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Published: August 23rd 2008
Our day of travel started out with another breakfast of yogurt on dry cereal. I'm actually starting to get used to that for breakfast -- not that I'm going to start eating that at home... Their coffee is very weird here too. It's so thick you can practically chew it, and you have to add 3/4 milk or water to make it palatable. After that, though, it's pretty good. I popped it into a togo cup and we were off for our tourbus. The trip is 9.5 hrs from Cusco to Puno and makes a couple of stops on the way at some more Incan ruins. It actually broke it up pretty well. The alternative is you can take a train, but it actually takes 10hrs on the train with no stops. Weird, but the train goes SLOWER than the bus. And it really does -- we passed it a couple of times before and after stops.
Our first stop was at a little church in Andahuaylillas, which some refer to as the "sistine chapel" of south america. As my guidebook says, that's going a bit far. It's a church with lots of painting inside and painting on the ceiling.
The bus
Bright-eyed and bushy tailed on the bus. The 2 guys right behind us were the most annoying people on the whole trip! (not to mention their wives..)Big whoop. After a 5-min tour through the church (really not very exciting, or else I'm just getting tired of seeing more churches and Incan ruins), we got back on the bus. Interesting to note, that EVERYWHERE we went there were people there with tables set up trying to sell us stuff. And not just passively either. They would hunt you down to try to sell you things. I got so sick of seeing the same stupid necklace for sale over and over. Despite that, I bought stuff from them. Haha, I'm a hypocrite.
Another hour or so through the countryside and we were at our next stop. Raqchi was more ruins. I don't even know what to say anymore. At first I was awed by the fact that I was touching a stone structure that was built in the 1400s, but by now, I'm numb to it. I should preface the rest of this entry by saying that each stop was mainly a way to break up the trip, but nothing terribly impressive. Fortunately, most of our stops were brief, and just gave you the time to stretch your legs and maybe buy something from the endless locals
A wedding
On the ground in front of the "sistine chapel" were the remains of someone's wedding. Kinda cool. hawking their wares (and candy bars).
Our next stop was at a ceramics and metal working shop. You got to see how they make the ceramics and silver jewelry. And of cours you can buy stuff from them. They also had a whole pen of guinea pigs... The most entertaining part was the 3 baby alpacas they had tied up in the courtyard. They brought out a bottle for each and let people feed them. However, this one really retarded and rude tourist took the bottle and proceeded to stand there and feed it while his idiot wife realized she had no idea how to use a digital camera. While he was trying to explain what an on/off button does, the alpaca finished the bottle and that was the end of that. Pretty selfish and rude. So instead of anyone else from the crowded bus getting to try, he just stood there. It's not so much the fact of feeding alpacas as it was the extreme rudeness and selfishniss that really got under my skin. I should also mention that it was not the first obnoxious thing that couple had done on the trip. It's funny -- whenever you
The long ride
This is what we saw for about 9 hours. The road was exactly like this for the entire trip. see a really dumb tourist, it's probably an American. But whenever you see a really rude tourist, they're usually not American, they're usually from a select couple European countries (you know who you are). Well, the rest of us got a nice photo op by feeding the alpacs the grass they had nearby. It was a diversion from the really loong bus ride, and more interesting than ruins.
After that was lunch, very nearby in Sicuani. Yet another lunch buffet. This Peruvian Ponderosa was my least favorite so far I think. They had 2 big buses descend on them at the same time, but were totally unprepared. While I tried to wash my hands in the bathroom (only to find there was no running water!) the throng descended on the buffet line. It was like a plague of locusts had swept through. By the end there was nothing but a spinning plate with crumbs. Ok, so that's a little dramatic, but they pretty well cleaned out the food. And certainly anything good was gone. So we had bread and some crappy meat while waiting for them to bring out more food. And when they brought it out, that too
Raqchi
The round structures were used to store grain and things was gone before most people could get up there. Really sucked. Not to mention that the food wasn't that great. In fact, I would recommend that anyone coming to Peru and doing these tour things avoids the lunch buffets as much as possible. Overall the food hasn't been great at any of the buffets. However, the service at most Peruvian restaurants SUCKS (expect to wait an hour between getting to the restaurant and getting your food in some cases), so I guess the buffets do have that advantage. By the way, speaking of dumb American tourists, there was one at lunch trying to figure out what was in the carafes, that were quite obviously coffee, milk, and hot water (each had a napkin under the spout with examples of what was inside). Then when they told her what was inside because she couldn't figure it out, she still couldn't figure out where the tea was. She was trying to ask which one had tea in it. I should mention that right next to the carafe of hot water was a big basket with all kinds of tea bags, and a pile of empty tea bag papers. What a moron. Maybe
Raqchi
A common sight on our trip -- a lady with a sheep and lots of tourists in the background she was Canadian... haha
During lunch we were again assaulted with that aweful Andean music. At first I might have thought it was nice, but after having it in my face day after day, and having people come to my table and stand there until they get a tip for the crappy music. Even worse, they have CDs! ugh.
Afterwards, we ventured on to our next stop at La Raya, which is famous only for being the highest point between Cusco and Puno at 14,176ft. We got out, took a picture of the sign and the snow-covered peak, and that was about it. Even here, in the middle of nowhere, there were people with tables at the side of the road selling stuff. I didn't really notice the altitude at first (we had been at around 8,000ft for a few days by that point), but after walking around for a couple of minutes, I started feeling crappy. Hard to describe, but just not right. Not quite dizzy and not quite nauseaus, but something in there. I'm sure it was the altitude. We didn't stay long though. And our trip ultimately ended up a couple of thousand feet lower.
