Views of the Colca mountain range
At 1 am, we started from Arequipa local bus station and our first destination was the Condor lookout point some 6 hours away. I say ‘we’ because I did not go to the Colca canyon by myself, but found a group as narrated in previous post. I met my other teammates – a Czech couple, a Spanish couple and a guy from USA. Everyone was cool. We got into a bus that was going to drive us to Chivay शीवे, change the bus at 3 am and board another local bus from there. It was impossible to sleep because the route was a dirt road, but after a while I became oblivious to the jerks and shocks and head hitting the window frame. There was a cold wave in Peru that time and it did not help at all. The journey rattled each and every bone in my body and I swear I heard clattering sounds of my bones while I walked later on. But my body ache disappeared the moment we got off at a watch point in the canyon. Take a look at these pictures, picture yourself watching it and then multiply that feeling by a thousand times. Now who cares about a silly bus ride?
Colca Canyon. The Colca river flows in this valley
It was very cold and windy since the nearby peaks are snow covered. I was shivering, Peru was supposed to be a tropical country; clearly I did not research enough. Several regions in the Arequipa and Puno provinces are at very high altitudes and it can get chilly at night; plus there can be cold waves (like this one). I wrapped myself some borrowed Alpaca shawls that the locals were selling and it was warm in no time!
My backpack
Condors, like Vultures, are scavengers. Scavengers only eat what is already dead and thus help clean the mess. The Andean Condors usually rise early morning during sunrise and rise high up in the sky surveying the landscape below. The canyon is very deep and it was not possible to see the bottom. But in no time, as the sun rose, we could see Condors flying in the sky.
Condor in the morning sky. Ah, freedom. I wish I could fly.
While flying out of the valley in circular loops, one giant bird appeared about 20 ft above me. It was a terrifying feeling and I ducked instinctively, although I was perfectly aware that a Condor don’t hunt. You really feel like a dwarf compared to these mighty Condors.
Andean Condor
Some excerpts filtered from Wikipedia:
The Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) is a species of South American bird. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, it is the largest flying land bird in the Western Hemisphere. It reaches sexual maturity at five or six years of age and roosts at elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 m (10,000 to 16,000 ft), generally on inaccessible rock ledges. One or two eggs are usually laid. It is one of the world’s longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 50 years. The birds have a wing span of upto 10 ft. and weigh upto 15kg. The Andean Condor is considered ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN. It is threatened by habitat loss and by secondary poisoning from carcasses killed by hunters.
Andean Condors
Andean Condors (morning love)
Andean Condor (Hey look! A decaying bull… yummy!)
We came to this spot again on the next day while coming back from the trek and waiting for a bus. It was entertainment time because the place was full of tourists now who were complaining about the heat and dust; they were noisy, playing music, eating, shouting, running around, polluting, (sometimes their bus would honk) and then they grumbled about not seeing any Condors. It’s a not a circular logic; I don’t understand why people just don’t get it. It will permanently scare the birds away some day – from their own habitat. Go figure. They already have a ‘near threatened’ status.
Condor view point
Watching these huge creatures fly is a divine feeling. Something is different about them – huge birds, but scavengers; powerful, but isolated. Nature is amazing, nature is supreme and we are mere slaves, I ended up saying that for the hundredth time as our group descended into the valley.
For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Colca Canyon Photo Gallery
Next post: Trekking in the Colca Canyon.
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Busking: Busking is the practice of performing music, dance, juggling, magic, and similar activities in public places to entertain passersby and solicit tips. People engaging in this practice are called buskers. Busking is a British term used in many areas of the English-speaking world and in former British territories. In the United States, buskers are more often called street performers or street musicians. Some buskers only work part time, while others make a full time living performing on the streets…. Read more on Wikipedia
I had a Sitar gig last night and by the time it ended, it was past midnight and it was also raining. I stood outside the Queen subway station, waiting for the streetcar (tram) for almost 20 minutes, not quite enjoying the drizzle. My Sitar was tucked away safely under some large window frame.
3 moderately drunk white boys arrived at the streetcar stop and looked curiously at my Sitar bag. It was well past midnight on Friday, so I wasn’t surprised at all.
“Hey, what is that?”
