Humantay lake

We hiked 4+ miles today, with elevation change of 1200 ft., to reach 13,900 ft. at the lake.  The weather was spectacular - clear, sunny and with only a light wind.  During the hike, one of the local men performed an offering ceremony to his gods, and "cleansed" us and blessed us on our journeys.   We then had 3 condor sightings, so we felt that was an auspicious sign.

The blues and the greens in the lake were breathtaking, as well as the glacier above it.   I was kinda disappointed that the glacier just looked "dirty", rather than the icy blue you see in other places.

The edge of the glacier

Another section of glacier

We were so lucky in our trekking group.  There are only 5 of us, besides the guide, while other groups we've seen have been 12-14!  The other couple are from Manchester, England and are in their late 60's.  They've been hiking all over the world, including the Dolomites (in Italy), Nepal and China.  Our fifth person is a single gal named Lisa from Texas, who is Steve's age.  The guide walks nice and slow uphill, and all of us are walking about the same speed - pretty well matched.  We were afraid that there'd be some 30-somethings who'd walk much faster, or get really bored with our pace.  No altitude issues for any of us, other than the expected panting up steep parts.  As I get pictures of the group from others, I'll post them.

The rocks around the lake were gorgeous in their striations of color. 

Steve finished the afternoon in the jacuzzi (with wild llamas grazing nearby) while I got a massage.  Tomorrow is our really big day, up and over Salkantay pass - hiking 8-9 hours!

Besides llamas, there are hummingbirds just outside the main gathering room window - a beautiful iridescent green one, and a giant one with an enormously long bill (unfortunately, couldn't get any pictures of him).

Salkantay trek started

The view from our room!  This is Salkantay peak, where in 2 days, we'll be hiking over the pass near it at 15,000 ft.  We're currently at 12,700 ft. at this first lodge.  Our hike started out with quite an incline, and then the rain found us.  Luckily, we were able to put on our rain gear and cover our packs under a lean-to.  It didn't rain very hard or very long, and also, the path flattened out while we followed a canal all the way to our lodge.  This seemed pretty easy hiking, and in fact, we only went about 3 miles.

Walking along the canal (and try not to fall in while ogling the views)

Our lodge for the next 2 nights

After the sun came out while we were still hiking, we were looking down on a rainbow.

Tomorrow is another light day of hiking (only about 4 miles without much elevation change) to a glacial lake.  I might choose to go horseback riding in the afternoon.... we'll see.

Lake Titicaca

As kids, I'm sure we all grew up tittering at this lake's name.  We learned that it is from the indigenous language, Quecha, and means "grey puma" (titi = puma).  Pumas are revered animals and represent the earth, while condors represent the sky and snakes represent below the earth.

When we arrived in the bus terminal Sat. night, Steve talked to a "very nice lady" while I was going to the bathroom.  This turned out to be a fortuitous meeting, as she said she had a travel company that offered tours to the islands in the lake that I was interested in seeing, but had written off, because it was too expensive from the hotel, and had to be arranged ahead of time.  It turns out that she offered the exact trip the hotel did at less than 1/2 the cost!  When she told me the price, I accepted on the spot.  It included transportation to and from our hotel, as well as an English speaking guide, and the "speedboat" (a large tourist ferry that did move quickly).

Our first stop was to the Uros islands which are floating islands built on several meters of reeds and holding 6 or 7 families per island.  They keep adding reeds to the top, as the lower levels gradually rot in the water.

The hill behind the island is the mainland and the city of Puno.

Walking on the islands was "spongy" and springy.

There were numerous islands, with most being the size of the one we visited.  The "huts" shown are their houses - room enough for a bed, a little standing room, and a stool.  They hang their clothes around from the support beams for the roof.  

Their whole livelihood is tourism

The second Island we went to was solid and much bigger.  Taquille island is home to ~2200 people and was picturesque and quite simple.  It is very hilly, and climbing stairs and paths up while at 12,500 ft elevation, was just a bit of a struggle.  I felt I acquitted myself rather well, passing some younger people, and definitely breathing easier than the very overweight Brazilians about our age. (I'm feeling better again about Machu Picchu...)

The blue of the lake was visible nearly everywhere and was just breath-taking.

The island barely visible at the upper right corner is in Bolivia

Practically the entire island is terraced

I just thought this wall was cute!

