Cobanaconde, Peru 🇵🇪

Pick up today is at 3am, I think this is the earliest so far.  We have a 3 hour drive to Colca Canyon, and with a brief stop for breakfast we arrive at the Cruz de Condor by 7.30.  It is important to be early as this is when the Condors are most active.  We saw lots of Condors in the distance circling on the thermals but only a couple came close which was dissapointing.  Back into the van and we were dropped off at the main square in Cabanaconde.  It’s not a pretty village, the church is white with a painted arch but otherwise it is a series of small brick buildings with corrugated tin roofs (held down with a couple of rocks).

Our hostel is basic and the host is friendly enough, but could do with a bath.  We ditch our stuff and head out for a coffee before starting a series of walks we have scoped out near the village.  The first is to Mirador Achachiwa, this gives us a great view down the canyon and helps us appreciate how big it is.  We walk along the top of the ridge for a bit enjoying the vista and the warm sun.  On the way back we attract the interest of a wasp type creature which has a huge visible stinger, it takes some running and dodging to shake him off and in the process I stamp on a rock and twist my ankle which hurts but we manage to lose him.

Taking the route back to town we head out in the opposite direction to San Miguel point which has even better views of the ‘oasis’ town in the bottom of the canyon. On our way back we see a modern building which is abandoned by the looks of it, it seems to have been destined as a museum but 4 years later is just empty with the doors left open.

It is now lunchtime according to my stomach and we choose a local place with a friendly owner.  The snacks are toasted maize kernels which are tasty.  I have Caldo blanco, which is a broth type soup with Alpaca chunks, potatoes and chick peas.  The main is a traditional dish of Chicharron.  This is baked pork ribs with salted baked potatoes and onion garnish.  It is all very tasty and a bargain £3.

Our final walk to Cejana viewpoint takes us through local farming terraces with donkeys and sheep grazing.  The sun is lower now and creates some interesting shadows in the canyon.  We sit for a bit enjoying the tranquility of the location before heading back while it is still light.  My ankle is throbbing now so a cold towel and Ibprufen are administered.

I hobble behind Nicole to Pachamama hostel up the road that does wood fired pizza.  The place is warm, filled with travellers exchanging stories and trekking plans.  You can do some great multiday hikes along the towns in the base of the canyon.  My pizza is herb based with a local cheese from Humbo, the deepest town in the canyon, over 4000m down.  I manage to follow it with a strange passion fruit pannacotta before bidding goodbye to the warmth and hobbling back to our hostel.



Arequipa, Peru 🇵🇪

Nicole arrives early this morning, great to see her as we catch up over breakfast.  Eva is also in town at a different hostel and we arrange to meet at the Museo Santuarios Andinos.  This museum highlight is Juanita, the well-preserved frozen body of an Inca girl who was killed as an offering to the Inca gods in the 1500s when she was 12–15 years old. 

Juanita was discovered on Mount Ampato, near Arequipa in 1995 as she had became dislodged from her grave site by an earthquake and rolled out.  It is a very interesting museum that showcases fabrics and objects that the Incas buried with sacrificed children to appease the gods. I also learnt that the Incas revered ducks because they existed in each element, they can fly in the air, walk on land and swim on water.  

Juanita was royalty and would have been educated in Cusco, also being tought how to survive the walk to her sacrifice which would have taken months to complete.  Whilst this sounds barbaric now to drug a child and bury her, these children believed it was a great honour to be chosen to live forever alongside the gods.  

Juanita is really well preserved due to the conditions on the mountain, she now sits in a temperature controlled chamber and she kind of looks back at you, but mesmerising to watch her.

Outside the temperature is hotting up and as we walk through the Plaza de Armas decide to eat lunch at a rooftop terrace.  The food isn’t anything special but the view of the plaza with the volcanos behind is worth it and we spend a couple of hours here. We share the local speciality of ‘queso’ ice cream which isn’t cheese, rather milk and cinnamon based. 

I manage to find a Movistar mobile shop after lunch and Nicole kindly helps translate as I secure Peruvian phone network access.  This takes 3 signed and fingerprinted contract copies and visits to 4 different desks but we manage it!

We find Liam & Nikki in a ice cream shop as we all enjoy a couple of scoops.  Feels like ages since I have enjoyed good ice cream (Buenos Aires still ranks as the best).  Dinner tonight is Alpaca steak, I did try a bit of Eva’s cuy (guinea pig) a Peruvian favourite, but it didn’t seem different and there is very little meat.

