Puno and Arequipa

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After Machu Picchu we took a ten hour train to Puno where we took a two day trip on Lake Titicaca which is the highest lake in South America, close to 4000 meters and toured the floating islands and two other isolated islands. The floating islands are islands created by people who were wanting to avoid the different wars all the way back to the Incas. They are people made islands from woven grasses and water grass root systems that would float away if not anchored. We also stayed at one of the natural created islands which are fairly isolated, with very little electricity, no cars and only beautifully cobbled stone pathways up and down and around the island. After getting used to the thin air we enjoyed the hikes to the peak and the return under a star studded sky in the dark.

The funny thing about our trip to on Lake Titicaca and the islands was that we figure out that it cost the same amount to take a tour as arrange public transport and boats. Both of us are less inclined to take arranged tours, but we decided to take one anyway. What happened was that we were included in a group of French speaking people who thought they had arranged a private tour just for their group, and they were not very happy about us joining them. The private group had an interpreter and the tour guide spoke directly to him usually in a soft voice in Spanish and then he would translate to French. So, it was almost impossible for us to understand since our Spanish was limited and typically we could not even hear the guide in the first place. So, we basically had a non-tour trip as they let us wander around and tag along, but they probably would not have missed us if we accidentally missed a boat, just like taking public transportation and figuring things out on our own.

We are now in Arequipa, where we will be taking a two day trip to the Calca Canyon, which is supposed to be bigger than the Grand Canyon. Once again we will be close to 4000 meters and hopefully our lungs and legs will hold up to our desires to hike from village to village. Traveling with Becky has been great, although the last couple of days we have both had a small cold, which could have something to do with the cold temperatures, long bus trips and very cold nights. We have a couple more days in the higher altitudes and then we go to the coast to warm up, before the last leg of the trip in a more rural area and once again in the mountains. To get to Calca Canyon we once again reluctantly took a tour, but chose to opt out on several of the large group touristy things, like the hot baths, hotel lunches and the nicer hotel far away from the town. This gave us time to wander around the small town of Chivay, see they ruins on the edge of town without any other tourists, eat our peanut butter sandwiches in the square with other town people during their lunch break and of course enjoying the fresh popcorn as a snack on the square. We were considered odd by the others on our bus, but we had a great time by using the tour as just an organized means of transportation.

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