We have now arrived safely in Cusco, the starting point of our Machu Picchu trek on Wed. This is the main reason we came to Peru now in our travels, and we're finally here!  I'll post tomorrow about Cusco (just an intro), and then I won't be back on until after the trek, because the WiFi is essentially nonexistant where we'll be hiking.

Arequipa (part 2)

We've spent the last 3 days slowly seeing the sights of Arequipa and reveling in the glorious weather - sunny, low 70's and light breezes.  And for me, recovering the leg muscles (all better now!), as well as treating "tourista" that I'm sure I got when I stupidly ate salad at lunch on Tuesday.  The last time I had it, I had eaten salad at a really nice resort in Mexico, when we went with the boys (Alex, remember?).  I've been trying to get my veggies in other ways, but I was just dying for a fresh lettuce salad... Yesterday, I was truly just "dying".  I'm better today, after 2 days of antibiotics ("never leave home without them").

Sunset on the Cathedral in the Plaza

We've gone to several more churches and monasteries and heard interesting stories.  One quirky point: monastery in Spanish (or maybe just Peru) is for nuns, while convent is for priests.

View into a nearby park from the bell tower of a convent

El Misti, the closest volcano to Arequipa

In the background are the other volcanoes ringing the city

I've been fascinated by the "little doors" inside the massive doors leading into churches, or just plain old buildings.

I've also found that the older, the better, as far as churches go, given all their stone carvings.  The next picture is from a church that was completed in 1698 and is still standing despite numerous earthquakes since then.  (when you're looking at the picture on your computer, zoom in and check out the detail on the carvings)

Tonight, is dinner at probably the nicest restaurant in Arequipa (of course!), and then tomorrow is another fairly long bus ride (6+ hours) that will hopefully be our last!  I'll post next about Lake Titicaca.

Vicunas, viscachas, and condors, oh my!

As we crossed the high plains and the high pass at 4800 m (15,800 ft) we were in a national reserve where the vicunas are protected.  These are the smaller cousins of alpacas and llamas that are domesticated.

Vicuna

(cute and fuzzy) Alpaca

The only llama that was up close (sorry, not a very good picture)

The books say the vicunas will hold still for shearing ("with help"), and their wool is the softest and most expensive.  "Baby alpaca" is the first shearing of an alpaca and the softest.  Alpaca is also a common meat here.  To me, it tastes like fairly tough steak.  Llamas are used only as pack animals.

As we were driving back from the trek, our guide was telling us that we might see the equivalent of a rabbit in Peru, but it has a long tail.  After we looked it up once we were back, a viscacha is actually a relative of a chinchilla.

They were hopping all over the rocks but were very difficult to see, given their coloration.

One of the first passes

The condors did not disappoint.  When we were about to leave, after seeing 4 or 5, the last one circled several times before soaring right over our heads!

Steve has been a dear, lugging the telephoto lens all over Peru, but it sure paid off that day!

He wanted me to add his video that he shot with his phone (you can hear my camera clicking away on the audio):

Colca Canyon Trek

I  needed a day of recovery, both mentally and physically, after our Colca Canyon trek so I could edit my pictures and compose this blog.  We're now back in Arequipa and loving it.

This was a beautiful trip, but also very eye opening as to the effects of altitude on my muscles.  As most of you know, we trained for this trip by hiking 8-10 miles nearly every day (carrying a daypack) for the last 2-3 weeks before we left.  I was calling it "boot camp" and we developed calluses where blisters were, and our boots were very well broken in.  The only thing we couldn't replicate or predict was altitude.  The hike down into the canyon took 3 hours and we dropped 3000 feet.  After 2 hours, my legs were rubbery noodles, and I kept needing to stop to give them a rest, so I wouldn't fall anymore.  I took 2 tumbles, but luckily just ended up with some bruises on my left hand and arm.  We were supposed to have lunch, then hike 3 more hours to "the oasis", but I was done.  Our guide called ahead, and changed our lodging to the small, primitive but clean room at the restaurant where we had lunch.  He also arranged for me to get a mule ride back up the trail.

The sky that night was unbelievable - the Milky Way was straight overhead, and the stars were innumerable.  Gorgeous!  I haven't learned yet to take time lapse or night photos, or there'd be a picture here.

We awoke at 0400 to have tea and pack, before the man with the mule arrived at 0430, and Steve and our guide started hiking back out.  It was only really dark for about 45 minutes, then the man let the mule pick its own way up the steps and rocks.  I am SO glad I swallowed any pride I had left, and took that ride.

