Arequipa & the Colca Canyon

Seems the nuns had a huge library at their convent; now a museum

Craig’s haircut by an almost 80-year-old barber

Craig has taken interesting pictures also from our recent bus trips in southern Peru. Will post 3 towards the end of the text; not sure if I cropped them too much...

From Cusco we flew to Arequipa, the 2nd biggest city in Peru. Downtown is built with sillar, a white rock, mostly by the Spanish, and it is considered one of the prettiest cities in Peru. It is in the desert, and surrounded by tall volcanoes, some of which are active per a taxi driver. The center of town is very nice with a colorful Plaza de Armas (again). The outskirts are poor, grey and dusty, as seen from the bus to the Colca Canyon, ~6 hrs inland.

We had read about hiking options in both the Cotahuasi, and the Colca Canyons. The latter is a very popular tourist destination, and we had thought going to Cotahuasi might be more fun. But it is even further away, and the bus schedules are very inconvenient. So we took a local bus to Cabanaconde, one of the main places to see the Colca Canyon from. Both of these canyons are amongst the deepest in the world. On the trip there the conductor seemed to fill up the radiator several times.. Craig was a bit worried because you go through desert the entire way.

Link to Arequipa & Colca Canyon pic’s

The scenery from the bus was beautiful once we climbed up to the higher desert area (over a 4000m pass). The different shades of color on the mountains (still the Andes), reminded us a little of Ladakh, India. Plenty of shrubbery, lots and lots of terraces, some of which Craig thinks must be pre-Columbian because they are narrow and not maintained. Most terraces, some very narrow, others wider, are in use by farmers. We have seen corn fields, and heard they have lots of different types of tubers and potatoes.
We saw vicunas, llamas or alpacas, sheep and some cows from the bus. On the way to Cabanaconde (elevation 3287m, 10 700’) there were mostly tourists on the bus, but am writing this on the bus back, and we are 2/4 tourists. We’ve been on our way for almost 2 hrs and people are still standing in the isles. I tried to offer a seat to an older lady, but she declined - and another older woman told me I should it down again.

This woman again smiled, and said something like ‘que bonito’ = how nice, or pretty, when I replied to her question, that we are from the USA. This was probably the 3rd time this happened - all by people not in the tourism field. Makes me feel better considering our current state of affairs at home.
Have only checked twice, but seems South Americans (Peruvians so far)  don’t consider themselves ‘Americans’ - this term seems reserved for us US citizens.

My lessons have unfortunately been on hold since before the Cusco trek, but I was proud yesterday when a young Dutch couple couldn’t explain they had a reservation at our guesthouse. I had learned the words, but still only have present tense for singular pronouns...but the hostess understood me.

Many people seem to sign up for 2-3 day treks in the Colca Canyon, but others hike on their own. We stayed at a nice guesthouse, and did the craziest day hike of our lives. >1100m (3600’) down, a quick break in the oasis at the bottom of the canyon, then back up again. ~4.4 km each way (2.7 miles). It took me 3 hrs down, and the core muscles I am supposed to learn to use, were shot. It took us some 3.5 hrs back up, and I crashed immediately after a nice hot shower. The footing was challenging due to lots of loose rocks, and the naturally steep slopes, but this time it was desert dry, which made it easier. We were acclimatized to the altitude, and even Craig felt his legs - more than the cardio effort involved. Presumably due to my super slow pace.

Right next to our nice guest house, a couple of hundred meters from the main square, we saw a poor pig on his way to slaughter, in a brutal fashion. This is not the first time I have to leave when people in poor parts of the world torture animals. This pig was being pulled up, from his neck, with a rope looped over a bar - I can only hope they cut his neck quickly as soon as we left.

Miscellaneous impressions from our month in Peru: the women wear different types of native dress in different parts of the country. Their colorful hats became popular during the Colonial era per the Textile Museum in Cusco.

The country is poor, and unfortunately this means crime is a concern. It must have been sad for the friendly young woman at the tourist info in Arequipa to tell us we should not walk to the bus station, and not use a local taxi app Craig had found in Trujillo. She recommended Uber or another app as safe options.

Peruvians eat lots and lots of meat. A friendly, well traveled young waitress in Arequipa thinks this might be because the country now is wealthier than it used to be, and that people go overboard. But many places accommodate vegetarians - at tourist establishments.

Favorite foods:
The Andean, or Inca quinoa soup in Huaraz
The Mexican panqueque itself in Huanchaco
The coffee at the guest house in Caraz, and later in Cabanaconde
The savory panqueques our first and last nights in Cusco, and also Craig’s alpaca with blue cheese there.
The home made sweet and strong ginger ale at Ulrike’s in Pisac
The fresh & tasty bread, the only place with a whole grain mix option, at the fancy hotel in Aguas Caliente.

Avocado in many places
A super flavorful Indian meal in Arequipa at a small restaurant run by a Peruvian wife and her Indian Chef husband.

Craig did not think the Pisco Sour lived up to its reputation (a cocktail with Peruvian brandy). He might try the Chilean version - the 2 countries are arch rivals, and each claims the drink is their own.

I am not impressed with vegetarian meat; I saw tofu only on the trek and
one other time.

It is now 2days later, and we yesterday spent another day on buses. Destination: Arica in northern Chile. We crossed into Chile by land transport - the first time we have done so except in Europe and at home.

We traveled through more desert, now at a lower altitude, and except in a couple of river valleys, absolutely nothing grows here. The road surface was good. The super secure bus company we used in the north (Cruz Del Sur), doesn’t operate on this route, but the buses full of locals were a step up from the Cabanaconde ones. And our driver in Arequipa gets lots of bonus points for allowing me not to give up our passports as requested. Instead he took us to some computer guy at the bus station, who presumably exited us from the country separately from the rest of the totally full bus.

Our first impressions of Chile are good. A very friendly immigration agent, who despite the almost complete language barrier, smiled and seemed welcoming. A customs agent looking for forbidden foods, wasn’t sure if she should let me bring in the remaining walnuts from home, but she was friendly, and let my small amount through after asking where we were headed in Chile. Exiting the bus station in Arica we mistakenly walked almost 2 miles out of our way late in the afternoon, but I felt safe along a busy road. Several people coming towards us, smiled and greeted us, maybe because of my 2 backpacks, and grey hairs.. It is way more expensive here than in Peru, and as I had read in various blogs, people go to Peru to buy staples like toilet paper at lower prices. Saw several women carrying huge bags with stuff like this.

Today we will sort out how best to visit a nearby National Park, where we go tomorrow. And we also need to decide what happens after we return in some 3 days.