This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

Lazy day
It was great to be in Puno (पुनो) – a small dusty town and very Peruvian. I slept in because the bed was so soft, it was crispy cold outside, I had the whole room to myself and thus I finally recovered my sleep backlog! I woke up and felt a slight buzz in my head. Puno at an altitude of 3860 m (12,420 ft) is located on highlands and altitude sickness is not unknown here. But, there is a miraculous solution – Coca leaves.

Lima Street, the main street in Puno

Mate de Coca (Coca tea)
Coca tea, also called Mate de Coca (माटे दे कोका) , is a herbal tea made using the leaves of the coca plant (कोका च्या पानांपासुन बनवलेला गवती चहा). The tea originates from the Andes mountain range, particularly Peru. Coca tea consumption is common in many South American countries. Many indigenous tribes of the Andes mountain range also use the tea for medicinal and religious purposes. The consumption of Coca tea, as well as chewing the leaves, increases the absorption of oxygen in blood, which helps combat altitude sickness, and has a marked digestive and carminative action. Owing to the presence of the stimulant alkaloids, the coca tea provides a source of energy similar to coffee!

Note that this is “Coca”, not “Cocoa” (easy to get confused!)

The hotel I was staying in offered free Coca tea and since फुकट ते पौष्टीक् (Marathi slang that means – “if it’s free, it’s healthy”), I helped myself with generous portions. It was soo good and my headache was gone in no time.

Puno's central square

Laundryman
Since I had a double bedroom with attached bathroom to myself, I did something that was most urgent. Look!

Socks! (You need to read my previous post to understand the importance of this)

Food

German bakery

Fruits in the morning, post-lunchtime breakfast (bread-eggs-bacon-coffee-cheesecake) at a German bakery, then had fried Alpaca (remember the Peruvian lamb?) sandwich with an Israeli guy, and finally at night I had a vegetarian meal at Govinda. It was a nice day.

About Puno

Puno Town. Many houses are left under construction to save tax!

The city was established in 1668 by the Spanish victors. Today, Puno is an important agricultural and livestock region, however, as you can see in the pictures, many home in Puno are half-finished - this is done to save the taxes. The city is close to the Bolivian border and this leads to, as I was told, import of cheap goods from the neighboring country and a black market resulting thereof.

More three-wheelers

Puno has a couple of hills, and since the last time I hiked a mountain was over 36 hours ago, I was craving for more. Toronto, where I am living since Jan’07, is like a dot at the center of a carom board – there are practically no mountains around and therefore it was natural to die for some action.

Tourism

The first Inca

The only reason tourists arrive at Puno is to go into the Lake Titicaca and see the strikingly different lifestyle of the locals there. I booked a tour for the next one-night-two-days at the islands. I don’t know if this will be useful for anyone, but do not pay more than S/. 55 for this duration. This includes ferry transport, 2 meals and overnight stay at one of the villages. The agent informed me that for another S/. 30, he could show me to nearby town Chukoito – duration 3 hours.

30 soles? Nah, I decided to go there by myself and indeed it cost me only 2.5 soles.
What’s special about Chucuito? You will be surprised.

Cathedral at night

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Puno Photo Gallery

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

• Andean Explorations - 9: Arequipa to Puno (24)
• Andean Explorations - 8: Trekking in Colca Canyon (18)
• Andean Explorations - 7: Andean Condors in Colca (26)
• Andean Explorations - 6: Arequipa (16)
• Andean Explorations - 5: Lima to Arequipa (8)

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

Exiting Arequipa
I came back from the Colca canyon trek and bid adieu to fellow trekkers. I was goddamn exhausted after the trek but considering the paucity of time, I booked a bus to Puno, the next city, that night itself. Fortunately my hostel allowed me to use the shower for free and I gladly took that opportunity to shower, shave and emerge as a new guy. I would definitely recommend staying at The Point Hostel.

Arequipa is a nice town and I liked the quiet streets and the overall feel of the town. As my bus cruised out of the city, I gave in to screams from my tired body and fell asleep right away. There was a problem though - my feet needed to relax but I couldn’t take my socks and/or shoes off because a special fragrance would have filled the bus. I attribute this to a manual error in planning my inventory of socks.

“Hola!” Some Spanish travelers I met sent me this picture. That’s me, returning from Colca.

