Arequipa

I'm now in Arequipa, Peru's White City. And its second largest city as well. I was prepared to be a bit meh, as I was with Lima and Puno, but Arequipa has earned itself second place after Cusco in my world-famous ranking of Peruvian cities.

I've stayed in two hostels, both in the historical centre, so I can only comment on the area with the cathedrals and pretty buildings. It's this area that gives Arequipa its nickname as the White City, thanks to the volcanic stone the buildings were made from. 

But the best thing about Arequipa is its setting on a plain beneath three snow-capped active volcanoes. My first hostel, Park Hostel, was in a nice colonial building with a fabulous roof terrace that looks over the roofs of the centro histórico over to the volcanoes. What a sight for breakfast. 

From here you can do all manner of trips, including white-water rafting, mountain/volcano climbing, and hiking. Not being an adrenalin-junkie myself, I'm doing a one-night two-day trip to Colca Canyon, which is one of the world's largest canyons, even outdoing the Grand Canyon. That's Wednesday-Thursday, so I've got tomorrow to explore Arequipa some more. 

But the girls I met in Rio (god that feels like ages ago, and it was only two months) are joining me in the hostel I'm in now. It's a full on party hostel, The Wild Rover, which also has branches in La Paz and Cusco. I haven't stayed in a lively hostel like this before. I love a good party, but I tend to like my partying and sleeping to be in separate places. We'll see I guess. Got to try these things! I'll pretend I'm a one-man lads on tour group. 

So anyway, it'll be really nice to see them again. I assume we'll do some kind of sightseeing tomorrow, then I've got Colca Canyon for two days (booked through the hostel - 75 soles for the one-night tour). And then I've booked a bus for Tacna on Friday, and from Tacna I'll go by bus to Arica, in Chile. Then it'll be goodbye to Peru! 

Oh also, I took a Cruz Del Sur bus from Puno to Arequipa, and it was very comfortable. Cruz Del Sur is generally regarded as the safest bus company to travel with in Peru, so it's a bit more expensive than you'd pay with other companies. It cost me 59 soles for the cheaper level (top level) for the five and a half hour trip here. There was a small snack included, and blankets! You still don't get a choice about whether to hear the films they played on the overheard screens though. Four hours of Ben Hur and I was ready to Ben Hurl. But then they played Tangled, which I'd actually wanted to see when it came out. Well done Cruz Del Sur. 

Anyway, my lively hostel awaits my presence. Will update soon! 

Island Tour on Lake Titicaca: The Perfect Storm

Today I went on a day trip from Puno to Uros and Taquile, two islands on Lake Titicaca. And as the title of this post would suggest, it was not the smoothest boat trip I've ever been on. In fact, it was easily the most dramatic. But we'll get to that later. 

Lake Titicaca is the world's highest navigable lake, sitting at 3808 metres high and spanning a whopping 8400km. And it's a beautiful place. It's just Peru's lakeside cities that are a bore. Puno is the dullest place I've been to on my trip so far. I'd even take Lima over Puno. But I'm here for the Lake, not the cities. 

You can do half-day boat trips to just the Uros Islands, full-days to Uros and Taquile, or an overnight which includes Amantani as well. I did the full-day option, which cost 70 soles arranged through my hostel, and included pick-up and drop-off at my hostel, boat trips for the day and lunch on Taquile. 

So without the clocks striking thirteen, or anything else ominous, we left the dock at about 7am, in the freezing cold. Just a note, Lake Titicaca is cold when the sun isn't out. The days are a mixture of t-shirt and hat and scarf weather. 

It took an hour and a quarter to get to the Uros Islands, which gave me time to take in the wide blue skies, glittering clear water, and the islands of reeds underlining snowy mountains on the Bolivian shore of the lake. Uros is a group of manmade floating reed islands, each with half a dozen families living in reed houses, sailing reed boats. 