“Its a Sitar”, I said non-enthusiastically. I get this question often.
“Woooowh! I never thought I would see a Sitar for real!”
And then they spent next 5 minutes asking me questions about the instrument. I was surprised that they knew so much already. I promised to show them how it looked like once we were in the streetcar.
“You must play it too”, he said
“HUH ??”, sounded like a crazy idea to me.
“Yea man, and I will pass my hat around. You can get your bus money back!” (he took off his hat to show me how)
So we got into the streetcar, full of sweet party people (drunk people are usually fun). The guys couldn’t wait to see how a sitar looked and they oohed and aahed when i took it out of the bag. Most of what I played wasn’t legible since it was quite noisy around but I think they liked it anyway. After I was done, there was some clapping and the guy took his hat off and passed it around.
Nobody put any money in it, haha.
The guy was disappointed more than me. I guess he didn’t want me to be a musician who doesn’t get tips after he plays. Then the sweetest thing happened. His buddy put in a dollar. And they passed the hat to me.
“Here!, Great show!”
And folks, that’s how I earned my first dollar on the street playing music.
Arequipa is the capital of the Arequipa Region in southern Peru. It is the second most populous city of the country and lies in the Andes mountains, at an altitude of 2,380 meters, overseen by the snow-capped volcano El Misti. The city has many colonial-era Spanish buildings built of sillar, a pearly white volcanic rock, from which it gets the nickname La Ciudad Blanca (“The White City”). The historic centre of Arequipa was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2000, in recognition of its architecture and historic integrity. Arequipa is a city of Artists, and they say that everyone can not only play atleast one musical instrument but also sing well.
Streets in Arequipa downtown are very clean
I dropped my bags at the Point Hostel and took a quick shower and a quick nap. All my dorm roommates were barely legal Australian girls who spoke with thick accents. Some of them had been to India so they were thrilled to see me, but I obviously wasn’t interested to explore the city with them.
Street
The hostel is located about 15 minutes away from the city center and the walk is pleasurable. I guess Arequipa is an old city, judging by the narrowness of the street and the ancient look overall.
Colonial Church. The Spanish built huge churches all over Peru (and South America). These are important landmarks of cities now.
The very noticeable thing is the number of policemen, they are so many. One or two posted on every little street corner. There were also a large number of civic cleaners who dusted the streets clean. I liked the way Arequipa looked. The central square, Plaza de Armas is stunning. There is a huge colonial cathedral on the north side and several colonial structures in the alleys surrounding the Plaza.
Potato soup, a staple diet in Peru%
Lima was too much city’ish and wanted to move to the interiors so I prepared to go to Arequipa (आरेकीपा) and left for the bus station. Arequipa is to the south east of Lima and a perfect base to visit the Colca canyon region. The taxi driver who drove me was thrilled to see someone from India. In broken English he was trying to tell me that he knew 3 Indian people who lived in Lima and that they were very nice. The taxis in Lima are supposedly not friendly, but this guy took me inside the bus terminal and showed me where I can purchase the tickets. He even thanked me with palms joined together and saying Namaste. How much do Indians know about Peruvian culture?
I took the bus company Cruz del Sur and traveled in their double decker bus that had good seats and facilities. They even served food on the bus – rice and chicken, which was pretty good. They eat lots of rice in Peru. I was sitting on the front seat of the top floor of the bus and there was a huge window in front of me. They also tried to brainwash me by playing 4 spanish movies (omg) on that 15 hour journey. But, I survived, and lived to tell the story
Pan-American Highway – Lima to Arequipa (view from my seat inside the bus)
Traffic in Peru is worse than India. So if Canada is 10 on the degree of safe road conditions and Peru is 1, then India would be 2.5 (overly generalized), Israel would be 4 and Palestine 1.5… See, I can do a PhD research! I think there was a traffic jam even at Lima air strip. I was sitting on the upper floor of the bus right on the front seat (a huge window in front of me) and the driver was freaking me out. He cut thru the 2 lane road (Pan American Highway) inches away from the vehicle approaching from the other direction. After I remembered all the 33 crore Gods and Goddesses, I figured it was easier to just fall asleep. We desperately need a “God of Traffic” or “God of Travel”, is there any ‘yatra dev‘ (यात्रा देव) so that it would be easier to pray to him? I was making emergency plans to exit (just in case) and was about to talk about them to others, but they were snoring already. There was a nun (priestess- is there such a word?) on the other side with the cross firmly clenched in her palm – out of devotion or fear, only she knows, but I wished she didn’t choke little Jesus!
