Advertisement
Published: April 26th 2011
Coming from a country where the highest point is 2,228 metres, you start to pay a bit of attention when you spend long periods of time above and, at times, at double that height. The Andes have the height business properly sewn up and they are still growing. Since we flew into Cusco at over 3,000 metres we have moved up and down a little but have basically remained at well over 2,500 metres for the remainder of our time in Peru, except for the day we left.
It can take a little while to become accustomed to these heights. We haven't had too bad a time with altitude sickness although there have been a few searing headaches and some uncomfortable times as we have climbed above 4,800 metres on some bus trips. We do find that it is not quite so easy to scamper up hills and stairs, but then I have always regarded scampering up hills as a pretty senseless exercise. Gasping for air is something you get used to and, after a while, you do find it all OK. Reminds me of those long-gone days as a smoker when a flight of stairs had the lungs pumping.
Andes from the air
Between Lima and CuscoFlights into Cusco have to be early in the morning due to the high altitude. I can't really explain the physics, or is it chemistry, but anyway we were deposited in Cusco by middday. I was crook all day – ceviche in Lima was the prime suspect – and it became progressively worse. Eventually, the pills kicked in and I started to come good during the evening. Great things drugs.
Pat and I decided to do Macchu Picchu in one day rather than spend 4 days walking up the Inca Trail. A little wimpish I know but we didn't really have the time. The kids had already done it and didn't want to spend the quite considerable amount of money again. We probably couldn't have broken the 3 hours 40 minutes record for the trail in any case.
Any trip to Macchu Picchu is not a cheap exercise. For us a car cost S70 to take us 2 hours away to Ollantaytambo to catch the train to Aguas Calientes. The train ($150 return) was delayed for an hour and a half not long after we set off, due to a landslide, and we finally arrived in Aguas
Ash on the mountains
Looks like snow from a distance, but is ash from a volcanic eruption a few hundred years ago Calientes at about 13.00. Then it was $US15.50 each for a bus to Macchu Picchu on top of the entry fee of S136. It was worth it though. An amazing place that almost certainly defies my powers of description.
For all the world Macchu Picchu looks to me like it was a holiday resort for the rich and powerful. It is built on the top of a hill with million dollar views wherever you might look. Perhaps there was some deep religious significance, perhaps it was a question of security but I choose to believe that the people then were much the same as people now and they just said to themselves – what a ripper of a spot to spend the hols! Why not build here? We can fit enough servants and others in to keep us self sufficient in veggies, meat and the other essentials. We won't be bothered by unwanted visitors and, in any case, we will spot them coming miles away. Won't be cheap but hey, you have to spend a bit to get something good!
A very impressive site and well worth its status as one of the new wonders of the world.
Old ash 2
From the highway We were able to organise an earlier train than the 9.30 pm one we had booked in Lima and made it back to Ollantaytambo by 8.30 pm. A car cost us S80 to travel the 2 hours back to Cusco - an extra S10 for the night ride so not too bad. A 7 seater all to ourselves but we did make an exception and allow the driver to pick up his family. This, of course, breaks the rules. You never let a car pick up someone else once you are in it – because they might rob you – but, in this case, it was so obviously the bloke's wife and son and so obviously OK that we said OK. They were very appreciative but it didn't stop the driver insisting that, if we wanted to go to somewhere other than the Plaza de Armas, we would have to pay more. We walked.
Cusco has a system of 'boleta turistica'. For a one off cost of S130 (divide by 3 for $A) you can get into all of the museums and other tourist type attractions over about a week. We had one day. No way could we do
everything justice in that time and there are times when one more museum is more than enough so we didn't buy the boleto. We did buy a partial though so we could get into the Sacsaywaman site – known locally as the 'Sexy Woman' site. This was well worth the visit. A lot of steps and even more hills to get there. The quads were quietly asking for some relief before we made it. A good place. Just a little bit sad that the Spanish used the place as a quarry to build Cusco but then the Vatican did the same thing with ancient Roman places so they didn't really invent the practice.
