To begin with something that reminded me that I was still in Peru, I will tell you of my first attempt at purchasing a pair of hiking boots. It was Friday, the day before we were to embark on our adventure, when I decided that perhaps hiking boots would be a good thing to have for our upcoming adventure. Since planning is not an important thing in Peruvian culture, I didn’t even think that I was doing last minute shopping. I figured I could find a pair of hiking boots in a market without any problem. Because I was pressed for time that day with many other things to do before leaving, I decided to go to a smaller market, which I didn’t know that well. As it turns out while wandering the streets there, I could have saved myself time by going to the larger market a little further away, because I had a hard time finding hiking boots my size. (They don’t seem to sell many for women, so typically, the men’s shoes were a little too big. Just as I was giving up and thinking I’d try to get to the market in Magdalena the next day, I saw a pair of shoes that I decided would work. They weren’t spectacular, but would have been better than my every-day shoes. I the right shoe on and it fit. I asked about the price and decided $12 for a pair of hiking boots wasn’t too bad, so told the señora that I would take them. Then she told me, “How wonderful, señorita! Come back tomorrow between 9 and 11 am. I’ll be waiting for you. The other shoe is at my house. I’ll bring it tomorrow.” I decided then that I didn’t want that pair of boots.
PART 1: HUARAZ
We began our adventure on Saturday July 10 by taking a taxi to the bus station where we were supposed to take our highly recommended and reliable bus, from the company Ormeño. As the night went on we were to become more and more disappointed by them. The bus station was not their usual station, as they told us to go to Lima, Lima since the buses to Huaraz left from a different place. Our first tip-off was the shady station. We entered and a man from behind bars, who looked like he was in a prison, looked at our ticket and told us to wait in the lounge- comprised of dirty plastic lawn chairs on a concrete floor by door number four. We watched the other buses come and go from the station and from the outside they looked respectable. As it turned out, when our bus arrived we boarded with only 4 other people and our bags were placed underneath the bus without tickets. The bus was dark, without so much as security lights and the seats were thread bare. We were a bit confused, but decided we had no other choice but to depart, especially since we were in a sketchy part of the city. Annie was hopefully that we would change buses but that did not occur. Our supposedly comfortable 8 hour ride turned out to be an awful 9 hour ride in our fleece jackets. We stopped numerous times letting other people onto the bus and saw chickens loaded underneath with our backpacks. When the other passengers boarded we thought to ourselves, “They know something that we do not!” as they zipped up their winter coats, put on their gloves and hats and pulled blankets up over themselves. As it turned out we were accompanied by brisk Andean breeze as we climbed higher into the mountains, because of some opening towards the front of the bus. Even more unpleasant but also in a way humorous was the “bathroom.” After probably about 5 hours of driving, the bus driver pulled over at the side of the road, walked partway down the aisle and announced “el baño.” Wonderful! All the passengers began to exit the bus so Annie, who was seated next to the aisle got up as well, barely got off and returned to tell me that the bathroom was not indeed a room, but rather the open side of the road next to the bus and all the passengers were squatted there. We decided to wait until we arrived in Huaraz. Since it was going to be dark when we arrived, we decided that the best thing to do would be wait at the bus station until it got light and then go look for a hostel. This idea was also crushed when we pulled into a dark lot of dirt and not only that were harassed by 2 men who jumped onto the bus before we could even exit. They were trying to get us to do one of their tours and we were the only “gringas” who had arrived on the bus. It was frightening and maddening that they would not leave us in peace, move out of our way, or allow us to get our bags from underneath of the bus. “Me or him?” they shouted at us. Finally we just picked one, because we felt as though we had no other choice and at least then we could get out of the dark lot surrounded by a brick wall. The man we chose took us to a hostel where we ended up accepting his 4 day tour offer, paid him, and then crawled into the only bed available- a twin bed to sleep until we could each have our own bed. We later realized that he had conned us out of about $10 each because we had been to tired and cold from our miserable night to properly think about the conversion rate- since he made the offer In dollars and we paid in soles. That made us upset. To top things off with that man, then next morning he called us out of a café to give us an obviously fake 100 soles bill (we are well acquainted with examining money to see whether or not it is counterfeit) and claimed that we gave it to him the day before. We did not fall for his scheme refusing the money, knowing that it was fake and that #1) we had given him all real bills and #2) even if we hadn’t it would have been his fault for accepting a false bill, and to return the next day, is unacceptable.