Arequipa, Peru 🇵🇪

The bus journey went by quickly, it felt like it was mainly downhill and the guide had to wake me up to get off, so I must have slept! I was dropped at my hotel at 4.30am and they kindly let me just go to my room so I could get a few more hours sleep.  I got up again for breakfast and found  a text from Liam & Nikki (The Southampton couple I met in Salta).  They are going to do the walking tour at 10am, so I got my skates on and joined them.

My first impression of Arequipa is how lovely and warm it is, the sun is out and at 2,328m I am finally lower.  The second largest city in Peru has a colonial feel and the streets are filled with baroque buildings constructed from sillar, a white volcanic stone.  Our guide takes us around the main area, outlining key achievements of people from Arequipa and we listen to traditional guitar music.  We walk across the oldest bridge and get a great view of the 3 volcanos that provide a backdrop to the city.  Our break is in a Saltena shop, and I can’t resist this tasty snack which can be described as a stew filled empanada.  It is delicious, particularly with a dab of fresh chilli sauce.  We dip into older streets, visit the central market and finish in a traditional old house that would have belonged to a wealthy family.  My impression from the tour is that it is a prosperous city with a well educated population, it reminds me of Sucre.

We have a late lunch and wander through the Plaza de Armas which is the centre of the city.  There are groups of young people creating religious art on the street using different coloured sand.  This is part of the celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi and in the evening the Plaza is full of people as there is a special outside service.

The guys have found a Indian restaurant for dinner this evening that comes highly recommended, our meal is delicious and I may have to come back tomorrow.

Puno, Peru 🇵🇪

It was freezing cold last night in the hostel, so I am not feeling refreshed for my early start today.  I am signed up for another boat trip on Lake Titicaca this time to the floating Islands of Uros and to Taquile Island. 

It is a beautiful morning, a little nippy but the lake is calm and tranquil.  We approach a line of three reed islands and it is clear we are going to dock at the third.  It is about 7 metres wide and feels stable to stand on.  We are greeted by the community that lives on the island, led by Thomas and his wife Maria.  They all have bare feet which I find incredible given we can still see a frost sat on some areas of the island.

There are 96 islands with over 2000 inhabitants across them.  Thomas shows us how they construct the islands which can take up to a year to build.  They start in the rainy season by cutting reed root clumps into blocks that provide the foundation to the island.  The blocks then have eucalyptus wood inserted into them that can then be used to tie the blocks together.  The space between the wooden pegs is then covered with chopped reeds, and the island can then be built up with each reed layer added in a perpendicular direction to the last.  Dwellings can then be added for the community, within the seperate cooking hut there is a stone added under the fire pot for safety.  They build a new island every 11 years.

We have a trip out into the reeds on a simply made reed boat which is fun and still peaceful despite us being a big group.  Thomas shows us how they cut the reed from the base and then peel it for a healthy snack.  It tastes similar to Chinese water chestnuts.  Our visit is over too soon and I can see the next boat of tourists arriving to meet Thomas and his lovely family.

Our next stop is the Taquile Island, about an hour further on.  This is a Island in the lake with around 2500 inhabitants.  Taquile is a hilly island with stunning views of the lake across to the snow capped Andes in Bolivia.  We hike up to a restaurant where we are served traditional quinoa soup, fresh grilled trout and a cup of Manu (native mint) tea.  Our host also shows us how they make shampoo using a plant called Tohu, for hair or clothes.  Our guide also uses this time to talk us through their very traditional dress, different hats dependent on age and then a hat and belt which indicates marital status.  The married men also have a waist pouch which contains cocoa leaves to exchange with others as a greeting rather than shaking hands.  The woman have a simple black shawl with 2 differently coloured pom-poms, they display a colour based on whether they are happy or if they have a problem they need help with.  The authority on the island is elected each year and they seem to govern in a peaceful way.  We walk up to the main square, Plaza del Armas for panoramic views and then along to the other side of the island to meet our boat.  

We return into Puno for 5pm, where I have 4 hours to kill before my first ever night bus!  I have dinner with a South African guy I met today and then chat to 2 kiwi girls who are also travelling tonight.  We board our bus at 9pm, fortunately getting 2 seats each so we can relax.  We set off and see the low moon sat magically reflecting on the still waters of Lake Titicaca.