Yup we on the road again, heading north to Peru for some warmer weather and to meet up with our friends Mark and Deb from Seacycle. Being Canadian it seems weird to head north for warmth. We left Arica Chile at 9:00 am via a local bus to cross the board. We could have taken a taxi for the 20km at $8 but the local bus was only $3 so off we went. At the boarder we had to get out of the bus and go through immigration and our worry of bring in food was all for nothing as they didn’t check our bags there…yup we had some food (which you are not allowed to bring any food into Peru).. but stay tuned. We arrived in Tacna, the first little town in Peru, where we are to catch our bus to Arequipa. As we wondered around the bus terminal we found our bus line where we checked in bags and they showed us where to exchange our Chilean money. There are 2 bus terminals in Tacna an international and local terminal, so off we wondered around the 2 terminals. In the international terminal we could not believe the number of little shops that the main item for sale was rolls of toilet paper or paper towels, not tourist stuff like t-shirts. We are not kidding when we say there were 1000’s of rolls. It seem that the women from Chile come over on the same bus as we took to buy toilet paper, broom handles and Peruvian pop then head back the same day, they sell them on the streets in Chile for 3 to 4 times the price they pay in Peru. The local terminal is where you can exchange money and buy everything from shoes to cookies all for a “good price”. We went to pick up our bags and the guy from the international terminal had picked up our ticket and then walked us over to the local terminal, showed us where we had to pay the local departure tax and then checked us in. We had to chase him down to give him a tip, first experience in Peru amazing. Okay we are now on our new bus line Cruz de Sur after having our hand luggage checked and our picture taken in our seat. After our bus driver had a breathalyzer test we are off for a 6 hour bus ride. Two police spot inspections and one security check for the driver later, we were then stopped once again, this time we had to get off the bus and go into a gated area and our entire luggage was taken off the bus. They searched our hand luggage and then they check the bus. In Peru they certainly like police checks, “Okay we are not in Kansas anymore Dorothy”. We are not sure what they were looking for, but it seemed our food was safe. We finally arrived into Arequipa about 2 hours late. We got to our hotel and meet up with Mark and Deb and then crashed for the night.
Arequipa is the white city and the second largest city of Peru and it really is beautiful with all the old buildings which have been immaculately kept or restored.
We wondered the city, partly to get our bearings, partly to buy the last things we think we need for the trek to the Inca ruins. We had lunch in a Peruvian restaurant, and we have to say that Peruvian food is much better than Chilean, more flavor, more spice. After lunch we meet with Edison, a Peruvian who sells tours, which Mark and Deb met at the bus station when they came in. With Edison we arranged to change hotels (as our first hotel, Hotel Viza was a dive, despite it’s 3 star rating), we stayed the Tierra Mistica at same price ($33 US), and it was amazing. The rooms were all built around a courtyard, the floors were old wood and the breakfast was fantastic, not just buns, but eggs and fruit.
Edison arranged a trip to Colca canyon, thought to be the deepest Canyon in the world. On the way we saw Vicuna, Llamas and Alpaca, the camels of South America. We also saw ducks (potential l’orange) and birds. Our tour guide showed how to chew coca leaves which the locals use to reduce the effects of altitude sickness. So with a wad in our checks, we passed through an area just under 5000 meters. Mark and Deb where really breathless, had headaches and felt dizzy. While being blond, I must say that while I didn’t really feel breathless, I was dizzy. With Cheryl, the altitude had no effect. So the jury is still out on whether the coca leaves work. We went to our hotel in Chivay, the largest town in the Colca valley. We had a buffet lunch as a large group, an amazing assortment of traditional Peruvian food. Once we were settled we were picked up to go to the hot springs. Awesome! The water was 39 degrees Celsius (or so they said), the setting was amazing, nestled into the valley.
The next day we were picked up at 6 am to drive down the valley to see the Condors. We stopped at several lookouts to take tooooooooo many pictures, but each spot was so different and spectacular. A large portion of the valley is terraced, actually terracing set up by the Incas and previous indigenous tribes, 400 years ago! They are currently only using 39% of the terracing. They grow a large variety of grains, fruits and veggies in the valley. We hiked about an hour to the Condors. Karen had some problems with the height, walking along the edge of the Canyon, but once you saw a Condor flying, soaring, just working the thermals, it was all worth it! They were close enough that you could see the wind gusts rippling their feathers. Once back in the bus we had another scenic stop, then lunch. A similar Peruvian buffet to the day before, but with many different dishes (one was particularly different, a dried potato, rehydrated and served with an egg and cheese sauce, this dish came from the highlands of the Colca Canyon).
After a couple of stops for pictures on our way back to Arequipa, we arrived at our new hotel, Hotel Casa Consuela (also $33 US a night). Cheryl and I lucked out; we had a massive room, with a queen and two single beds, even a table to have dinner on, although we did not have cooking facilities. We had dinner just half a block away, a Quinoa soup, a main course and tea for 6 Soles, just over $2!
The next day found Mark having succumbed either to altitude sickness or the flu. So he slept and Deb, Cheryl and Karen toured for the day. The morning was really about shopping, arranging our trip to Puno with Edison and then a bus trip through the city in the afternoon. Arequipa is a beautiful city, because of its setting, nestled amongst 3 volcanoes, also because of its buildings, made from sillar, volcanic ash stones. We went and picked up a rotisserie chicken and fries and Chinese vegetables and ate, and ate and ate in our palatial room. Needless to say the portions were not small.
Next day, after breakfast on the top floor of our hotel, which had an awesome view of the volcanoes, we went off to the Santa Catalina Monastery. It was founded in the late 16th century, while it has been rebuilt many times due to earthquakes and time, it was huge. It is 5 acres, a city within a city, with street names, a cemetery, churches, courtyards and 2 storey homes for the nuns.
Mark wanted to shop, so we did. Then back to the hotel after a stop at the supermarket for dinner and wine, of course. As we had eaten lunch out, this included lomo saltado, a local specialty of beef, onions and french fries with some veggies all piled on top of each other so needless to say we were not that hungry for dinner.
Our last night in Arequipa we went out for dinner and Cheryl dinned on one of the local specialties Cuy aka a guinea pig, not much meat on a Guinea pig so Cheryl was still hungry after dinner. Karen and Deb tried another specialty Alpaca, while Mark had Pisco Sour a local drink with lime juice, pisco wine and an egg, it sound weird but it is good and some food. The origin of Pisco Sour’s bragging rights is an ongoing debate between Chile and Peru but we happy to try it in either country.
Now we are on the bus to Puno, which is on Lake Titicaca, the claim to fame is it is the highest navigable lake in the world, plus it has reed islands.