Dinner that night at a bar restaurant on the way up the hill from San Blas. Some good music with a bloke on pipes and flutes. There are a lot of flute players around here. Some can do litte more than a recognisable rendition of 'El Condor Pasa' but this bloke was very, very good. Unfortunately, he had some friends who looked like rich Argentinian backpackers. This mob were enthusiastic but could use plenty of practice before they are let out on the street again –
perhaps a little more talent too. It was a very nice meal though and a very good atmosphere in the restaurant.
Unfortunately, Cusco will remain in our memory as the place where we were ripped off for $3000. It wasn't the fault of Cusco or, as far as we know, anyone in Peru, but it was the place where, with an increasing level of disquiet, we tried ATM after ATM while being told that our 'transaction could not be processed at this time'. Eventually we headed back to our hostel and the internet to find out if there was something happening at our bank in Australia. On establishing that our bank actually thought we had received money on each of the attempted transactions, we made a call. It seems that, as far as the bank was concerned the transactions came from the Dominican Republic, one place we have never visited. With luck we will have the money returned but it was a nasty surprise. It seems that they didn't need our pin, didn't need to even see our card, but were still able to intercept and divert authorised payments.
The bus ride to Arequipa was during the day,
but it was long. 10 hours on a long and winding road through some very high country, at some points getting over 4,700 metres. It was a very long and uncomfortable ride for some, but still through country that was simply wonderful. At least I was able to enjoy it.
The high country here is home primarily to Indigenous people. Perhaps they are the only ones who can take it – or maybe it is the only place left for them? The place is not heavily populated but there were more people here than I had thought would be the case. It would take special people to live up here. The air is very thin and you are living in country covered by tundra like vegetation. A lot of alpine lakes and the ground is pretty soggy for the most part. Houses pretty much all built of adobe. They farm mainly alpaca and llama but have dairy cows as well so there must be some good nutrition in the grasses. One lady seller who climbed onto our bus was selling quite large rounds of cheese for about $2.50. It turned out to be a pretty reasonable tasting, relatively light
Buzzard eagle
At Maca in the Colca Canyon cheese.
They call Arequipa the 'White City'. The older places were built using the local stone which scrubs up white. We were there primarily as the jumping off point for the Colca Canyon but the city was more pleasant than most, at least around the centre. We did come through the suburbs on a couple of our trips around and they didn't really impress as anything other than yet another big, busy city but the centre was comfortable with enough life to make it interesting.
Arequipa's main tourist attraction is the St Catalina Convent. An interesting and well set up place which demonstrates very clearly that being a nun in the good old days here was just a little more comfortable than in some other places. Servants, parties and pretty comfortable apartments until a killjoy bishop came along and put a stop to it all. Part of it is still a working nunnery but we didn't get into that so can't comment on how things are now. It was started by the Spaniards in 1542 or thereabouts. Earthquakes have had an effect on the place at various times but there is still plenty there to work your way
Climbing at Macchu Picchu
The only way to get anywhere here through.
They had a cafe in the nunnery and we were able to have a beer there. This was significant because it was the only place in Arequipa on the day before the election where you could legally do so. A nice surprise. Catholics do have it over some other religions.
The Peruvian Election was to be actually held on the day after we arrived, a Sunday. As I have noted in an earlier post, they take elections pretty seriously here. Polling officials are randomly selected and you are compelled to serve if your name is posted – or at least that is it as far as we can tell. Long lists are publicly displayed a few days before the election. If you are a voter then you vote between the hours of 8.00 am and 4.00 pm at the place you are supposed to. There doesn't seem to be any of this wussy postal or absentee stuff here. Either vote or you are in strife. Certainly, no one we spoke to seemed disinclined to vote, although some didn't see that it would make a lot of difference to who won.
