How Amy feels about Chris after 4 months of traveling in Central and South America.

Kicking back in the Bolivian desert outside of Uyuni

Peru: Arequipa and Puno (September 15-26)

Arequipa
As proof of the facts that 1) we are getting older, and 2) we are not quite on the "dirt cheap backpacker plan," we opted for a $44USD, 40-minute flight from Cuzco to Arequipa instead of the 12-hour bus ride. Granted, at $44 the decision wasn´t a hard one. Now, for reasons that will become clear later in this entry, I am without my trusty guidebook...and thus I cannot provide those interesting nuggets of background information that you´ve undoubtedly come to enjoy. I will therefore have to slog it out from memory, which may not be pretty.

If I´m remembering correctly, Arequipa is known as the "city of white" or somesuch, due to the fact that many of the buildings are built with a white stone known as sillar. This stone is abundant in the desert around the town. The town has a lovely Plaza de Armas (central square) and, of course, many churches and a few interesting museums. The most interesting museum we visited was one which featured an exhibit on the discovery of a 500-year-old female mummy, Juanita (also known by her much cooler name, "Ice Maiden"). She was discovered in 1996 atop Mount Ampato outside Arequipa. Studies conducted revealed that she died as part of an Incan sacrifice, and since she had been covered in snow and ice since her death, she was very well preserved. She was only discovered because an adjacent volcano erupted and emitted enough heat and ash to melt the ice/snow on Mount Ampato. Anyway, if you wanna see her, she´s in a glass freezer in Arequipa.

The most impressive place we visited in Arequipa had to be the Monasterio Santa Catalina. The name would lead you to believe that it is a monastery, but in fact it is a convent. At one time this 20,000 square meter religious complex housed nearly 450 women, but now only 30 nuns live there. The convent opened to the public in the 1970s and since then tourists have been able to enjoy these unique buildings, the architecture, beautiful grounds, and amazing art collection. Santa Catalina is closed off from the hustle and bustle of the city by tall surrounding wall. Inside are cobblestone streets, brightly painted buildings with intricate archways and refreshing patios, and an endless supply of potted geraniums. We spent a few hours wandering the tiny streets and getting lost in the maze of small rooms formerly inhabited by the nuns.

Colca Canyon
Just outside Arequipa is the Colca Canyon, the world's second deepest canyon. (It recently lost its title of "world's deepest canyon" to nearby Cotahuasi Canyon, just 163 meters deeper.) From Arequipa we hopped a tour bus to the canyon, passing through the Reserva Nacional Salinas y Aguada Blanca. There we saw llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas (a cousin to the llama and alpaca). We spent a night in Chivay at the head of the canyon, where we visited the local hot springs (along with about a hundred other steaming tourists) and were treated to some traditional dancing at a local restaurant. Our favorite dance was the traditional "love dance" performed by a young man and woman. It was a sort of courtship dance, but the odd part was that the man dressed in women's clothing. We were all a bit perplexed until our tour guide explained it. Apparently back in the day there were houses where young girls were sent to prepare them for life in a convent. As the girls grew older they sometimes caught the fancy of the young boys in the neighborhood. In order to be able to spend any time with her, the boy would dress in women's clothing and sneak into the all-girls house....

The next morning we took an early morning bus to Cabanaconde where we met up with our trekking group. From there we hiked a steep three hours down into the canyon and by noon we were soaking our feet in the cool waters of the river. We hiked through the several small villages that dot the canyon (in one we were treated to a taste of fresh honey scraped right off the honeycomb) and finally ended up at the "oasis" hostel. Unfortunately the lovely pool we spotted from high on the canyon wall belonged to the hostel next to ours. I can't tell you how disappointed I was!!

The next morning our excursion included a stop at Cruz del Condor, a fairly reliable hangout for Andean condors. These condors are most active in the morning hours, and so in order to catch them at their peak, we had to start our hike out of the canyon at 3am. (This is one of those things that sounds semi reasonable when you are signing up for the tour...but when put into practice, you quickly realize the plan's shortcomings.) Anyway, we donned our packs and headlamps and started the strenuous ascent in the pitch black of the early morning hours. I was cursing our decision most of the way up, seeing as how rewarding views usually make strenuous hikes worthwhile. Oh well. Morning light was beginning to take over the night sky by the time we reached the canyon rim, which I will admit, was a beautiful sight.

After a quick breakfast we boarded a bus that would take us to the Cruz del Condor. The bus was packed to overflowing with backpackers and locals, including women in traditional dress toting every kind of souvenir all of us backpackers could ever need. Almost everyone was headed to the lookout and the rest were headed to one of the many villages along the canyon rim. As I mentioned, the bus was quite full. When all the seats were occupied and all the standing room was taken, I thought that those left would have to take the next bus. Not so in this corner of Peru. We began to notice people climbing up the side of the bus and disappearing onto the roof. One after another, they kept climbing up there. I was horrified after about the 20th person made his way up. Riding on the roof of a bus is dangerous enough, but add in a bumpy dirt road skirting the edge of the world's second deepest canyon, and you're in for an exciting ride. We began to make our way along the road. Whenever the sun cast a shadow on the mountainside, we could see all the little heads sticking up from the top of the bus!! Let's just say that we were glad to have our "first class" seats.

