Peru
Hupana

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    • Day 7

      On to Puno and Lake Titicaca

      October 17, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

      This morning, Tuesday, is the first morning that we haven’t had to get up promptly either to catch a flight or meet our guide. We are being collected by taxi at 12:15 and driven to the nearby town of Chivay where we will catch the bus to Puno, about a six hour journey.
      We have then taken the opportunity to have a leisurely breakfast and enjoy the hot water pools in the hotel garden.
      Since leaving Lima the weather has settled into a familiar pattern, warm in the morning with clear blue skies, then it clouds over mid afternoon with sometimes a few spots of rain and then cooler in the evening.
      We have mentioned before the quality of the food and drink here but what we have not mentioned is the fact that the prices are a lot lower than the UK. For example the birthday meal for Jane in Arequipa at one of the better restaurants came to £60 for exceptional food and drink.
      Laura, our guide yesterday, was commenting about tourism in Peru. Obviously they were affected by the pandemic but since then civil unrest in the country has put people off coming which is such a shame as it is a lovely country and well worth visiting.
      A few more photos from yesterday and today.
      It was an interesting journey to Puno. The taxi delivered us to where the bus was leaving from but it was deserted! The taxi driver made a call and assured us that all will be OK and suggested we went and had a sandwich which we did and on our return lo and behold people were starting to gather. We were on a 12 seater minibus plus driver and guide. We were the only English on board others being German, French and a number of Spanish speakers.
      The route took us through the Andes initially on the route we had taken from Arequipa on Sunday. Soon though the scenery changed and became very desolate and quite grim. We would go through areas where there were buildings for a settlement which looked derelict and deserted but on closer inspection it was evident that people were living here. It was quite an eye opener. The journey was fine, we made three stops and arrived in Puno just before 7 where we were met and taken to our hotel in good time to watch the Peru v Argentina World Cup qualifier.
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    • Day 10

      Terug naar Arequipa

      September 20, 2019 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      Het is 05:15 uur als we uit een diepe slaap ontwaken. Gezien onze fysieke staat hebben we gisteravond het wijze besluit genomen om ieder een ezel te huren om ons de berg op te lopen. Dit heeft een bijkomend voordeel dat we een uur langer konden slapen dan de mensen die gaan lopen. De helling is namelijk nog steiler dan gister en gemiddeld loopt men er 3,5 à 4 uur over - de ezels doen het in slechts 1,5 uur. De ezels bikkelen goed door en onderweg halen we regelmatig (zwetende, bleek weggetrokken en vooral jaloers-kijkende) mensen in. Dankzij de ezels kunnen wij nog wel een beetje genieten van de omgeving. De conclusie is echter dat het extreem zwaar voor ons zou zijn geweest om weer boven te komen zonder hulp. Bovenaan verzamelen we en gaan we ontbijten met verse coca thee. Vanaf nu zit het lopen erop! De bus gaat rond 09:30 uur op de terugweg. We stoppen nog bij een uitzichtpunt (inclusief verplichte knuffel Alpaca) en bij hot springs. Daar gaan veel mensen even het hete water in om de spieren te ontspannen. Daarna gaan we verder naar Chivay (3600 mtr.) voor de lunch. We slaan het restaurant (met harde panfluitmuziek) waar we heen geloodst worden over en zoeken zelf wat uit. Het blijkt een gouden greep. We eten in alle rust een heerlijk maal, terwijl de bediening heel hard z'n best doen - we komen even bij. Na de lunch gaan we de hoogte in. We rijden verder naar een ander uitkijkpunt op 4900 mtr. Dit biedt een prachtig uitzicht op besneeuwde toppen van de vulkanen die rond Arequipa staan waarvan een enkele met karakteristieke aspluim. We blijven er niet lang. De kou en de hoofdpijn door de relatief snelle stijging in hoogte zorgt er voor dat we maar kort blijven. We zijn opgelucht als we rond 18:30 terug zijn in het hotel. Het is vrijdag dus 'pizza-night', maar na besteld te hebben in het restaurant wordt het 'take out'. De wisselingen in hoogte en tussen hitte en kou eist voor de tweede dag z'n tol bij Gordon. Gelukkig hebben we meer dan genoeg medicijnen bij ons en kan ook Gordon uiteindelijk van zijn pizza genieten. Wat een dag...Read more

    • Day 7

      Heiße Thermalquelle und Vulkan

      November 18, 2022 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      Dann waren wir heute noch in einem Thermalbad auf 3600m. Zwischenzeitlich waren wir heute af 4900m und die Luft wird da schon sehr dünn. Geholfen haben Kokablätter auch nicht so doll wie erwartet. Oh und es gab ein leckeres Meerschweinchen 😌Read more

    • Day 5

      Altitude, Volcanoes and Condors!