I talked to Steve at the top, and he was nearly done in.  He said that I made a very wise choice not to hike back out.  I did hike the last 2 km, after conveying my desire to the mule owner in minimal broken Spanish and pantomime, and that was enough to have my legs scream at me for the last 2 days.

Our goal at the beginning of the trek - Oasis

The Rio Colca at the bottom of the canyon was quite anticlimactic:

Our trail is barely visible on the left of the picture as the zigzag white line up the hill beneath the apparent broken rock face.  On our way back up, we realized the trail actually crossed that rock face, but you can't see it from the vantage point of this picture.

I'll do another post later today to share the awesome wildlife pictures I got.

Arequipa (part 1)

Well, we survived the bus ride without any real side effects.  However, it was not fun to arrive in a dark bus station after 1 am and not have a ride waiting for you from the hotel.  Then, the cab driver drove around in circles (and even had to do a 16 [not just 3] point turn after we went down a very narrow street that was blocked by construction at one end), trying to find the nearly invisible little side street that our hotel is on.

We wandered around the city center today, and I fell in love with this city, because of the weather (sunny, low 70's with cool breezes), safety, and cleanliness, not to mention the gorgeous 400-500 year old architecture.

Monasteria de Santa Catalina is a 5 acre walled complex that was founded in 1579 and was actually a convent.  We spent 2 hours here, wandering by ourselves, reading all the plaques we wanted to, and were mesmerized by the ancient architecture.   It was fascinating to see the various "cells" that the nuns lived in, most with room for a cot and an altar, but then connected to a room with a wood fired oven - for baking the breads they were known for.

The courtyards...

and streets between the buildings were beautiful.

The city is ringed by 3 mountains, which are still considered active volcanoes, although the last time one erupted was before the Spaniards.

We'll be seeing (and hopefully getting great shots of) many more mountains in the weeks to come, but because this was our first glimpse, we were excited and I wanted to share that.

Closing with an evening shot of Le Catedral on the town square, we'll bid you adieu for a couple of days, to go trekking with the condors.

Ahhh... sunshine and oasis

The past 2 days have been such a welcome rest, and I've been able to recharge my solar batteries.  Our hotel is beautiful, and the room and bathroom are as big as the past one was small.  The balcony has a little table and chairs, that we've enjoyed for the sunshine and to hang out our laundry to dry (tacky Americanos!).  There are 2(!) pools here - one heated and one cool.  The cool one was very refreshing on a sunny afternoon.

Ica is huge city compared to Paracas, and it was interesting to wander around the town square, seeing all the mototaxis (3 wheeled contraptions that seem to just be horns with motor and driver attached).  Our main reason to come here was to go to the oasis that is Huacachina and see the sand dunes.  Amazing!

The dune buggy ride was hair raising and gave me a headache with all the bumps and hard landings, but ultimately we really enjoyed ourselves.  The dunes were immense and so beautiful.  Steve enjoyed "sandboarding" on his belly, while Lisa wisely abstained (so as not to get "sand in every orifice").

Our trusty steed

We spent the next afternoon at a winery (I know, hard to believe for us) and thoroughly enjoyed our down time.  The tour was interesting, as we had no idea that Peru made wine, but grapes have been planted here since 1540!  The winery, Tacama, has been in the same family now since 1889.  The tasting we did in the cool cellar was really neat, with tasting different wines with different cheeses, fruits and pecans.  We then had a leisurely lunch on a sunny patio with a bottle of wine. (note the recurring "sunny" theme?)

Now we're off to the dreaded 12 hour bus ride to Arequipa...

Dust Storm!

When we arrived in Paracas in late afternoon of 9/12/17, we were overjoyed to see the sun and had a beautiful sunset.  This picture is from our balcony.  

This was the only redeeming factor of our room.  It was so small, that it barely fit a double bed and chair.  To get to the bathroom, we had to keep the closet doors shut, and there was barely room for one person in the bathroom.  It was a small engineering feat to close the bathroom door behind you and not fall into the toilet.

We went on a tour of Reserva Nacional de Paracas on Wed.  We were glad we were in an air-conditioned car as we started driving through the desolate moonscape, rather than in dune buggies, as we could have rented.  This was especially so, as the wind picked up over the next few hours (at least 40 mph was a guesstimate from our guide) and it became a full on dust storm.  There were times where it was literally a "brown out" and we couldn't see where the road was!  

