Keeping Up with the Petersons

Tom dancing Peruvian style

Well, like all yin and yang, we should have expected a hideous bus ride to Arequipa since the one to Puno had been so nice. But, unfortunately, we were not prepared for the bumpy, hair-raising bus ride that awaited us. The bus was about 50 years old and spat out plumes of black smoke every time the driver shifted gears, which is not uncommon for buses in Peru. This particular driver also loved to lay on the horn (even more than me) and for no particular reason whatsoever. Often, when we heard the horn sound, we would look up and see that there were neither cars nor people around us, so there appeared to be no rhyme or reason to his horntooting. He also liked to pick up vendors and salespeople who would give long-winded speeches about various diseases and then try to sell some sort of magic tea or whatever. This also happened on the bus ride to Puno where a salesperson got up and talked for about 45 minutes about kidney cancer and then sold packets of ginseng. We figured the driver must get some percentage of the sales, but don´t know for sure, since we cannot understand a word of the presentation and only get the gist of it from the visual aids they use. But that was not the worst part of the bus ride. On this bus, there was no bathroom. I did not think much of it at first since I thought it would be a relatively short journey. But eventually, we made one pit stop for the 5+ hour journey and it was basically a bunch of Peruvians going out onto the hill on the side of the road and doing their business - men and women alike. And no, I am not joking. Anticipating that the bathroom situation was going to be undesirable, I basically drank no water the entire bus ride, even though I had a bad headache, the result of my latest bout of altitude sickness from Puno. But, I knew that once we got to Arequipa it would be gone since we were dropping about 6000 feet on the drive. We finally got to Arequipa and took a taxi to our hostel which was in a big colonial house. Apparently, stop signs and stop lights have not made it to Peru yet. We thought it was just a Puno thing, but I think it is a problem all over Peru since we honked our way through a number of intersections where there were no signs. Our room at the hostel was large with a high ceiling and old doors and there was a patio on the roof with fantastic views of the volcanos that surround Arequipa. We didn´t do much the day we arrived from Puno - just relaxed and read and then went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant and had some typical Peruvian food. Tom had grilled alpaca and I had some sort of hot pepper stuffed with meat, cheese and spices with potatoes covered in a cheese sauce on the side. It was all quite good - and cheap. The next morning we got up bright and early and enjoyed a delicious breakfast on the roof of our hostel taking in the fabulous view. It was a beautiful sunny day so we walked around town and went to the Plaza de Armas, which was really nice with a fountain in the middle and a beautiful cathedral on one side. We also booked our tour to nearby Colca Canyon, which was believed to be the deepest canyon in the world until about 10 years ago when someone determined that nearby Cotohuasi Canyon was actually 100 meters deeper. We booked our 2 day tour which included transportation to the canyon (about 4+ hours away), an English speaking guide and hotel for 1 night in our own room with private bath for $20 per person. Not bad! The day got even better when we discovered a delicious Mexican restaurant in town with real refried beans, corn tortillas, pico de gallo and yummy guac. We were in heaven. The next morning, we got up at 7, mistakenly thinking that we were getting picked up between 8:30 and 9, but when I double checked our receipt it said between 7:30 and 8 so we had to hustle to get ready and out of our room and just sat down for breakfast when the bus arrived so we grabbed a couple pieces of bread for the car. The drive to Chivay, the town we would be sleeping in, included driving over a pass that was about 16,000 feet - the highest altitude we have ever been. I was worried about altitude sickness, having had it in Cusco and Puno, so I took my altitude sickness pill in advance, drank the coca tea and even chewed the coca leaves. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest and my mouth and throat were numb, but I did not get sick. The drive to Chivay was beautiful and we passsed volcanos and all kinds of different landscapes as we went through the Reserva Nacional Salinas y Aguada Blanca. We saw alpaca, llama and vicunas grazing on the side of the road with nothing but landscape as far as the eye could see - just doing what they have been doing for thousands of years seemingly oblivious to the busloads of tourists who photograph them daily. We got to Chivay, a small town in the Colca Valley, after about 4 hours, including a few stops for pictures along the way. We had lunch there and then took a walk up to see some Incan ruins. Yes, another hill. After, we went to some hot springs which were really nice. Then it was back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner at a Peruvian restaurant that had folkloric music and dancing during dinner. Tom and I both got pulled up for some folkloric dancing. You can see Tom´s dance in the video we posted above. The next morning, we got up at 5:30 for the drive to a lookout of Colca Canyon where you can see condors. The drive was windy and bumpy on a dirt road and lasted about 2 hours, but once we got to the lookout it was really beautiful and we got to see a couple condors flying around - one was young with brown feathers and one was older with white feathers. Their wingspan can get up to 3 meters (just about 10 feet). We did a small hike around the lookout to get different views of the canyon and then headed back to Chivay for lunch. After lunch, we headed back to Arequipa, and right when we got in the car it was raining, but as we drove over the pass, it was snowing! It was really pretty - and cold! We met some great people on the trip and especially enjoyed hanging out with an American couple from Austin, Texas. They were our age and were 1 month into an 8 month trip with an itinerary that includes Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Tanzania, Nepal, India and the Ukraine. Of all the people we have met so far on this trip, we felt that we had the most in common with them - the guy was even a lawyer! We had a great time with them on the tour and the four of us went out for pizza the night we got back. The next day was our last in Arequipa and in Peru, since we are heading south to Chile next. We had a lazy morning at the hostel and then did a little shopping at the artisan market, since it was our last chance to get some cheap Peruvian wares. We had lunch again at the Mexican restaurant and walked around town. Then, we went back to the hostel and watched a movie before beginning the “packing of the bag” ritual which has become increasingly difficult because of all my Peruvian purchases. All things considered though we are still traveling pretty light. Some of you may have noticed that we have deviated from our original itinerary with Arequipa, which was not originally part of our plan. But once we were in South America, we learned that Bolivia has started charging Americans $100 per visa and to get a visa you need to have your tickets in and out of the country. So, we decided to skip it. Instead, we went to Arequipa and are now heading south to Chile - first to Arica, then Iquique, then San Pedro de Atacama and flying out of Antofagasta on February 10th. So, next post - Arica, Chile.