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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“The locals were happy to pose for photos with a baby llama called Bob Marley, rabbits and large eagles on their heads.” |
We survived another hair-raising (I wish) coach trip to Arequipa. I cannot understand why Peru has never produced a World Rally Champion since every single driver seems to be in training at all times. We have learned that getting a seat at the back of the bus where you can´t see what is happening is more relaxing.
We really liked Arequipa, quite a large city with narrow streets and loads of interesting buildings dotted around. We took a tour of a couple of convents and churches and had fun paddling through the streets at night after a heavy downpour. We both felt the effects of altitude sickness a bit, although that was mild compared with what was to follow.
We took a 2 day trip up to Colca Canyon, the second deepest in the world. We stopped off briefly en route at somewhere which was 4,900m above sea level and nearly collapsed with the dizziness when we got out of the bus. A bit disconcerting! A young trinket seller must have spotted my lack of alertness and cashed in accordingly. Not exactly my finest display of bartering skills. Fair game I suppose. Note to self: when over 4000m, keep wallet in pocket.
We stayed over at Chivay which is about 3600m above sea level. We both found it really difficult to breathe, particularly at night. Embarrassingly, the elderly french ladies on our bus seemed fine - that has cemented our decision to renew the gym membership when we get back! The trip co-incided with the Peruvian festival period so we sat in a restaurant in Chivay watching the locals dance around the square spraying water and foam at each other - the done thing apparently. Freezing cold at night here so we wore just about the entire contents of our rucksacks to bed.
Colca Canyon itself was stunning, although we had to wait an hour or so for the cloud to lift before we got to see the condors soaring through the canyon. We had started to lose hope of seeing any so it was a real bonus when they finally appeared.
We stopped at a few villages en route where the locals were happy to pose for photos with a baby llama called Bob Marley, rabbits and even with large eagles on their heads (for a small donation of course - worthy danger money). At one village they put on a dance where the boys dressed up as girls in the traditional Peruvian dress - apparently a tradional method to help protect the girls against unwanted suitors. Not sure if that idea would catch on in Oceana.
After Arequipa we took a (relatively) uncomfortable 5 hour coach trip to Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the world´s highest navigable lake at 3800m. Naomi has really been struggling with altitude sickness and at 5am this morning an early flight back to sea level was looking on the cards. Fortunately things improved during the day so we managed to take a boat trip out to the Uros (floating reed) islands which were fantastic. The photos probably provide a better explanation than I can give.
A large steak meal at a nice restaurant has also helped improve morale after a few days of cold showers, dodgy pizzas and bread rolls! Naomi has said that she can´t wait to have her kitchen back and has promised to cook me fantastic meals every night. I have recorded this promise here for future reference. I´m betting that the novelty will last about a week!
Our next stop is Cuzco where hopefully we´ll have a good Macchu Picchu experience to tell you about.
previous travel blog entry
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