Visiting the 2 biggest cities in Peru: Arequipa and Lima

We left Puno and lake Titicaca and headed west to Arequipa, the 2nd largest city in Peru and a 6 hour bus ride. I liked the city, it has a very colonial feel to it with a nice plaza and brightly painted colonial buildings. The only touristy thing we did was to visit the Santa Catalina monastery. By this time we've seen plenty of churches and monasteries but this one was supposedly a must see. Well I hoped after paying the hefty $13 (35 soles) entrance fee. This might not seem to bad but this was the same price as our hostal.

Santa Catalin Monastary

Reading up on the history of this place, it was opened by a rich widow in 1580 and rich Spanish families would pay a substantial dowry to have someone enter religious service there. It was often custom for the 2nd child of upper class Spanish families to enter into religious service and instead of going into chaste poverty, the nuns that were privileged to live here had servants and invite musicians for parties. After 3 centuries of parties, the pope sent a strict nun to the monastery to straighten things out. The place was closed to outsiders until 1970, when the mayor forced it open for tourism, not sure how I feel about that and if it remained closed I would have respected that.




The place was huge, like it's own little city. It was laid out in cloisters, depending on seniority.  It was a beautiful and mazey place with very interesting living quarters. I really enjoyed taking photos here.

Arequipa main cathedral

While in Arequipa, we also wanted lot visit Colca canyon, the 2nd deepest in the world (the deepest is also in Peru). Since we were short on time, we couldn't hike to the bottom of the canyon where the "oasis" contains swimming pools and a few basic lodging options. Instead we opted for a 2 day tour with a group. During the tour, the bus would make frequent stops, in little towns and lookout vistas and every time we stopped there were vendors eager for our business. I have mixed feelings about that, I feel like I am being pressured and trapped into spending money all time yet I know that most of them are depending on tourism for their income.

the main viewpoint in Colca Canyon

The canyon itself was an interesting sight but it wasn't close to the grand canyon, while it might be deeper here the sheer width and grandness of grand canyon takes my breath away. We did seem some condors flying around which was majestic to see.

Andean Condor

After the tour we took a fight to Lima instead of a long 16 hour bus ride. We were originally planning on visiting the famous Nazca lines which would have been on the way to Lima but we were dreading the long bus ride and our days were getting short.

erotic pottery at Museo Larco

While in Lima, we visited the Museo Larco which housed ceramics and gold from the indigenous cultures. An interesting exhibit was the erotic pottery which showed sexual acts and even STD's. We visited the San Francisco monastery which was known for its underground catacombs. I also got to surf for the first time in Peru, right there in Lima and we saw a Pena show, a traditional folklore show.

The clifftop view from Miraflores in Lima

The Pena didn't start till 10:30pm and lasts 4 hours. We stayed about halfway and felt like we got plenty. It was an interesting mix of traditional folk dancing, where the 8 dancers, half male half female, would dress up in beautiful costumes of different regions of Peru and perform a dance but then in between the performances, it was almost like a nightclub, a cheesy one. There was an emcee who would invite people onto the floor and they would dance and tanga line. Also interesting was that every table had a stack of little notepads where you could write an announcement to hand to the emcee who would read them outloud to the audience, I would guess about 200 people. The most common was the birthday but there were also anniversaries and random celebrations like corporate parties.

Lima itself was a nice city. I was here briefly 10 years ago traveling to and from machu picchu. I didn't realize how big it was and the area near the coast was pretty nice. We went to the mall right on the cliff overlooking the ocean and ate a Chili's for dinner, we were craving comfort food. We saw 2 women weaving a textile in a fancy store, just like we had on our trek into the mountain villages, but the finished product cost 4x as much here. I hoped the women were making a decent cut of the profits. We spent 3 nights here then hit the road again, 8 hours north to the beach town (and surfing!) of Huanchaco.