Dune buggies out on "Mars"

You can see why this is named Playa Rojo (red beach)

The red sand is formed when wind scours the nearby cliffs, and the resulting dust is carried by water currents onto this beach.  

When we got back to the hotel, still in the midst of the sandstorm, we found our laundry hanging on our balcony to be good and dry, but covered in dust!  We bagged the idea of going to Pisco for the afternoon, and took a nap instead.

Before we left on our tour, it was clear and sunny, so I got some pictures of the Paracas "harbor".  The pelicans, seagulls and cormorants hung out on the fishing boats.

The three amigos 

Now we're off to Ica and a desert oasis - looking forward to sun, warmth, and hopefully no sand storm!

Random thoughts on Lima

Watching cars negotiating intersections is quite interesting when there are no stop signs, as is the case on a large percentage of secondary streets.  Usually, they barrel up to the intersection, slowing barely to see if anyone is coming, then proceeding through.  If you hesitate at a cross street, you lose (your opportunity to cross) until there is a break in traffic.  If there is no break, they often nose out (and either merge or cross), to the raucous accompaniment of blaring horns.

To protect against the effect of tsunamis, the city is built on high bluffs above the ocean.  However there are occasional roads that descend between bluffs to the oceanfront road, and these can be closed by barriers at the top.

This city is SO dreary!  We went walking along the Malecon (a road along the sea or coast, with a view of the ocean) hoping to see the sun, but it is still hiding behind the "Pacific inversion" that apparently keeps moisture/clouds hanging over the city.  We leave tomorrow, taking a bus for 3+ hrs south of here, and apparently the weather is 10 degrees warmer and it's sunny.  Woohoo!  The parks here, though, are numerous, well maintained and quite full of "Limanuenos" enjoying the greenery and space, especially on weekends.

Parque del Amor (be sure and check out the statue behind us)

Final thought - "purse chairs" are a thing here... or at least that's what we named them.  At the high end restaurants, little stools were pulled up to the side of the table for the woman to place her purse on - I guess it would be crass to set it on the floor, or hang it from the back of your chair. ;-)

Exploring Miraflores

Since it was drizzly and overcast today, we just wandered through the neighborhood we were in.  We walked up to the ruins that are smack dab in the center of Miraflores, Huaca Pucllana.  Interesting to learn about previous civilizations, but not much to photograph.

Yesterday, we toured Lima Centro, and were surprised by the police presence everywhere.  A lot of major squares and parks  were cordoned off due to some measly student protests of some type.  Our favorite tour was of Monesterio de San Francisco, which had an awesome library with thousands of books predating 1600!  The catacombs underneath were pretty cool, with bones of about 70,000 people.  The low ceilings and narrow passageways were pretty creepy.

Tonight we went bar hopping!  Boy, did we feel old, walking along the streets with lots of young couples kissing and hugging. (we tried to emulate them without grossing anybody out) I'm wanting to try Pisco Sours throughout the city, to find the best, and we may have just done so tonight.  A place that bills itself as making the "best Pisco Sour in the world" may have been right... We'll let you know after we leave Lima.

Inauspicious start

We arrived very late Wed. night (after midnight), but we made it safely out of Miami (thoughts and prayers go out to those in Irma's path).  A little snafu at the airport with the driver who was to pick us up (we waited 30 minutes for him to find us, after breezing through Customs and Immigration) but we got tucked in quickly to our very nice hotel and slept soundly.  The sounds of the city awakened us earlier than we'd have liked, but we then went exploring.  Walking down to the beach only a mile away was easy on the way down - a little more challenging back up the huge bluffs that the city sits on.  Beautiful views along the coastline and interesting to watch novice surfers being taught.

Somewhere in our rambling, I set my phone down, and it's now gone.  We retraced our steps and even used "find my Android" on Google, to no avail.  We're thinking we won't replace it, so Steve will have me stuck like glue to him for the rest of the trip!

IK Restaurant was a delicious and interesting entry into Lima's fine dining scene.  The first bites looked so good that we inhaled them, and then remembered that we were going to take pictures...

Wish you could have seen them!

A beautiful and delicious ceviche

A tasty end

15 courses (with drink pairings, of course!) later, we finished with this cute marshmallow and banana critter.