      October 15, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      Sunday morning at breakfast we heard music blaring outside the hotel so being curious had to find out what was going on. The main square where our hotel is was filling up with people and some small groups of military people and a band. This happens every Sunday when the Peruvian flag is raised in the square. Fun to watch for a few minutes but we were becoming a bit concerned as our guide for the next two days was collecting us at 8:30 and there was no way a vehicle was going to get close to the hotel. Anyhow Laura, our guide arrived on time and we had to walk a few blocks to meet our driver, Alfonso, who was going to take us high into the Andes.
      Driving through the suburbs of Arequipa was an eye opener to see the conditions that so many people have to live in. Very difficult to describe but buildings are falling apart the roads are bad but the people generally appear happy.
      We could tell early on that we were going to get on well with Laura and Alfonso though he spoke no English. Laura , until last year, had been mayor of her town on the outskirts of Arequipa for four years and was quite outspoken about the political state of the country. Peru has so much wealth with minerals including copper,, lithium, cobalt, gold and silver and huge fruit and vegetable production yet so many people are poor.
      Shortly after leaving Arequipa we started coming across convoys of trucks coming in the opposite direction. They were bringing copper from the mines down to the coast and onward for export principally to China.
      Once we had cleared them the landscape started to change . We saw many wild llama, alpaca and vicuña and on the horizon volcanoes, a number of which were smoking. They are not particularly active but a sight to see. We reached 5000 metres high and all around we could see even more volcanoes. The picture below will not do it justice. Another highlight of the journey was seeing some small tornadoes, see photo below.
      Tonight and Monday night we are staying at the Colca Lodge hotel in the Colca Valley where we arrived early afternoon. Marvellous hotel in a very remote location with its major attraction being hot pools by the river in front of the hotel. A truly relaxing experience!
      Today, Monday, Laura and Alfonso picked us up at 7am for our drive through the Colca Valley to the Colca Canyon to hopefully see condors. The drive was incredible. The weather was great with clear blue skies and the landscape here in the Andes was indescribable. There is so much history with what the Incas did here and the people before them. As you can imagine there are many steep sides to the landscape but this has been terraced over hundreds of years to enable agriculture.
      We arrived at the view point to see the condors. This is only possible first thing in the morning when the thermals are suitable to enable them to glide. What a sight it is to see these large birds gliding through the air,
      Driving through the valley it is clear to see how hard the local people have to work on the land and understandable why the younger people choose to leave and seek their fortunes in the cities for what they might consider an easier life.
      Tomorrow we are off to our next destination Puno which is on the banks of Lake Titicaca. This will be a six hour coach trip.
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    • Day 3

      Colca

      August 3, 2019 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

      C'est parti pour l'altitude⛰️ Nous quittons Arequipa et ses 2600 mètres d'altitude pour rejoindre la région du Colqua avec le passage d'un col à 4900 mètres. Partis à 8h30 nous nous sommes rapidement arrêtés pour acheter des feuilles et des bonbons à la coca. C'est ainsi que les péruviens luttent contre le mal des montagnes. Après 30 minutes de route nous avons roulé 7 feuilles de Coca autour d'un catalyseur. Il faut mâcher 15 à 20 minutes, avec le bonbon à la coca pour atténuer le goût amer. Notre route consistait à contourner le volcan Misti 5822 mètres d'altitude (anciennement 11 000 mètres). Pendant 4h30 nous avons roulé dans des paysages volcaniques et quasi désertiques, l'extrémité du désert d'Atacama. En traversant la réserve nationale, nous avons eu la joie de voir des vigognes, alpaga et lamas. Au cours d'un petite pause technique nous avons pu déguster une infusion coca, thym, herbes des andes , appelés Inca Maté. Certains ont acheté leurs premiers tissus typiques. Vingt minutes plus tard nous sommes arrivés au Col de Patapampa à 4910 mètres d'altitude. Dès que nous sommes sortis du bus, nous avons senti les effets de la raréfaction de l'oxygène. Il faut marcher très doucement, et on très vite essoufflés. La vue est à couper le souffle mais il ne faut pas s'attarder si on veut que tout le monde soit en état de répartir. Nous pensions avoir fait le plus dur mais la descente vers Chivay a été trop rapide pour certaines (-1000 mètres en 20 minutes). A notre arrivée à l'hôtel nous déplorions une victime du mal des montagnes. Les 12heures suivantes ont été très éprouvantes pour Pascale... Mais finalement tout est rentré dans l'ordre après un traitement de choc, un peu d'oxygène et du reposRead more

    • Day 4

      Yanque

      August 4, 2019 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

      Aujourd'hui c'est quartier libre ! Mais finalement, tous au petit dej à 7h car nous avons toujours des petits restes du décalage horaire. Dans la matinée nous sommes allés voir les alpagas qui sont dans le parc de l'hôtel puis nous avons fait une marche d'une heure trente pour aller voir des ruines Incas: Uyo Uyo. Cette population vivait sur des terrains escarpés , établis en terrasse bien avant les Incas. Les ruines sont constituées d'une trentaine de bâtiments, occupées par un groupement de famille. Nous avons déjeuné d'un super barbecue surplombant les bassins d'eau thermale de l'hôtel. Ensuite ce fut après midi détente dans les bassins puis jeux de sociétés pour tous. Vers 17h il fait nuit et la température chute de 25 à 0 degrés. A 19 heures, on a l'impression qu'il est 21 heures alors on file tous au resto.Read more

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