inside the Santa Catalina monastary

these are bird eggs, hard boiled, 6 for a buck

Vicunas, endangered and a relatice of the llama

main plaza in lima

surfing in Lima, it wasn't me though

highway strikes and being stuck on a floating island: Lake Titicaca and Puno

floating islands of Uros, Lake Titicaca

the dock at Lake Titicaca

conversation at the bus station in Cusco with a bus company

me: I would like to buy a bus ticket to Puno for tomorrow
bus: you cant, there are no buses tomorrow
me: why?
bus: there is going to be a strike on the highway tomorrow
me: what about the next day then?
bus: not sure when again, try that other bus company over there

conversation with another bus company (there are literally about 50 to choose from at this bus station)

me: I would like to buy a bus ticket to Puno for tomorrow, but will there be a strike?
bus: no, no problem
me: okay, so 2 tickets please

the town of Puno

After a rest day in Cusco after our 4 day Machu Picchu trek, we decided to head south 6 hours to the town of Puno, Peru on Lake Titicaca. After not being sold a bus ticket by one company, another company gladly sold me a ticket. We got on the bus (it was pretty full) so we trusted that the bus company wouldn't sell a bus load of people tickets if there really was a strike and if the highway was shut down. After traveling about 2 hours the bus came to a standstill. Oh oh, is this the strike? I looked outside and saw that there was rockslide on the road ahead of us but after a conversation with a local on the bus, the rock slide was the strike. The teachers in Peru have been striking lately and I guess on this day they decided to create a rockslide on the highway to make a statement. We were able to get through the rock slide but it probably took an hour or so. We saw a group of protesters and police in riot gear. It was peaceful though. The bus continued again traveling through high mountains, Cusco sits at 11,300 feet and we were heading to 12,500 feet, so the entire bus ride was through mountains. Funny though, there wasnt any snow. After traveling a few more hours, another rockslide. We did make it to Puno after 8 hours, instead of the scheduled 6.



While in Puno, our goal was to visit the floating islands of Uros which are made of reeds. Instead of booking a tour to the island (we were asked the moment we got off the bus until the moment we got inside our hotel room) we decided to visit them on our own as we knew there were ferries that we could catch on our own. So the following morning we walked to the dock, bought our ferry ticket (about $4), then our island entry ticket ($2) and waited for the next ferry to leave = when the boat is full. It seems as though that this is a pretty common theme traveling around the world. Sometimes there are published times when a certain means of transportation will leave but there are also lots of times when the transportation will leave when its full so it means sitting around and waiting for it to fill sometimes. It was a short 3 mile ride to the island but it was a slow ferry and took us 40 minutes. We wondered if we could have taken one of the paddleboats nearby and gotten there faster.

one of the floating islands of Uros

When we arrived, we realized that it was actually a bunch of little floating islands and not just one. Our boat dropped us off on an island which was about a size of large backyard. There were 5 little houses constructed from reeds and 5 little stands in front of them ready to sell us souveniers (all pretty much selling the same thing). Not a surprise at all.






thats what the islands are made up of

A man greeted us and asked us to sit on some bundles of reed for a quick presentation. There were about 12 of us and he gave us a quick 10 minute presenation on how the islands are built and about Lake Titicaca. He ended the presentation by informing us that a boat ride to the main central island in a reed boat was 8 soles (about $3.50). Ah hah. We werent surprised. The ferry (which was actually a 20 passenger boat) had left already and we weren't sure if it was coming back. There were 5 (Liz and I and 3 Peruvian tourists) of us that had a problem with this entrapment and decided that we werent paying extra for the reed boat ride. The presentation dude was begging and pleading with us to get on the boat and lowered the price to 5 soles. We were annoyed at the principle of this but thought that maybe we had no choice since our ferry had already left. So we got on the boat.

this is the extra boat ride that we had to pay for
to get to the main island

It was about a 10 minute paddle to the main island, which was probably about half the size of a football field. There was a restaurant, a couple gift shops and some homes that looked staged and not actually being lived in. On the way there were 3 little kids that got on the boat with us. They were cute and we thought they were just coming along with their dads that were paddling. Oh no, after the boat left they started singing childrens rhymes in multiple languages and of course at the end they asked for tips.

