Peru

Tuesday, April 20. Travel day. We had an early flight to Lima, Peru followed by a flight to Arequipa. Arequipa has been nicknamed the “white city” due to the white volcanic stonework that many of the buildings are made from and, in fact, a perfectly-shaped volcano, El Misti, towers over the city. After checking into our hotel, our first stop was Monasterio Santa Catalina – a citadel within the city, founded in 1580 for nuns, it was closed to the public until 1970. It was a wonderful maze of tiny streets, colorful plazas and nuns quarters. Next we checked out the main square, the Plaza de Arms where they had an enormous cathedral. We hiked up to a roof-top bar where we enjoyed a glass of wine and sunset while overlooking the Plaza. For dinner, we went to a little spot where they cooked our pizza in a wood-fire oven right in front of us. We enjoyed just a little too much wine and left our mark on the wall.

Wednesday, April 21. We were off to the Colca Caynon in the Andes Mountains. After meeting our tour guide Grace, our driver Fernando and another couple, we set off for the 3 ½ plus hour drive – a good portion of which were on bumpy unpaved roads. The drive was amazing. Part of the landscape was just rocky, mountainous and barren. We saw vicunas, the wild cousin of alpacas and llamas, rolled and chewed on cocoa leaves to deal with the altitude (they didn't take that great), stopped at a stone forest at 4,910 meters where we made offering and a wish with three cocoa leaves and saw amazing stone terraces that were built thousands of years ago by pre-Inca civilizations. We stayed in a tiny called Coporaque, where most of the roads were dirt and if you didn't know better, you'd think the town was deserted. Being in the Colca Cayon was like stepping back in time. Much of the work is still done by hand, the houses (if you could even call them that) are nothing more than mud and straw with tin roofs, the women still dress is beautiful colored clothes, and there are alpacas, pigs, donkeys, and cows roaming all about. It seems like an incredibly hard and desolate lifestyle – all that being said, I found it amazing. After checking into our hotel, a great little spot complete with an alpaca outside our window and an amazing view of snow-covered mountains, we had a delicious lunch and sampled alpaca. We went for a short walk around town, a little time to relax, dinner and then called it a night.

Thursday, April 22. We had a 5:00 am wake-up call and were on the road by 6:00 am. The drive along the edge of Colca Canyon was spectacular. It was some of the most amazing landscape I've ever seen. There were thousands of stone terraces (some of the most extensive pre-Inca terracing in all of Peru) that divided the land into wonderful shades of green and yellow. Some of the terrace went all the way up the mountains. They can date the civilizations of the Colca Canyon back to 200 A.D. Ever so often there would be a tiny town nestled into the landscape. The Colca Canyon is one of the deepest in the world at 3,191 meters. After a long drive, we finally arrived at the Cruz del Condor where Andean condors come to rest. Apparently they are the largest flying bird in the world and we were lucky enough to see as many as eight at a time soaring through the Canyon. We then took a short hike and headed back toward Chivay (the capital of the area), making a few stops along the way. We had lunch in Chivay and checked out the local handcrafts market. We had just a short time to relax before it was time to head to the hot springs where we soaked in 39 degrees Celsius water under the stars. We had dinner in Chivay where we listened to local Peruvian music and saw traditional Peruvian dancing. It was a packed day and we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

Friday, April 23. Travel day. We had a 5:00 am wake-up call again and were on the road by 6:00 am. We had roughly a 6 hour drive from Coporaque to Puno on Lake Titicaca. On the way we saw long-tailed rabbits (I forget what they are called in Spanish) and stopped at a beautiful lagoon at roughly 4,400 meters. The landscape was amazing. We arrived in Puno around 1:00 pm, bid Grace and Fernando farewell, checked into our hotel and wandered around town. Compared to the Colca Canyon, Puno was a happening town – lots of shops, restaurants, etc. We saw a funeral where they walked through the streets with music, carrying the casket. Our hotel overlooked the main plaza and we saw a soccer team (we think), marching and chanting around the plaza, and then some sort of parade with music and decorated cars. Tomorrow we're off to explore Lake Titicaca.

Saturday, April 24. Today we were up bright an early to tour Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is HUGE. 60% belongs to Peru, 40% Bolivia and it is one of the world's highest navigable lakes. Our first stop was the Islas Flotantes or the floating islands. I don't think Keith or I have ever seen anything quite like it. Approximately 2,500 Uros people inhabit these islands, dating from 500 years before Christ. The islands are built from using layers and layers of reed. They also build their houses and boats from reed. Walking on the islands was a little like walking on a waterbed. Our next stop was Isla Taquile, a 7 sq. km island that has been inhabited for thousands of years. The walk around the island was like stepping back in time, with ancient terraces, livestock roaming about and traditionally dressed people. We had a delicious trout lunch and then headed back on a 2 ½ hour boat ride to Puno. After dinner and a little wine, we called it a night. Tomorrow we are bus bound for Cuzco.