Rene, our guide told us the evening before our departure for the Sacred Valley that there was social unrest with strikers blocking the roads at the junction town of Juliaca. He was most distressed to tell us that we needed to get up at 2.30 a.m. And get on the road at 3.30 in convoy with some other buses to by-pass the town, and also before the strikers were up and about and able to stop us! What excitement. The route we took to circumvent Juliaca was on farm roads, across bridges that I’m sure weren’t build to carry the weight of our bus, down narrow village streets, etc. what an adventure! all went well, but it ended up being a very long day on the road as we didn’t arrive at our hotel in Urubamba until late afternoon. We did, however, make a stop at Raqchi, a holy Incan site with remarkable ruins.
Day 5 – land and water around Lake Titikaka
An amazing day seeing the way the people of this Lake Titikaka area live. Our first stop alongside the road, on our way from Puno to the lake, was to watch a woman braiding rope from the tortura reeds which grow in the lake. Apart from the rope, she also makes mattresses from the reeds which are used by everyone on their stone beds – the reed mattress is covered with a layer of wool, and then blankets. Evidently she can make about six of these a day and each one sells for 15 soles ($5.50 or so).
we continued on using winding, country roads seeing the farmers preparing their fields with oxen and ploughs, bending over to manually weed and work getting ready to plant. We ended up at the delightful village of Liquina where we walked down from the road, through the village to our lunch host, the village mayor/elder/shaman who sees the benefit of tourism and has started a small B&B! A table was set up for us overlooking the lake and we were served the typical quinoa soup, lake trout and a variety of potatoes cooked by his daughter. Afterwards, he and his son played some music and we had a Q&A session that was both fun and informative.
After lunch we strolled to the lakeside for a boat ride back to Puno via the floating Uros villages Where the entire floating village is built from the tortura reeds. Amazing!
Day 4 – Colca Canyon to Puno
Another beautiful drive through the mountains and valleys to the Puno region. We made numerous small photo stops along the way before picking up our local guide. We then visited Sillustani – pre-Incan burial towers, and visited a typical rural Ayamari family compound.
Day 3 – Colca Canyon and valley
A shockingly early morning call at 3 a.m. To be on e road by 4 so we can drive to the Colca Canyon and see condors! The canyon at 13,000 feet depth, is much deeper than the Grand Canyon. However, after sunrise and seeing the stunning scenery of terraced mountain sides, llamas and alpaca herds, wild vicunyas, desolate villages – the early morning start was long forgotten. We passed the highest point of 16,000 feet without stopping on the way, but stopped on our way back to see the views of the surrounding snow-covered volcanoes and the hillside filled with stacked stone offerings to the Gods.
we were successful in seeing quite a few condors soaring overhead:)
our drive through the the canyon ended up at our hotel for the nIght (Colca Lodge and Spa) with hot spring fed spas right down next to the river. Delicious!
Day 2 – Arequipa
After a good dinner and night’s sleep we were running on fully charged batteries for our tour today, which took us to San Carmelo market, the cathedral and Plaza des Armes, and the gorgeous Santa Catalina monestary.
Day one – Arequipa
Exhausting trip with long layovers, red-eye flights, etc. but we are here and ready to start our Peru adventure.
Arequipa at 7600 ft should acclimatize us for Colca Valley and Puno at >12,000!
Great guide – Rene, and nice group of fellow travelers.
Colombian rap entertainment
Another nice evening in Santa Marta with delicious meal and spicy ginger mojito at Restaurant El Bistro. Might even have to return tomorrow.
We rode to and from town on the local bus which is quite entertaining in itself. However, on return journey we were “treated” to some Colombian rap all while the driver whizzed through the streets without headlights on!
Afternoon @ beach and pool
Morning in Santa Marta @ market
Evening in Santa Marta
Bus to town for supplies and dinner at Donde Chucho.
In and around Zuana
The beach, the warm Caribbean, and the pools are beautiful. We have a large balcony with great views and a/c in the spacious condo. Life is good!
Phew! No rental car!
We’ve decided we’re a couple of weirdos! Alone amongst our friends, we get a kick out of careening around the Colombian countryside and through narrow streets packed with cars, pedestrians and anything else, and we actually think it’s fun! The best part is that we didn’t rent a car but took a door to door large mini bus service from Cartagena to our hotel outside Santa Marta!
We just returned from another wild ride too and from Santa Marta to go to grocery store and have dinner. Enough for 48 hours! Relaxation is in store.
A few more photos from Cartagena this morning.
Cartagena
An easy day of travel from Portland to Cartagena, via JFK in 7 hours! Pretty steamy here, as expected, but friendly people and a lovely old city which we’ll explore at length when we return for three nights.