these are the cute kids that sang
and asked for tips

Since there wasn't really much to see on this island other then buy food or souveneirs (which we weren't interested in based on principle) we just sat around not knowing when the ferry would leave back to town. I tried to ask the boat captain but no real reply. Perhaps they will take us back if we spend enough money? After 45 minutes or so they finally motioned us to get back on the boat, as another boat of tourists just came (and shortly after we first arrived another boat of tourists left). While it was interesting to see the island, it was definitely a tourist trap. I have mixed feelings about this. Yes I know these people are poor and whats a few bucks to me but at the same time it really bugs me that they are trying to get every $ from me that they can.

thats a big wrench

While we were in the town of Puno, we visited the Yavari boat. It was a Peruvian Naval ship that was used, abandoned, then restored by an English women. Fascinating history. It was a steam engine boat (along with another boat Yapura) that was constructed in England 1861, shipped to Chile (in 2766 parts), then put on a train through the mountains (40 miles) until they had to be carried the rest of the way by men and mules (210 miles through mountains!). It took 6 years. The boats were used until 1975 and then abandoned by the Peruvian Navy. In 1987, an English woman decided that the boat was too valuable historically to be abandoned and started the restoration. Today it is a tourist attraction where donations are taken to keep up the restoration. We visited it and couldnt believe we were the only ones. We were met by an old, stout local who gave us a quick tour, in Spanish but we understood the main points. The boat was beautifully restored and many of the original wood and mechanical parts were there. I read that the boat goes about 7 times a year and that you can stay in it now as a 6 person B & B. Here is a link to the history

http://www.yavari.org/yavari-story.html

There are 2 other main islands that tourists visit (not floating) but we decided that they are probably touristy as well and after being in the Galapagos, we knew they couldnt measure up in terms of beauty. The islands are both about 3 hour boat rides so we decided to skip them. We are now off to Arequipa, the 2nd largest city in Peru and the gateway to the Colca de Canyon, the 2nd deepest canyon in the world, the deepest is nearby. They are double the deepness of the Grand Canyon.

the main plaza with cathedral in Puno
pretty much a common theme in every Latin city

they have heavy duty police trucks here

inside a very crammed combi (cheap minivan transports)

Lares Trek and Machu Picchu

This girl was so cute

the local kids would come up to us wanting candy, we ran out

June 3rd, 8am: leave Galapagos hotel
June 4th, 8am: arrive at hotel in Cuzco, Peru
the 24 hours inbetween: 1 ferry ride, 2 bus rides, 4 flights, 4 taxi rides and a 6 hour layover in Lima airport


Liz and I left the Galapagos islands on June 3rd with a big travel day ahead. After traveling for 24 hours we arrived in Cuzco, Peru with the goal of trekking to Machu Picchu. After spending 12 days in the Galapagos at sea level, we traveled to an elevation of 11,200 feet within 24 hours. Yes we are originally from Colorado but its been over a month since we lived there so not sure if we still had that advantage.

Cuzco is at 11,000 feet and these steep
steps were tough! 

When we first arrived in Cuzco, we were short of breath even after walking up the steps in our hostel. We knew we needed time to acclimate so we were planning on spending a few days there before starting our hike. We decided not to book our trek ahead of time as I had been there 10 years ago and knew that there were 100´s of travel agents and that we could get a better price by booking in person. So after we arrived we talked to about a dozen of them however we had trouble finding the Lares trek departing on the day we wanted. Finally we found a trek but it was leaving at 4:30am the next morning and it was about 7pm the night before so we had to quickly pack and get ready for the hike!

the view of the plaza at cuzco

we were randomly joined by a stray lab on our hike
 for like 2 hours, it was such a cute dog,
we named him Zorro, he followed us all the way
to our hostel and tried to get in

Sacaswayman ruins in Cuzco, we didnt pay to go in

I hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu 10 years ago. It was a tough 3 day hike but a great experience with a great reward of seeing Machu Picchu on day 4. Sure you can take a train there but many people decide to take the challenge and hike there using a variety of routes lasting from 2-7 days. The Inca trail is the most famous but it books up months in advance since they only allow 500 people on the trail per day. Originally we had our sights set on the 5 day Salcantay hike, a longer and tougher hike then the Inca trail. It is a 4 day hike, 38 miles, and goes over a mountain pass with an elevation of 15,000 feet. Since we haven´t been hiking lately we decided on a easier hike, Lares trek.

