Lake Titicaca to Cusco

 

We've been going nonstop for nine days and I think it’s starting to take a bit of a toll. For example, last night when we arrived at our hotel in Cusco, I had a conversation with the person at the front desk about the room options. Then Martha asked me to explain what the choices were and I told her, in Spanish.

That said, I did pick a pretty great hotel. The water pressure and quantity of hot water is better than
anything we’ve experienced here so far.

We both really love Cusco and both of us want to come back when we have more time. It was once the capital of the Incan empire and is now the capital of North Face, Columbia and Patagonia, and Starbucks and great food. It’s also very beautiful and has a lot of Incan culture. Since in the last few trips I have discovered that learning new things isn’t so bad, I’ll just make a list:

When the Spanish conquered this place, they placed a huge statue of Jesus with outstretched arms on the top of the tallest mountain. And in the main plaza, the people built a statue of the first Incan king, who is pointing at Jesus. There are three interpretations of this, 1. The Catholic interpretation – the Incan king is pointing to Jesus saying “You’re the man. Thank you for saving us.” 2. The first local interpretation – “The earth is sacred, get off the damn mountain”. 3. The second local interpretation – “You stole all of our gold. Give it back,” says the Incan king. “I don’t have it. Look, you can check my pockets,” says Jesus.

In the 1400’s, the Incans built walls with stones weighing multiple tons and no mortar that fit so closely together that you still can’t slide a piece of paper between them. No one knows how they did it. Here is a picture of an Incan wall and a European wall.

Before the Spanish came and destroyed this place, the city was shaped like a jaguar (one of the Incan or Quechua holy animals). The main plaza appears where the jaguar’s heart is. They had to reroute two rivers to get this shape.

By accident, today happens to be the Quechua new year. By tradition, they scatter flower petals in front
of their homes and stores to celebrate. So all of the street vendors are selling bags of yellow flower petals, which the locals are buying and then pouring out in front of their stores.

Mr. Cuy is a cute little Guinea Pig, which is a very common dish here. Just a warning for when you come to Cusco – if you order Cuy for dinner, he will be served whole; head and furry little feet included. If you don’t want to have to dismantle him while he looks at you, you need to order him disassembled. Bon Appetit!

Lake Titicaca

We were very much looking forward to experiencing Lake Titicaca in a non-touristy kind of way. This, like everything in Peru, requires a long drive over crowded, winding, mountain roads.

Among other things, we learned that when there is even just a few hundred feet of roadwork on a two-
lane road that is the only way to get from one place to another place, the delays can be enormous. We, along with everyone else, were stopped for so long at regular intervals that food vendors had set up “shop” and walked along the center line selling special Peruvian treats that you could not have paid me to eat.

On the other hand, our lunch stop, which took place at this sought-after bistro, was fantastic, particularly if you just want instant coffee for lunch.

But eventually we got to Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at well over 12,000 feet. It is huge and beautiful. 

The local indigenous population has, for hundreds of years, lived on islands hand made from reeds collected on the lake. As the reeds rot on the bottoms of the islands, the residents continually replace them from the top – once a week during rainy season and once every few weeks during the dry season.

When you walk on these reeds, your feet sink in a few inches and you are sure you’re going to drop into the lake. But, at least in our case, you don’t.

Not satisfied with taking the most common tourist approach to visiting the lake, which includes a four-hour tour and lunch with an indigenous family, we decided to stay overnight in a small “resort” (I feel silly calling it that) run by a family who lives on an island. It’s only a resort in the sense that it’s lodging on the water with food included. Not so much a resort in the sense that the rooms are unheated, there is nothing to keep anyone from falling off the deck into the lake, no one speaks any English, there’s no hot water and the electricity is limited.

But the place really hit the spot and there was no beating the sunset and sunrise. There was definitely beating the temperature. When we woke up in the morning, the temperature in the room was 29 degrees. Luckily the proprietors had set us up with hot water bottles, more than 10 blankets, and a propane heater that exhausted carbon monoxide directly into the room. We took advantage of only the water bottles and blankets.