Adam had conducted a pretty extensive
Colca embroidery
on the women's hats and waistcoats poll of taxi drivers, waiters and the like to try to determine who was who. The rest of us did the same where we could with anyone who could speak some English – or slowly enough so that we could understand the Spanish. The manager of our hostel in Arequipa provided an interesting view that Peru doesn't need a dictator like Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia have at the moment. Attempting to establish how they could be dictators, having all actually been voted into office democratically, cut no ice whatsoever. This did not seem to be an isolated view. Chavez, Morales and Ortega are obviously a concern to many in some other countries. Correa of Ecuador doesn't seem to be in the same box yet, though.
Colca Canyon is said to be the second deepest canyon in the world, second after its neighbour down the road a little – Cotahausi – and is over 100 kilometres long. The Grand Canyon in the USA and the Tara Canyon in Montenegro are also said to be numbers 1 and 2 but obviously according to some other measurement scale. Not really being an expert on how to measure canyons and what makes one
Stall at Maca
More embroidery on display in the women's clothing larger, longer, deeper or wider than the others – and frankly not caring much either – we were very impressed with Colca.
We decided to do the trip in one day. A lot of people take a few days to have a look at this canyon. They travel out there from Arequipa, trek down into the canyon – there are no roads to a lot of it – camp at various places and trek back out. On the way they get to see wonderful, awe inspiring scenery, overcome the physical challenge of climbing in and out of a very large, albeit attractive, hole and see condors sailing elegantly on the air currents while they, the trekkers, labour below, or perhaps alongside.
There was a time issue again. We are having to make decisions on priorities that require us to skip things that might have been good to see and do more often that we would like. Four days in Colca would have been good but there would have then had to be a sacrifice. I have to admit that there was also a commitment issue. Climbing into a hole just to climb back out did seem just a
little silly. Not, of course, that we don't do silly things. But, when the lovely lady said that we could see it all, do it all even, in just one day, we looked at each other and said, fine. There was a minor grimace when she explained that we would be collected at 3.00 am but, hey, we're pretty tough. Not so fit, but pretty tough.
The election intervened and it turned out that we needed to be ready to go at 2.00 am – to give the guide and driver time to get back and vote – but we were ready. Colca Tours were the company and they deserve a recommendation. Professional. A good and safe driver who paid attention to the comfort of his passengers. A guide who provided the information in good English and, I assume, excellent Spanish. A comfortable bus and a trip that gave us adequate time at each place along the way. As is normal with such tours, though, there was inadequate time at every place for a couple of members of the party. The same members of the party coincidentally at every stop. I am not too sure whether it was arrogance,
El Misti
a solo volcano which can be seen from Arequipa ignorance, selfishness or a mix of the three, but there is a bit of it about. And, no it didn't remind us that much of Alex in Africa. As he was at pains to point out, he was always there at the appointed time. Always the last of course but always on time. These girls were not.
The canyon is fertile and once provided food for a population in excess of 70,000. The current population is less than half that number. Most of the higher terraces are not used any more. They are too dry. These days the primary water source is the river rather than rainfall. The work that went it to the construction of the terraces is a marvel. We did see the condors and they were impossibly elegant. Not so many of them about on the day we were there but sufficient for a few photos.
Dinner at one of the best restaurants in Arequipa to celebrate Adam and Klaire's third anniversary was one of the better feeds we had found. I will say that the Lonely Planet had it right on this occasion giving this one its pick as the best in town.
Roofs of old Cusco
There are a lot more non-red roofs in the newer parts of Cusco An early morning start from Arequipa on a 7.00 am bus. Thence to Taca close to the border with Chile. Arrived at about 1300 and then into a taxi to take us the 65 km to Arica in Chile. Coincidentally it also took us across the border. An uneventful border crossing, just wider than most between the towns. At Arica we were introduced to Chilean costs. Bus to Calama and then to San Pedro de Atacama left at 2100 and arrived at 05.30 the next day. The connecting bus to San Pedro left at about 8.00 am and arrived a little after 9.00 am. 26 hours on the road but who was counting.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.671s; Tpl: 0.026s; cc: 30; qc: 131; dbt: 0.4126s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
Sarah
non-member comment
Llamas
All very interesting but mostly I am loving the photos of the llamas! They are hilarious.