inca capital and gateway to Machu Picchu. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city and was home to the Incas for two centuries before the Spanish conquered and built their capital here.

 

So until the next instalment,

 

Hope you have or have had a nice Jubilee weekend,

 

Adios

 

Kath & Andy

 

PS Cusco has been a very interesting couple of days. After arriving yesterday, we were taken on a city tour round some of the plazas and narrow cobbled streets. There was a stop at a Coca Shop, which sells Andean Coca Teas (coca leaves, lime and sugar). After wandering round for a while, we had dinner in a little restaurant near the main square. Depending on how people were feeling with the altitude (traveller's tummy, dizziness, breathlessness) the group had meals ranging from Andean Chicken Soup up to large meals of duck in some kind of salty sauce with arroz and papas fritas.

Today we have enjoyed a relaxing day just mooching round Cusco, walking to a lookout over the city, meandering round the crowds of the main square and generally just taking it easy after what has already been a very packed itinerary.

 

PPS Due to some technical difficulties, I am actually sending this from Lima, almost a week later. With luck, I should be able to send you the third and final installment of our adventures before I get home (maybe!)