start of our hike up a dirt road

The Lares trek is still a 4 day hike, with 3 days of hiking with the last day being spent at Machu Picchu. It is a 20 mile hike with the highest mountain pass at 14,400 feet. This is advertised as a cultural hike as you hike through authentic mountain villages, unlike the other hikes. This was actually my favorite part of the hike as we spent the first 2 nights camping in the yard of local families in these villages. Along the trek we would see locals hearding llama and sheep, kids running up to us for candy and did I mention llama and sheep? These were indigenous people, still living off the land and wearing their bright textile clothing they are known for. They are expert weavers and make their own beautiful textiles, and as we approached their homes, they would run down to the road/trail with a supply of water, soda, and hand made hats, gloves, bracelets, etc. for sale. During the 1st night of camping, I watched one of the women of the house creating a textile, not sure whats its called but its liked a shawl and wrapped around the neck. She told me it would take her 2 months to weave it and then she would attempt to sell it for 150 soles, or $50. Since I can´t pull off a shawl, I bought 3 bracelets for 10 soles or $4.


The hike itself was actually a lot easier then I thought it would be. I had my watch with me which kept track of elevation gained/lost. The first day we were picked up in a mini-van at 4:30am and driven about 4 hours to the town of Lares to start our hike. The first thing we did wasn´t hike but to enjoy the hot springs for a few hours. It would have been much better at the end of the day but it was pretty nice. The hike itself was only about 3 hours with an elevation gain of 1,800 feet, camping at an elevation of 12,365 feet. When we were about 5 minutes from reaching our camping spot, a rock about a size of a grapefruit came rolling down the hill and hit me on the shoulder. Luckily I wasn´t hurt but I didn´t see it coming at all... kind of scary.

end of our first day of hiking

enjoying a roadside chica morada - corn beer

The second day was our tough day with a hike up to the summit at 14,400 feet. We actually breezed to the summit reaching it in only 3 hours and not really gasping that much for air. We had a little bit of freezing rain near the summit but the temperature wasn´t that cold, probably right around freezing. Unlike the mountains in Colorado, there wasn´t snow on the ground except for the freezing rain/snow that was just coming. The rest of the day was hiking downhill to an elevation of 12,350 feet. An 8 hour day but with a 2 hour lunch break



on the top of the pass our 2nd day at 14,400 feet

The third day was the least interesting as most of the day was spent actually walking down a dirt road. The scenery was still nice as we were in a valley with a river. It was a 5 hour downhill walk (elevation loss of 3,100 feet) to the town of Ollantaytambo where we would have to spend about 7 hours before catching our 2 hour train ride to the town of Aguas Calientes, at the base of Machu Picchu. We finally arrived at our hostel after 9pm, took a quick shower, packed for the next day and set
our alarm for 4am.

The last day, we started our hike up to Machu Picchu at 4:30am with headlamps. You can take a bus up there but we were on a treking trip and wanted to earn it. It was a tough and steep hike in the dark taking an hour and 20 minutes. But when we arrived the sun was just about to rise and we caught the sunrise. We spent the next 2 hours or so receiving a tour from our guide learning about the history. The rest of the day we spent resting and exploring around the ruins taking 100´s of photos. After about 7 hours there we were ready to leave and we had 2 options. Hike back town 1,400 feet down steps or pay for a very overpriced ($9) bus ride back into town. We hiked down. And of course now we have to wait around for 6 more hours till our train back to Ollantaytambo and then catch a bus for the 1.5 hour bus ride back to Cuzco, arriving sometime around 1am. Its lots of time sitting around but hey, I´m on vacation and I don´t have to work so I can´t complain.





the line to get into Machu Picchu at 6am

 

Llamas at Machu Picchu

Cow's whole lower jaw for sale at a market

a local herding sheepand llama








just after sunrise at Machu Picchu