Our tour turned out to be amazing. At first we were leery, after dealing with this shady fellow, leaving 1.5 hours after the scheduled time, and then when I got a meat sandwich after I had requested vegetarian meals for the tour, and the guide told me, “Oh, sorry. Tomorrow. You can eat tomorrow.”! She did however get me a jelly sandwich about 5 minutes later, bless her heart. Both of our guides were really helpful throughout the entire 4 days and were very helpful. They made great food for breakfasts and suppers and were willing to answer any and all questions. The people on our tour were also wonderful. I believe everyone was between the ages of 19 and 30 with the majority being in their later 20s. Surprisingly to us, we were the only US Americans. The majority of the others were from Austrailia and the UK.
Some of the highlights of the Santa Cruz trek were seeing the turquoise colored lagoons, hiking all the way up and over a mountain range, seeing the exact mountain that is pictured at the beginning of every Paramount video production, witnessing an avalanche, and just getting to spend so much time outside each day (since we hiked between 5-9 hours a day and camped in tents) and seeing the sunrises and sunsets. It really is not possible to describe the beauty of la Cordillera Blanca and how wonderful of a time we had, so although photographs do not do it justice, they will have to take the place of words.
PART 2: AREEQUIPA
We spent some time in Arequipa, a lovely and well-organized city in southern Peru. Its organization was already apparent when we arrived in the bus terminal which seemed almost like an airport, with its various gates and shops inside. We stopped at iPeru, a helpful tourist booth, who actually asked us what we were looking for in a hostal, and then called ahead and got us a room. This was nice on their part, and the hostal, Bolognesi Haus, seemed nice at first, but turned out to not be quite so nice that night when were cold and could not shut the window but also did not wish to sleep under the dirty covers. Fortunately we left for a hike of the Colca Canyon around 3 am so did not have to sleep there the whole night.
Also during the day we visited the Santa Catalina convent which was almost like a city inside its tall red-painted walls. We spent nearly 3 hours walking around inside the monastery which had been made from volcanic rock. There were many bedrooms which each contained some sort of closet, arch, and alter. The kitchens with their old utensils and giant stone ovens were a sight to see!
PART 3: CAÑON DEL COLCA (THE COLCA CANYON)
The Colca Canyon is the 2nd deepest canyon in the world and barely shallower than the deepest which is very nearby. We spent 3 days hiking this canyon. Annie and I took one backpack along and took turns carrying it. Fortunately it got lighter and lighter, as we used up our water. We had 6.5 liters of water in the bag to begin our hike. The trail was extremely dusty, rocky and rugged, and as can be imagined, fairly steep. We descended to the bottom of the canyon and partway up on the first day. On the second day, we hiked around in the canyon visiting some villages there and getting the chance to see a little museum and learn about some of the plants and returned to the very bottom of the canyon where we stayed in an oasis. Also, our guide painted our faces with the juices of crushed insects. On the final day, we had the choice to rent a donkey or hike up on our own two feet. I decided to hike up and completed the climb just under 2 hours. We began our ascent just before six which was wonderful because those of us who were quick enough we able to hike most of the way in the shade but got to see the light of dawn as it painted the canyon walls. The colors of parts of the canyon and the agricultural terraces in its fingers were gorgeous with a large variety of colors.
