Blog number 1
 

Departed Houston at Superbowl  kickoff, uneventful flight and flight deck updates scores periodically. Lots of Broncos fans on board.

Flight deck warned us a possible rough landing in Lima; we assumed bad weather but descent and final approach was smooth as silk. Landing WAS rough, our first arrival was at 12:35:20… bounce… second arrival 12:35:23 bounce… bounce… and the third and final arrival was at 12:35:26. Second runway is under construction and main runway needs repairs but sees such heavy use no time for repairs.  Our hotel was near the airport and directly underneath the takeoff flight path; airport open 24/7. Nice hotel but noisy and we were serenaded by barking dogs every nite.

Lima   is a city of 10M with beautiful architecture dating back to mid 1800s and  punctuated with many squares, parks and walking streets.
 

Traffic is VERY heavy, the painted lanes are merely a crude guide. Traffic is a constant din of horns tooting, too bad the horns weren’t in different major/minor keys and then it would sound like a harmonic chord! We took collectivos from our hotel to downtown and back. Very reminiscent of the bumper car ride in the old exhibition days except the contact was minimal and accidental in Lima. Took a tour to the top of the mountain to the Jesus Cristo cross and a panoramic view of the city. The Barrio we travelled thru to get there was not a place to be on your own.



Next day flew to Cusco, flight was 2 hours late departing so our plans got backed up at bit. Cusco is 10,000 feet elevation and we started our altitude sickness pills. Tourism is the number one industry in Cusco state. Over the next few days we all got altitude sickness in one form or another; short of breath, wobbly legs, couldn’t walk more than 50 yards at a time severe headaches, total loss of  appetite, tingling fingers hands, etc. In Cusco, we stayed at a nice hostal called Casa de Mama de recoletta. Jim got away from the group on the walk to the Casa but we found him about 45 minutes later. Imagine getting lost on thus street!

The trek/trip to Machu Picchu is a bit of an ordeal, we had the option of leaving Cusco late afternoon and staying at a sister casa in Ollantaytanbo (2 hours by local bus) or getting up at 2 am for the bus the following day. We took the bus and left Cusco about 5 pm, there is about 4 lanes of activity jammed into the two lines painted on the road; the driver had a figurine of Jesus Cristo mounted on his dashboard and after every “near miss” he crossed himself and rubbed old Jesus.. needless to say, Jesus was worn smooth so, either he was a devout Catholic or he has experienced a few near misses. We stayed overnight on Ollantaytambo, ate at a restaurant called The Station and had alpaca which is a nice rich dark meat. We passed on the Cuy (guinea pig) which was too expensive!(90 sols = $30 approx.)

Next day up at 3:30 to catch the train to Agua Calientes at 4:00 am (2 hour ride) then a  30 minute bus ride up to the Machu Picchu site. We had tickets to hike Huanyu Pichu starting at 8 am; only Ken, Vicki and Heather made it to the top. Lynn got 95% of the way and Jim 5%.  The exertion was very great. The MP site defies description and is mind boggling (but when I looked over the edge of the quarry and saw a huge cemetery where the Scottish stone masons that died on the project were buried and I figured out how the Incas did it).  Great engineering in dealing with water and ground water. We had intermittent rain all day and we quite soaked and cold.

It is a very spiritual place (sans tourists) Huanyu picchu is the tallest peak in the panorama on the right and THAT’s what Ken, Heather and Vicki conquered looming in he mist.

Road up to Machu Picchu

After a night in Cusco (got back at 10 pm); the InkaExpress bus to Puno was fully booked for the next day. We got “ubered” by a private guy who took us to the bus terminal and we hired a private bus to take the six of us to Puno . The bus ride (high end Mercedes with a great driver Alloi) took about 8 hours through beautiful lush valleys at first and then high desolate plateaus as we got near Lake Titicaca and Puno.  Cost was 400 USD but had to do it…  other bus days were 16 CAD.  Lot’s of herds of alpacas, cows and some sheep.

At Puno, elevation is above 12, 500 feet and exertion is even more difficult. Another nice B&B Casa Don Jose near the center of town. Had a tour of the Uros floating islands made of reeds that were established when the Incas drove the Uros offshore to the safety of their boats and they gradually built the floating islands. About 7 families live on one island with a total of about 2000 to 3000 islands. I would estimate several hundred boats take tourists out to the islands and visit individual islands on a scheduled basis over the course of a typical week. The tour portrays how each island was built and what life on the island is like and then they sell you the handicrafts so they can support their way of life as they need petrol for their boats, upgrades to solar panels and the like. Each island has ducks, chickens, cooking area carefully insulated to avoid fires, their own small private rainbow trout farm and they promote the impression is the families live on the islands, children go to a communal school on a larger island.

Now the real story… the owner of our B&B was quite disgusted by this as this WAS the way of life 30 years ago but today the people live up on the hillside in houses valued at $300K to $500K US. They are scheduled to “work” approximately 3 days a week, don their traditional clothes and take their boat out to “their island” for the day to work the tourists. It was very informative though. Walked through the local meat and produce market and we can attest there is not one gram of protein wasted taken from the critters entering the market. Carnaval is celebrated in Puno until the end of February with bands, music, dancing and kids running around with aerosol cans of soap? spraying each other.

 

Left Puno by bus at 08:00 for a long day trip to Arequipa thru high deserts and plains, got stopped at  two checkpoints; the first searching for contraband coming from Bolivia, the second for fruit fly control. Heather got caught with two mangos and two apples which were confiscated.  She attempted to take fruit from a fruit fly zone into a fruit fly free zone… say “fruit fly free” 3 times for a tongue twister. Jim was an experienced smuggler and got through with bananas which were at the top of the list of banned fruits. Heather had to produce her passport; no fingerprinting or mugshots taken but we are hoping she hasn’t been entered into some Interpol database and we will encounter difficulties at the border in Chile. Lots of vicuna (alpaca-like critter with fine wool) along the highway, locals scatter food along the highway to attract the vicuna for the tourist buses. Many tourists sign up for vicuna hunting (choco) where they join hands forming a human corral and they herd the vicuna against a natural coral like a cliff or small canyon where the cowboys grab a vicuna and shear them and release them. It occurs this time of year (summer) so they can regrow their coats before winter. We are still at an elevation of 10000+ feet and winters are very cold. Trip from Puno to Arequipa was 8 hours and on board bus vendors  pestered/harangued us for about half the trip selling their wares teeth whiteners, holistic medicines, herbs, ointments, etc; one guy talked/shouted  non stop for over an hour. Passed two mountains at 20,000 ft with snow at the top.

Beer has been cheap and cold.  Wine is $8 to $10.  New soft drink called Inca Cola which has Vicky addicted.  Lemon flavour with lots of fizz.

Arrived in Arequipa and stayed overnight, very beautiful city, would like to come back here as there are lots of things to do in the area.

We are now on our way from Arequipa to Tacna to cross the border into Chile (if they allow us entry since we are travelling with a criminal).  Countryside is absolute barren desert with NO vegetation.  Makes Arizona look like a tropical paradise.  A few oases with irrigated corn and alfafa fields.

As a side note, all of the hotel staff have been incredibly friendly and helpful, although in some cases they do not speak very good English (but still better than our Spanish). Ken has been trying to get a chip for his phone but can not find anyone in a telephone store or kiosk but in none of those places seem to have anyone that speaks any English at all. As we travel through the mountain areas the roads are very steep with switch backs and on the plateau areas the roads as straight as an arrow. We will spend the night in Arica ( aah ree ca) before flying to Santiago tomorrow.