Once we did arrive at the Cruz del Condor, we were treated to a spectacular show by about 10-12 amazing condors. They soared back and forth above our heads, probably scouting the canyon walls and floor for food. Andean condors are huge birds. Full grown condors reach an average height of 4 feet, have an average wingspan of 10 feet, and weigh 20-30 pounds. At that weight it is virtually impossible for them to take flight from the canyon floor. So, they make their nests high in the canyon walls where the wind moving through the canyon can help them take flight.

Puno
Puno would be our last stop in Peru before crossing the border into Bolivia. Our main reason for visiting Puno was that it is the most convenient base for exploring the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, which sits at an altitude of nearly 13,000 feet. Lake Titicaca is South America's largest lake and is the largest lake in the world above 6,600 feet. It is over 100 miles in length and 36 miles in width.

The first stop on our two-day tour of the lake was at a unique group of islands known as the Islas Flotantes (floating islands) of the Uros people. The Uros began to live out on these islands hundreds of years ago in order to isolate themselves from the Incas. The islands are made with totora reeds that grow in the shallow sections of the lake. The reeds are dried out and then piled together until they are over several meters thick and can provide a stable base for living. As the reeds on the bottom rot away, new reeds are stacked on top. We and about 20 other tourists headed out to the islands on a traditional boat to visit a few of the many islands. Stepping onto the islands is quite strange. Your foot sinks a bit as you squish-squish-squish over the island. Get too close to the edge and you get a shoe full of water. The reeds are used to make nearly everything the island's inhabitants might need, including boats, houses, and crafts. They are also a big part of the islanders' diets. One of the more interesting things for me was that these people, as far removed from the Peruvian mainstream as they are, still had solar powered generators to provide electricity for that most important electronic device....the television.

After a ride on a reed boat and a climb up one of the island lookout towers, we were off to our next stop, Isla Amantani. This island is a traditional one, i.e., not made out of reeds. There we stayed overnight with a local family and learned about life on the island. Justa, our hostess, was 30 years old and lived with her five-year-old son Ederson, her sister, and her parents. Justa had taken several tourism classes in order to be able to take visitors into her home. We had lunch, dinner, and breakfast the next day with them in their traditional adobe kitchen, and despite some language barriers (islanders speak Quechua, not Spanish) we managed to learn a little about each other. In the evening Justa took us to the local "nightclub" (an empty room with concrete walls and floor with a small band in the corner) to experience local dancing. Chris and I were encouraged to dress up in the local garb (provided by our host family), which for Chris only meant a poncho and a funny hat. I, however, had to put on three layers of skirts, a blouse, a tight belt that wrapped around me about forty times, and a heavy wool shawl. Yikes. The dancing was pretty fun...although my belt was so tight I could barely breathe sometimes.

The next day we headed back down to the port and said goodbye to our hostess. On the way down we saw many members of the village helping to bring supplies up from the port. These supplies were to be used to build the new community center. When I saw women who must've been about 70 years old slogging concrete cinder blocks uphill, I was struck at what an amazing sense of community this place has. Everyone who can, helps. They all look out for each other, help one another, and live together peacefully to preserve their local way of life.

On our way back to Puno we stopped at Isla Taquile, another island in the lake where another group of tight-knit Quechua-speaking islanders live in relative seclusion from mainland Peru. We hiked along a beautiful path with breathtaking views of the lake and ate a traditional lunch at one of the island's few cafes.

Robbery attempt #2 (successful)
On our last morning in Peru, while waiting for the bus that would take us across the border into Bolivia, we were robbed. We were sitting outside our hotel on a bright Saturday morning when two men walked toward us. I was sitting in a closed doorway with my two packs (my main pack and a small daypack) right next to me. One of the men went to my right and knocked on a door just beside me. I, of course, turned my head toward him. He waited at the door for about 20 seconds and then just left. I thought it was odd that he knocked on the door and just left before anyone answered. About two or three minutes later I realized that my daypack was nowhere in sight. I jumped up, asked Chris if he knew where it was, and then ran inside the hotel to see if I had left it in there. When it wasn't there, it began to sink in that it had been stolen. I remembered the two guys, and realized that the one must've been distracting me while the other ran away with the pack.

There was $26 cash in the pack, the rest they probably dumped in an alley somewhere. Chris took off running through the immediate area trying to look for it, seeing as how what they would have dumped what was useless to them but quite important to us: guidebooks, a few novels, my fleece, a few traveller's checks, plane tickets (yikes!), and one credit card. Oh, and our headlamps and my vaccination record. And a few other things. What a pain. Chris didn't find anything. We had to miss our bus so that we could spend the day filing a police report and canceling our checks and cards. What fun.

And so we left Peru on a somewhat sour note. Nonetheless we had a fantastic time there and despite our few troubles we'd go back in a heartbeat.