PART 4: AREQUIPA (again)
When we arrived back from our canyon hike, we immediately began our search for a new hostel. We asked a police officer for advice specifying that we wanted a somewhat cheap hostel but that it must be clean and have heating. She pointed us off to one side of the plaza. With that, we walked along and every time we came to a hostel, we stopped inside and inquired about it. Finally we happened upon Hostal Regis (which was located only 2.5 blocks off of the Plaza de Armas). As we were climbing the marble staircase, with ornately carved wooden walls, I suggested to Annie that we not even continue going up them because it was surely out of our price range and with a little hesitation, we decided to proceed, because we were already there. As it turned out, their prices were quite reasonable, it was warm and clean . We were so excited to shower for the first time in several days and to get to sleep in clean and warm beds!
We decided to eat breakfast in the hostel and were sucked into the Peruvian Time Warp. Once again, as has happened many times throughout this semester, it did not seem as though much time had passed, when I checked the time and we realized we should have already been at the bus station. We grabbed our things, and hurredly paid the the woman working at the hostel and checked in our large bags. The we rushed down the stairs to catch a cab. Fortunately one drove by nearly immediately and offered us a fair price to the station. As we arrived and were getting out of the cab, we heard them announce that our bus was leaving. We raced to the counter, and panicked inside when the man, to whom we tried to give our tickets, told us that we would have to get our paper converted into proper tickets in order to get on the bus. Fortunately everyone was really helpful and kind and they helped us right away, while that man detained the bus so that we could make it. Close call! We love you, Cruz del Sur.
PART 5: LAGO TITICACA (LAKE TITICACA)
We also were able to travel to Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navegable lake which forms a small part of the border between Peru and Bolivia. We were actually able to see snow-capped mountains belonging to Bolivia. The lake is supposedly the shape of a puma chasing a rabbit, which one can see with some imagination, but I don’t think it strongly resembles this shape.
Our tour of the lake and 3 islands took two days. First we went to the Floating Islands of the Uros, which have a neat history and it is pretty incredible that people live on islands made of reeds by adding a layer of reeds to the island every 3 weeks during the dry season and every 10 days during the wet season to ensure that the islands do not disappear. There are more than 50 floating islands which are anchored down by stones but can decide to cut their ties and relocate whenever they choose. I am impressed at how the islands were made, the amount of work to maintain them, and their history, but I didn’t enjoy them that much because they were so touristy and truth be told, if it weren’t for tourism they wouldn’t be around anymore and the people wouldn’t be there. Boats go to the city of Puno which is 0.5 hours away daily to bring supplies.
Isla Amantaní was the next island that we visited. It was formed many years ago by a volcano and its 5000 inhabitants continue to live a very traditional lifestyle. There is no computer on the island, nor are there any vehicles. The only way to go anywhere is to walk on the island, which is home to 10 communities and several dirt/rocky paths. We were able to stay with a host family on the island overnight. Our hostess, Ana, cooked for us. We had quinua soup and also a grain soup as well as different types of potatoes. During the afternoon we climbed to the center of the island where we were able to peak at the temple ruins and also were able to watch the sun go down on the lake. That evening we were surprised by a fiesta prepared by the local community for our group of tourists. They loaned us traditional outfits and some high school students played traditional instruments including the zampoña. It was incredible, absolutely beautiful. As we danced the room because a swirl of brilliant colors and the music gave it a mystic atmosphere, we even went outside and continued dancing around a bonfire, before returning to the warmth of the hall that we had previously been in.
The final island that we visited was Taquile. All the people on the island are known for their textile skills- the men for knitting and the women for weaving. The neat things about visiting this island is that we happened to get to see the children preparing for the independence day parade (July 28) and also we started ascending the island on one side and then got to descend the 530 steps to the port on the other side.
We then took another not so pleasant, excruciatingly hot and stuffy 6-hour bus ride back to Arequipa.
PART 6: AREQUIPA (once again)
We were able to spend our last 2 nights in Hostal Regis. It was lovely. The first night we paid for a room with a private bathroom, which also happened to have 4 beds (but they were just for us), wooden shutters for the windows and doors, and a balcony!
During our last day, we went to a museum about 4 mummies that were found in the Andes in Peru, the most famous of which is called “Juanita the Ice Princess.” It was really cool.
It was a great two-week trip and I can’t believe it’s over all ready.
