The highest lake in the world
Trip Start
May 18, 2007
1
2
43
Trip End
Jul 28, 2007
Puno,
Peru
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
I'm writing to you from the town of Puno, Perú, right on the shores of famous Lake Titicaca.
To recap briefly the last few days, here's what I've been up to:
1) Flew from Toronto to Lima last Friday night. Uneventful flight, though landing anywhere in the world at 2:30AM is not something I truly recommend - if you have a choice. It's not so much jet lag that gets you (Perú is just one hour behind Toronto, as there is no DST here), it's just plain fatigue, disorientation, and the realization that - oh-my-god - I'm here for... how long?
2) Arrived at Hotel Stefano's at 4:30AM with the pre-arranged airport transfer (no issues), settled into my basic but clean room, and fell asleep watching..
All decked out in Quechua garb
. CNN International. Considering I had a choice of 100+ channels - I agree, not very original on my part.3) Woke up at 9AM, had a shower and went for breakfast: scrambled eggs and toast, OJ and coffee. Very good, except each item was served 5 minutes apart. The butter came last.
4) Went back to bed. Lima would have to wait. Woke up at 1:30PM, used the toilet and made the mistake (I knew better!) to throw the paper into the toilet - Peruvian plumbing doesn't like that very much, but fortunately, no major issues. I just used the public toilet downstairs, and asked to get the toilet in my room fixed - they did, and all was well.
5) 2:30PM - went on a pre-arranged (through G.A.P.) guided tour of Lima. We visited various neighbourhoods (Miraflores, San Isidro, Lima Centro mainly), saw pre-Inca ruins right in the city, stopped at Plaza de Armas to take pictures, and visited the Convent of San Francis (1600´s) and its catacombs, which hold the remains of an estimated 70,000. To sum up my impressions of Lima: crowded (9 million); messy; chaotic; poor; not very attractive; very few colonial buildings left standing (earthquakes...); loud, obnoxious, and unpredictable traffic; sprawled over many sq
Arriving in Puno
. km... I can't say I liked it that much. Unusual for me not to like a city, but it does happen. If I compare to other cities I've seen, it's a cross between Kathmandu and Addis Ababa -- not necessarily a flattering comparison...6) Two Canadians on the tour, Norm and Suraj, told me there was a nice area near our hotel, within a 5 minute walk. But by 6pm, when we got back to the hotel, I was still too tired to venture out on my own. So I finished the cheap novel I'd bought at Pearson Friday night ("False Impression" by Jeffrey Archer - not bad!), and fell asleep by about 9PM.
7) Sunday morning, breakfast (toast and eggs together this time), then email on really bad computer, followed by a nice long walk in the area of the hotel in Miraflores. Ahhhhh! It was nice. Green park right in front of a pretty little colonial church painted all in yellow, street artists setting up their easels near the church, and crowds in their Sunday best attending mass. I sat at an outside café for lunch, and treated myself to cebiche (fish "cooked" in lime juice) and a local beer, Cusqueña. Very nice lunch. I kept walking after lunch, and within 10 minutes, I had reached the cliffs overlooking the beach. Stunning view of the Pacific... Expert paragliders were demonstrating their skills to us onlookers, and taking daring clients on in tandem flights
Fresh trout for lunch!
. No worries - I didn't do it. I walked through the "Love Park" and kept going towards the fabulous multi-storied outdoor mall with cinemas, various stores for rich people, and yes, a Starbucks. I didn't mention that Miraflores is the "Forest Hill" of Lima, and that the local population has a much higher standard of living than average. Consequently, that whole area is safe for tourists, and quite appealing. The view of the beach down below, the sun preparing to set over the Pacific, and the water glittering under a perfect blue sky... well, that made me like Lima quite a bit more.8) 6:30PM Sunday: meeting and briefing with the G.A.P. Tour Leader (Carlos) and the rest of the group for the next 12 days. The group is: Norm and Suraj (Canada - also on the Lima tour, see above); Chris and Harriet (UK); Gareth and Claire (N. Ireland); Mary and Brian (UK); Clive (UK); Keith and MayNah (Singapore), and me. Fun mix, everyone really good.
9) Monday: left Lima to fly to Juliaca (via a quick stop in Arequipa), then took a private bus to Puno. Nice hotel - I have my own room since there are no other single women in the group - hot shower, warm bed, and again, cable TV with about 40 channels. Sadly, I enjoy watching it... One thing about Puno - it sits at over 12,000 ft of altitude
Lake Titicaca with Bolivia in the distance
. From sea level to 12,000 ft in one day is quite a change, so several of us had headaches, and all of us are short-of-breath. I'm the only one in the group who knows what altitude feels like - so this is all normal. Just in case, I took a 1/2 Diamox (meds to fend off altitude symptoms). All good.OK - so now you're caught up on the day-to-day until Monday night. Oh yeah, nice dinner -- I had Alpaca Mignon (google alpaca, if you´re not sure what it is). Someone at the next table had Cuy -- I'll let you google that one as well. ;-)
Yesterday morning, we took a 3-hour boat ride on Lake Titicaca to get to Taquile Island. The lake is placid, gigantic, clear, of a deep blue - stunningly beautiful. Arriving at Taquile, we climbed up to the village - something that would normally take us 10 minutes took us 30, but who's counting... We had fresh lake trout for lunch, got to shop for handicrafts (the main staple of the economy around here), took great pictures, then got back on the boat to Amantani Island.
