Mirador del Monasterio Arequipa

... tough walk up for 3 hours up 1100m. Getting good at this trekking lark!!<br><br>Afternoon head off to Puno. Arrived 7pm Halloween night. Streets chaotic, cold, so different from Arequipa.<br><br>Sun 1st - happy to leave Puno behind and head off along the shores of lake titicaca and copocabana. Stopped on route at a local Sunday market. Fascinating. Not a tourist in sight (apart from us!) and just locals bartering to exchange goods. Potatoes for nuts, wools ...

... of the virgen and senor through the cobblestone streets. My family tells me there will be more of these processions or parades throughout the month and I hope to be carrying my camera. <br><br>I have booked a trip to Colca Canyon this weekend and I hope to be able to post some pictures next week. I´m headed out to pay for my trip and our flights to the Amazon latter this month so will write more later!<br><br>ciao!

... lunch, we climb again and cross fields terraced into the hillside. The local farmers have been working fields like this for thousands of years, using the springs that jump out of the rock for irrigation. <br><br>In some of the trees there are snake traps. Using old plastic two litre water bottles, a window is cut and on the inside animal blood laced with a drug is smeared. The snake is attracted to the blood and, when it takes a taste, falls in a stupor. If the snake is dead it is ...

... Jim and Gloria have done in Alto Cayma, and, last year at Christmas, they decided that they wanted to get a little gift for everyone in Acercandonos (over 200 people). Jim and Gloria said they weren&#8217;t sure where the money would come from, and the girls&#8217; response was that they didn&#8217;t want any help, they would do it themselves. So, they did. So, it is possible to help these people to understand this notion of sharing and giving back, but it does take time.

... with another, it will only make them personally and the cardshop better, not take away from what they have. <br><br>Now, though, the girls are much more like sisters, and they understand much better how this all works. They work together and help each other out when necessary.<br><br>Check out some of their creations - I dont think the web does them justice, but its all I've got:<br>http://www.serving-alto-cayma.i nfo/how_card_making.html.<br><br><br>

... vegetables and/or meat. Then after the meal we get tea -- standard, coca leaf -- which is the natural form of man-made Cocaine -- or other local plants. As I mentioned to a few people on our trip when filling the somewhat obligatory forms that its my b-day today as they always ask for name, nationality, age, and profession as well as sometimes birthday, passport #,and martial status. I ...

... pomito con la ilusion de que llegara al hotel, aunque sabian que no era muy probable. En el pomito habia arena del Caribe que tampoco se veia muy diferente a cualquier otra arena. Prueba que las cosas son lo que son y todo depende de la ilusion con las que miremos lo que nos rodea.<br><br> Mas adelante encontramos una cruz de caminos y en los ...

... a hostel... we show up and it turns out the only hostel in town is not serving dinner that night or breakfast the following morning.. why? Because the mother is the cook and she´s gone into town for a couple of days.... of course. So we start off again, off to the next town/group of hostels another hour away! Turns out this was probably the wisest option anyway, finding ourselves some dinner and beds for the night in a place named Oasis, complete with swimming pool (but too ...

... to start as any, so I made my way down there from the hostel and was surprised to see a full blown march/protest going on. Never did I feel that I was in any danger, so I freely took a few pictures and film, and then made my way over to what would probably have to be the city's biggest draw - the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. Built in 1580, it is "a city within a city" as it is called, where nuns lived in seclusion...<br>

... to eat, and fried vegetables - that was all. Then we got tea afterwards. That was our whole dinner. A little rice and veggies. We tried to be cheery, but most of us felt still very hungry and went to bed hungry.<br><br>I woke up the next morning, totally starving. For breakfast we got two pan cakes with jam and tea to drink with it, which was all tasty, but poor portions though, if you ask me. Then we were off for a two hour long hike to a swimming pool ...