Honestly it was an incredible experience. Both because we got to know this small family and enjoyed some amazing views and also because I had never seen my breath while inside a vacation rental.

The "dining room" wasn't heated either. These are our German friends who have become great friends despite the fact that they are young enough to be our children. I guess they're mature for their age and we're immature for our age.

On another topic, why can’t the garbage trucks in the US sound as inspirational and joyous as this one below. Really.

Day - Uncertain. Arequipa

 We just finished two full days in Arequipa; the first is kind of a blur because it came on the heels of an all-night bus ride, which turned out to be not as restful and luxurious as it sounds. But for 60 soles we were able to check into our room at 8:30 am (roughly three hours after we arrived) so we got to take a nap for two hours, which eliminated any possibility of having any concept of time for the remainder of the day.

 The second day was so pleasant that now Martha wants to come back here for a week. Arequipa was one of the earliest Spanish settlements in Peru, and as soon as all the Europeans realized that it’s far enough from the coast not to have mosquitos or crushing heat, it became popular enough to earn the nickname “The “White City” and it does feel quite European. But it’s also very close to the Andes, so there is some indigenous culture mixed in.

Like this Catholic church with a baroque façade that include the Hapsburg coat of arms and Aztec gods, ears of corn and pineapples.

But as always, first stop was at the main market.

You may think you know potatoes, but really you don’t.

This woman mixed me up a drink of multiple tropical fruits, most of which were new to me. It was delicious and impossible to duplicate in the US. The oddest fruit in there is called Lugma. I bought one and we all shared it. It has a good, mild flavor and the consistency of damp chalk (sorry, Lugma).

There is a famous monastery here that I visited. It essentially had three major historical phases. 1. 18th century - Spain takes over, builds the monastery and convinces all of the wealthy families that if they want to go to heaven, they have to send their daughters and their money to the monastery. 2. 19th century - the daughters discover Europe, clubs, Hermes and Beyonce and decide life as a nun isn’t so great and they decline the offer of eternal salvation, so the monastery starts taking daughters of poor families. 3. 20th century – church realizes that the families of poor daughters can’t really sustain the monastery, so they lease out parts of it to cafés and souvenir shops.

The main plaza is beautiful. It includes a church, which was built sideways to the plaza so that it looks more imposing than it really is (really). 

But the best part is that it has pop-up confessionals for people who have something to confess but can’t be bothered actually attending church. I was thinking of going, but the main thing I would have to confess is that I took a picture of someone confessing and I doubt I would be forgiven for that.

Tomorrow off to Lake Titicaca, which we may not get to because there is major construction on the only road between here and there. 

Day 4 - Huacachina to Arequipa

 We finished out our visit to Huacachina by sitting around the pool and relaxing for the day. Ha ha.
Actually we climbed more sand dunes.

Now that we’ve gotten to know the place a little better, we realize that it’s quite a treat. We are in the middle of an enormous range of sand dunes (assuming multiple sand dunes make a “range” of dunes), with a small natural oasis in the middle. 

At least it was natural until the people here realized that there were business opportunities awaiting and
built hotels and restaurants on the oasis, which started to drain the aquifers that keep the oasis full. Now they pump supplemental water in to keep it looking lush and natural.

And then, off to Arequipa, our first town at elevation. On the way we stopped to see some of the hundreds of Nazca Lines. These are huge figures etched into the ground that represent animals, people and plants. What is known about them is that they are roughly 2,000 years old. What is not known is exactly who created them and why. This one is supposedly a tree. These lines are about a foot wide and only a few inches deep, but it literally never, ever rains here, and the wind blows the loose sand out of the depressions, so they are still here albeit damaged slightly by roads that were built before anyone realized these things existed (you can only see them from above).

We arrived here via a 10-hour overnight bus ride, which affected my brain way more than the altitude. But 5 or 6 cups of coffee have fooled my brain into thinking that I’m feeling much better now.  

Oh, if you happen to run into Patitas the lost tortoise, please let me know. His owners are worried sick.