There, we were welcomed at the port by our "home stay families" for the night. Clive and I shared a family, who had two separate rooms for us. Eleven-year-old Cintia walked us (uphill, again) to her family home
Little girl and woman from the Uros Islands
. The population of Amantani is Quechuan, but children also speak Spanish, so I was glad that Cynthia and I could speak easily together. Her house was a small "C" shaped compound of 3 connecting buildings, each the size of a single room. Clive had the 2nd floor room above mine, and the family slept in the other room. The third connecting part was the living room/kitchen. All of this is made of hand-made mud brick, with a tin roof. The kitchen is a tiny wood stove built within the outside wall, with a small area for wood, and a shelf for food. Bathroom, you ask? Outhouse, of course, outside the "compound wall", in the garden, where the family grows potatoes and beans. After settling in, we were taken to the "fútbol" field, where all the foreign tourists - all 200 of us!!! - were assembled. Yes, this is a mini-industry in its own right, and it's got a name: "experimental tourism", where the tourists get to experience local customs and lifestyles. As it turns out, it is a popular thing, for independent tourists in Perú to come to this island. Off the beaten path? It didn't feel like it when I saw the swarms of other tourists, but I suppose it still is a bit off the path, at least for now.
From the field, some of us chose to walk up to the highest point of the island (4,200m, or 13,880 ft) to view the unbelievably beautiful sunset
Sunset from Amantani Island
. It was breathtaking. I wished I'd been with fewer people, but small price to pay... Cintia and her brother Yoni and mom Fabiana were very hospitable. We were fed a dinner of potato soup and rice with vegetable stew. Not bad at all. Then - soon after dinner, Fabiana dressed me up in local garb (two very thick skirts, an embroidered shirt, a woven and very tight belt, and a black shawl) to attend the nightly "fiesta" with the foreign tourists. So once more up the hill we went to the community hall. Most of our group soon joined, and along with about 150 other foreigners equally decked out in local ware, we were taught Quechuan folkloric dances by our hosts. It was fun - and it was one of the most "out there" experiences I've had in all my trips.
By 9:30, tired and eager for a good night sleep, we walked back to the house in the dark (I did have a headlamp), but under a sky full of stars and a waxing moon. I slept like a baby under thick blankets, in pitch black and utter quietness.
This morning, we were treated to thin pancakes before Fabiana walked Clive and I back to the port. Oh - forgot to mention... knitting is a way of life on those islands, so we were asked to choose a hat (think of your typical Peruvian knitted toque, with floppy ears - you can see them in Toronto)
Sunset in sepia tones...
. Mine was white and red, not as nice as those of my friends, but who's going to complain... Well, I knew ahead of time that the idea was for all of us to BUY the hat before leaving this morning. Now, having seen how they live, spending $6 for a hand-knitted toque wasn't a big deal for me, and I was happy to contribute to the family's well-being in a small way. I understood even better when Fabiana walked to the port - every morning, the boats picking up the tourists also bring goods from the mainland: fruit, batteries, yarn... So Clive and I buying our hats gave Fabiana the money she needed for the market.We hopped on the boat, and after a couple of hours, we stopped at the Floating Islands of the Uros (google please). This group of people, native to the region, has lived on floating islands made of a special kind of reed, for over 2000 years. Again - very basic living, but very ingenious to see how they use this reed for everything: eating, cooking, burning, building houses and boats... And of course, the ubiquitous crafts for sale. I've adopted the approach of spending a little money for small things that can be easily carried home, in each community we visit. I'm impressed with the degree to which tourism (sustainable tourism, as it is controlled and managed by local communities) is developed. All these communities are very entrepreneurial: no one begs, but everyone has something to sell
The tranquil island of Taquile
.We got back to Puno after lunch, and have a free afternoon. The hot shower and cable TV welcomed me back to Hotel Italia, and then I went on the hunt for an Internet café. At s/ 1.50 an hour, or about US$0.50 for a whole hour, well, you'll understand that I can afford to write a lot ;-)
Oh - FYI - I'll be spending July 1-17 in Bolivia! A trip with KE Adventures to trek in the mountains on the other side of Lake Titicaca, near Ilimani (highest point in Bolivia) -- very appealing, and impossible to pass on. No climbing per se, but lots of hiking at altitude. Perfect!
Bye for now, hope you've enjoyed this episode... Will try to post pictures soon!
Comments
Hello down there,,..,
Wonderful to hear about your travel adventures so far. Glad to see you are well and off to a good start. I will look forward to reading more. All the best, Nicole.
Greeting from Rachel
Hi, Helene:
Pictures are beautiful and your diary is even better. More importantly, you looked happy, relaxed, living in the present and having fun.
We are with you ! .......
Congratulations for the scripts and wonderfull
pictures allowing us to travel with you.
We are probably your most faithfull readers and
we're always looking forward for the next script.
Keep it up and take care.
Merbau