Thats me, taking notes on my laptop. It was early morning. yawn…
Lesson learnt – don’t sit on the front row of the bus. Also now I exactly know why they say ‘ignorance is bliss’. I grew wiser and in my subsequent trips I never took front row seats.
Views from Mars, oops no, that’s around Arequipa!
I made a good friend, my co-passenger in the bus, who helped me the next day to get a taxi and find my hostel. Arequipa was suddenly different – so much quieter, smaller, laid back and the air was crisp and cold.
Next: Arequipa, the city of artists. More pictures and less ramble
It’s my first morning in Lima today. I am so excited to wakeup to the fresh salty smells of Lima air. I got up pretty early although I slept late last night. Peru is only an hour ahead of Toronto, so there was no jet lag at all. It’s a nice feeling – strange but not unfamiliar. Get up early out of regular habit, realize that you own your day, go back to sleep, wake up late etc. Then have breakfast, linger around in pajamas etc. No deadlines, nobody to report to; “I like!” as Borat would have said.
Breakfast, with my darling (laptop)
A Bolivian girl, who had large almond eyes and wore eyeliner that looked like a kajal, told me how to go to Pachacamac, the old ruins. However, another American tourist who went there the same day advised me not to go there and waste a day, instead she told me to go to the beach front, and to a site called Huaca Pucllana (वाका पुक्लाना ). Since I was unsure if I’d be in Lima for over a day, I decided not to go too far and see local sights instead.
Police car, Miraflores
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Chaos on street
Later this morning, I walked around the posh Miraflores district to reach Huaca Pucllana. I was greeted by a gigantic pyramidal structure. For an entrance fees of S/. 7, an English language tour guide comes free. I had to wait for barely 5 minutes and soon a group of English-wanting tourists arrived.
Huaca Pucllana pyramid
These Pyramids were built by the Lima tribe, who were surrounded by the Waris (वारी) in north and Nascas (नास्का) to the south. They had a unique construction style. After every 15 years, they closed the existing chambers of the pyramid and built a new structure on the top of that. 3 rituals were required before the chambers were closed – a human sacrifice, a pottery offering and finally, some food. In honor of the Sea God, a young woman, age 12-25, slim, short and beautiful, was sacrificed. These girls were picked from their childhood, or as they grew up, they offered themselves to the Gods. The Lima society was matricidal, i.e. it was led by women. The style of construction is called ‘book case’ style, because it resembles the manner in which books are arranged in a shelf. This construction stood firm while the whole Lima city was destroyed by earthquakes. Wonderful!
Govinda restaurant
It was close to noon and I was now getting hungry. I looked up my guidebook and found a hotel that served vegetarian food, called ‘Govinda’. Surprised? Even I was surprised when I heard that the Hare Krishna (ISKON) movement had a bunch of followers in Peru, and South America in general. This place I went had statues and pictures of Lord Krishna, bhajans playing softly and even a modest temple on the upper floor. I was very intrigued. The caretaker told me that there was a small gathering that night and I should come. All I could talk to him was “Soy de India” (I am from India) and he started talking in Spanish for next 2 minutes with an obvious delight!
Downtown Miraflores
After I was full, I started walking westward towards the sea front. I walked on the promenade that runs along the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was a nice view of the largest Ocean. I have so far seen Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Mediterranean Sea and now the Pacific Ocean (haha!). I wanted to linger around to watch sunset in the Pacific but I decided against it because: there was nothing to do in that area, and the air was very polluted and foggy (as you can see in the pictures).
Beach front
Promenade along the Pacific ocean
I shopped for some supplies for the night, walked till my legs broke off and then returned to my hostel some time back. I want to have a nice cold shower now and think about what to do later tonight. I think the best place to think stink-free is while standing under the shower faucet while cold water pours all over you
For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Lima Photo Gallery
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