Stepping onto the island we visited felt like jumping onto a bouncy castle. Underneath the layers of reeds is springy wet earth, anchored to the lakebed with, you guessed it, reeds. And it was a really tiny place. There was a 'square' of sorts with all the houses surrounding it in a circle. It was a surreal experience, wandering round the stalls the locals had set up (caution: it's very touristy), all the while thinking that you're walking on bobbing reeds. All the houses had solar panels as well. Doing better than the UK already. 

Another hour and 20 minutes away was Taquile, a natural island. It was tall, with its summit just overtaking the 4000 metre mark. It was a place of vibrant greens and blues, and steep paths climbing to where we had our lunch of trout from the Lake near the main plaza. Lunch was followed by a traditional dance, which involved some audience participation. There was also a finger post to different cities in the world in the plaza, which took up most of my photographic energies. I met some really cool Brazilians who work in London, so we spent most of the afternoon chatting. 

At about 2.30pm we left Taquile and started the three hour journey back to Puno. We left with beautifully clear sky, and a rosy pink neck in my case. But it quickly clouded over. I'd been expecting this, as pretty much every afternoon I've had in Peru has ended up with some rain. 

This was more than some rain. The wind was whipping round the boat, rain hammering against the windows, and the waves creating a rollercoaster of water, the mountains disappearing in splashes of grey every few moments. I kept my eyes on the horizon to avoid seasickness, which worked very well. This had been going on for about 15 minutes, and I was contently bouncing around listening to Ke$ha. That's when the front window smashed in. 

A huge wave had reared up and thrown the majority of the window on top of the driver. He and the first two rows of passengers were soaked, glass floating around on the floor. No one quite seemed to know what to do. The boat was still rising and plummeting with every wave. 

The driver was okay, save cuts on both hands. But water was still splashing inside the boat, the structure creaking with every rise and fall. I heard a woman throw up behind me. 

One of the Brazilian girls at the back of the boat started to hand out life-jackets. She called out my name and gave me the first one, but my conscience forced me to pass it down to the front, and that continued until they were all gone. And there wasn't one left for me. Great health and safety, Peru. 

There was a life-ring though, for four of us without jackets to share. The storm continued for half an hour, but it felt like a lot longer. We finally rounded the peninsula and the wind died down, leaving us bobbing rather than ferociously dipping. 

Everyone was calm, and once the waves subsided and the driver had seen to his hands and thrown the shattered glass overboard the Titanic jokes and calls of "Jack!" began. 

It did get choppy again, but the driver had left the boat on automatic. Even when other boats came worryingly close he didn't seem phased enough to re-take the wheel. 

And by the time we pulled into the dock at Puno the weather had calmed down a lot. The wind was still strong, and cold, but we were mainly unscathed. 

And that ended my Lake Titidrama. It was quite enough excitement for me for one day. Tomorrow I'm going to Arequipa, which sits between several active volcanoes on the northern corner of the world's driest desert, so I think I'll be safe from water there. Just got to hope my arrival doesn't trigger an eruption, ey? 

Farewell Cusco

As a note, this post is not meant to be in Spanish! A computer I was using when I wrote it changed it automatically. As soon as I figure out how to translate it back I will.

Yo lo he hecho! He abandonado la nave. Cortar los lazos sueltos. Tuve que salir del agujero cómoda que había pasó tres semanas acariciando dentro y salgo de mi familia anfitriona, mi hermana de acogida, y mi rutina de voluntariado atrás.

Para compadecer mi última noche Sarah y yo nos fuimos de nuevo a la cafetería en la Avenida El Sol, Amorino, ya que, en mi opinión, el mejor pastel en Cusco. El personal puede ser hosco, pero 6,50 soles para una gran parte del pastel más rico y muy bien húmeda de chocolate nunca no se puede argumentar con. 

Luego nos fuimos a Mama Africa para nuestra segunda ronda de salsa y un poco de boogie de después. Es todavía muy bien. 

Luego la mañana de ayer fue mi último adiós a mis padres de acogida. Lo hice ahogar un poco, pero mantuve la compostura. Labio superior rígido y todo eso. En cierto modo me alegro mucho de que yo estaba triste por dejar, porque significaba que tenía un buen tiempo. Si yo estaba feliz de salir, eso no dice mucho durante las tres semanas que estuve allí. 