Cuy
They look much better with fur... We made one last stop at Pucara. More ruins, but this time it was pre-Incan ruins. There had been many civilizations in Peru before the Incans, going back way before Christ. The Inca were pretty recent -- like 1200-1550. Oh, and something else I learned is that there were only 13 (or was it 16?) Incans. Only the kings were called Inca, the commoners were all Quechuan. That is still a culture that is alive and well here too. The language is commonly spoken, and it's even one of the official languages of Peru (in addition to Spanish and Ayamara, another native and ancient language). In Pucara there is a little museum that is apparently owned and operated by an American who lives there. He found these ruins and moved down there to excavate and preserve. They are from a pre-Incan civilization and are known as the "decapitators" because the statues are holding decapitated heads in one hand and a knife in the other. Weird. But they wouldn't let us take pictures. I really don't understand that. I would think that if you want a culture to be known about and preserved, the best way would be to spread
photo op
Feeding the baby alpaca the word whatever way possible. Whatever. I had enough ruins pictures anyway.
Finally, we boarded the bus and our next stop was Puno. We pulled into Puno right at 5pm, just as predicted. Our drive from the outskirts to the city center bus stop was enlightening. I learned that I would never want to visit Puno, and certainly never want to live there. It is a very dirty city with nothing to offer other than a lake. Maybe I missed something, but it was definitely my least favorite stop on the whole trip. Our hotel was outside the city center, but our "lake view" turned out to be a view of the driveway for me and a view of the alpacas out back for Edwin. Their internet was pretty sketchy too. Breakfast was aweful. All in all not the best hotel. I'm sure they get much worse though! The rooms themselves were clean and decent though. I had hot water, towels, and soap so I guess I shouldn't complain. When we checked in we dropped our stuff off and took a cab back into Puno (why, you might ask yourself? Because there's NOTHING where the hotel was). A cheap
Adobe Bricks
A lot of the homes out there are made with sun-baked mud bricks cab ride at least, and we were on the only place decent to go at night -- the pedestrian street called Lima. We were able to get some last minute shopping done after dinner. Alpaca is cheapest in that area, so we got some pretty nice deals on stuff.
We intended to go to this restaurant recommended by the guidebook, but they were closed for a party. About 10ft down the street there were people standing out with menus advertising their restaurants, and we took a chance. We wandered into this restaurant based on the "roasted cuy" on the menu. I decided that even though I wasn't excited to eat guinea pig, I was in the country where it was a delicacy and I should at least try it (plus I had already bought the t-shirt). So we went in and found it a very decent loung/restaurant with a lot of other people inside. The olympics were on in the background with decent music playing overhead. Nice ambiance. And not filled with smoke, which is always a plus. I ordered the roasted cuy and Edwin tried the Alpaca (it's really quite good, and supposedly much healthier than beef). Edwin
That's high!
The highest point on the whole trip -- over 14,000ft. This is where I started feeling the effects... had already tried cuy so he was absolved (though his came out just looking like a filet so you couldn't even tell what it was -- that's cheating). Mine came out with teeth and all. Fortunately I was hungry, so I got over it. It was pretty gnarly though. It was butterflyed open with a head and pointy teeth at one end, some kind of shredded carrot and veggie crap in the middle, and 4 legs splayed out . It was thoughtful of them to put little foil booties on each foot. I'm not sure the purpose of those, but at least I didn't have to look at the little claws while I was trying to pry what little meat there was off this giant roasted rat. There was a lot of skin and fat, with very little meat around. It was hard to find a decent chunk. I was able to pull some off the leg, and after fighting with the arm, gave up after the booties kept falling off and I kept staring at these little roasted fingers. EWWW. Most people say it tastes like pork, but I disagree. It was JUST like chicken, especially a little skinny
In the middle of nowhere!
And there were the tables and vendors ready to sell us stuff. The only reason anyone stops there is because it's the highest point on the road between Cusco and Puno. Never fails that there's someone there trying to capitalize. one that you have to fight to find the meat on it. After 2 bites, I was sufficiently grossed out and decided I had paid my dues. I ordered a small pizza and enjoyed that pizza more than most meals I had had in the country. I'm sure this was all made much better by the several glasses of wine we had enjoyed while waiting the hour to get our food... When it was all said and done, 3 entrees and 5 glasses of wine all for about $30. Not bad! I could get used to that.
That was about all the excitement for one night. We cabbed it back to the hotel and turned in early again. It has been nice getting a decent night's sleep.
As I write this, I'm sitting in the airport in Lima waiting for a delayed plane home. Our last day was on an island without electricity. My next entry about our last 2 days in Peru will be from the USA!
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OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK FIRST OF ALL AS BAD AS THE ROACH PART OF THIS WAS YOU JUST TOPPED THAT. I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT YOU ATE A FLIPPING GUINEA PIG, I GUESS I SHOULD THANK YOU SINCE I NOW CAN NOT EAT. LOL I AM VERY HAPPY TO HEAR THAT YOU ARE IN MIAMI RIGHT NOW ON YOUR WAY HOME. TALK TO YOU LATER WHEN YOU SETTLED IN!!! XXOOXX