Pero yo estaba, y estoy, muy contentos de estar en el camino de nuevo. Y es casi como si esta es la primera vez que 'en el camino' adecuadamente solo, porque incluso cuando estaba volando en solitario antes, siempre tuve Milena que vendrá en una semana, o como voluntario en 10 días. Ahora sólo me y América del Sur para el próximo mes. En serio, no puedo creer que tengo poco menos de cuatro semanas a la izquierda aquí antes de que Nueva Zelanda. Hay un montón de Perú, Chile y Bolivia dejó de ver en ese momento! 

Mi viaje en autobús a donde estoy ahora, Puno, fue bastante tranquilo. Ellos nos filmaron cuando abordamos, que estoy suponiendo es que los registros de seguridad en lugar de una serie de tomas falsas hilarante. Fui con la compañía de autobuses Julsa, porque yo quería hacer el viaje en la luz del día, para disminuir el riesgo de accidentes de tráfico, que no son poco comunes en los Andes. La  compañía de autobuses regulares que los extranjeros se revierten en el Perú es Cruz Del Sur, debido a su buen historial de seguridad, pero sólo hizo un bus nocturno a Puno. 

Dejó a sólo 20 minutos de retraso, y sólo tuvo que parar una vez que el conductor fijar la escotilla claraboya que había soplado abierto. Esto provocó una disputa entre él y algunos pasajeros, que no creo que yo he entendido, aunque mi español era perfecto. 

El viaje duró poco más de siete horas, y nos llevó más arriba en las montañas (tomé una enfermedad píldora altitud por si acaso, como Puno se encuentra a 3.800 metros sobre el nivel del mar, 400 metros más alto que el Cusco). Había un poco de un gran escenario, cuando no estábamos de ser lanzado de un lado a otro por las carreteras sinuosas. Ellos no estaban muy mal en realidad. Me esperaba un paseo mucho más irregular. 

Había dos puntos de vista que más me impresionó. Uno era de un solo balanceo colina iluminada por los rayos del sol, mientras que la llanura que conduce a ella y todas las montañas de los alrededores fueron cubiertos en la sombra, como si alguien se había olvidado de convertir sus interruptores. Comenzó a llover de una nube delante de la colina iluminada, creando un arco iris que se extendía por la llanura al lado del autobús. 

Y más tarde, una vez que ya era de noche, comenzó a irrumpir en el horizonte. Era la primera vez que he visto una tormenta donde no ha llovido por encima, sólo en la distancia. Pude ver el flash relámpagos, revelando la nube en forma de yunque sentado amenazadoramente sobre las colinas. Muy por el espectáculo! 

Sufrí un poco de mal de altura, pero sólo un dolor de cabeza persistente y hormigueo, especialmente durante la noche. Pero creo que ahora estoy bien. Les digo que cuando regrese al nivel del mar que ejecutaré maratones en mi sueño. 

Esta mañana hice mi bus de Puno a Arequipa para el sábado, porque Puno es aburrido. Tan simple como. La única razón para estar aquí es para el Lago Titicaca, que voy a salir en un tour de mañana. 

Esta tarde fue en un viaje (40 soles) a Sillustani, una sepultura de tierra en las afueras de Inca de Puno. Estaba bien, como lugares de interés van, pero nada que destacar. Había un poco de información interesante acerca de los incas sin embargo. Perú está tan orgulloso de su historia inca, se puede oír cada vez que los mencionan. 

En el camino a Sillustani hubo algunas buenas vistas de las tierras agrícolas, sembradas de hierba pirámides y llamas pastando. Pero creo que el lago es lo que atrae a la gente a monótonos Puno. Hasta ahora, el punto culminante de mi presencia aquí es un acuerdo de ocho soles la hora del almuerzo me encontré en un pequeño restaurante junto a la Plaza de Armas. Así que espero que mi visita a las islas mañana cambia eso. Wow mí, Titicaca!