Bus travel in Peru
There is no public transport in Peru that you can use to travel between cities. Instead, there are a lot of buses operated by private companies. They cater to all kinds of budgets, for example the ticket from Arequipa to Puno by the finest luxury bus was S/. 80 while for an economy bus it gets as low as S/. 10. Laws of demand-supply persist and best deals are available as the bus is just leaving the terminal. Naturally, cheaper the ticket, lower is the predictability. Low cost buses might take frequent stops, have bad toilets, not arrive on time or have other surprise problems on board.

Rail network is almost absent in this region, but there are lots of airports.

Currency (I missed this in the intro post)
S/. is the symbol for Peruvian currency (code PEN) - Nuevo Sol (Nuevos Soles in plural), simply referred to as “Sol/Soles” (सोल / सोलेस्). As of today, 1 USD = 2.8 PEN

chor chor! Thief!
At night, there was a commotion and I woke up to sound of the French guy running out of the coach hurriedly. I met a French couple while waiting at the Arequipa bus terminal. It’s funny how you make friends out of practical or situational problems. I needed to pee badly and I didn’t want to take my backpack inside the Peruvian toilet, so these people helped me out (by guarding my luggage). Later, I got them exit tickets – some bus terminals in Peru have small exit taxes – ½ soles or so. This is a good price to pay for having a decently clean bus terminal.

Anyway, back to the story. Apparently while the bus was taking a stop, a thief sneaked in and attempted to steal from inside the bus while everyone was fast asleep! I was sitting on the single seat right in front of the door and was fortunate enough to be saved. But then my little backpack with all the valuable stuff was safely tucked in and entangled between my legs. Still the episode was as close I ever got to see crime in Peru.

Cross on a mountain, opposite Chivay bus terminal

Safe travel tip
Get one of those pouches that strap on to your shin/calf or thighs (if you are wearing shorts) and are safely concealed. Important “SOS” stuff – Passport, travel permits, reserve cash, credit cards and essential phone numbers (local police, embassy) – should go in this pouch. This pocket is inaccessible, so at checkpoints you are likely to panic and fumble (I had a problem in Israel especially, where they have hundreds of check points). But security doesn’t come for nothing, especially if traveling alone in a foreign place.

Finding a hostel in Puno
…or Peru is no different from a typical experience in India. As the bus arrived in Puno, the air smelled different. It was cold wind probably blowing over the gigantic Lake Titicaca the shore on which this city is located. The French couple and I deliberated over which hostel to check in, while touts gathered around us like fruit flies on jelly cake. The agents were almost pulling us and claiming to have the “best hotel just for you.” Finally we went to a cheap place and I got a fabulous double bedroom for just S/. 15. Perfect!

I crashed immediately since my sleep has been erratic but eventful so far. First night I arrived from Toronto and slept at 2 am, second night was in a bus, third night was in another rickety country bus, fourth night was in a tent and fifth night was again in a bus which reached Puno at 4 am. I needed a place to sleep that was quiet and where my ass remained stationary. Aww… Good night!

Arequipa region is barren and has few volcanic peaks

Next post: Puno City

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

• Andean Explorations - 8: Trekking in Colca Canyon (18)
• Andean Explorations - 7: Andean Condors in Colca (26)
• Andean Explorations - 6: Arequipa (16)
• Andean Explorations - 5: Lima to Arequipa (8)
• Andean Explorations - 4: Miraflores – the uptown district of Lima (21)

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

Start of our trekking. Towards the right side on the picture, you can see another tall mountain. This is on the other side of the valley

“[...] Colca Canyon is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. Over a span of 100km, it averages 3.4km vertical depth. However, the canyon’s walls are not as vertical as those of the Grand Canyon. Since it is such major features of the landscape, the Colca canyon is easily recognizable in even low-resolution satellite photos of the region. The Colca Valley is a colorful Andean valley with towns founded in Spanish Colonial times and formerly inhabited by the Collaguas and the Cabanas. The local people still maintain ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces. [...]” (Read more on Wikipedia)

Walking down… slowly

We started our 3km descent into the valley at around 9. The plan was to reach the bottommost point by noon, have lunch at 13, relax for a bit and then start the ascent till 1km, then descend again into the oasis at the bottom of the valley. The southern mountain of the valley is very barren and had wild shrubs and cacti. The northern side, however, feels like very tropical green. The vegetation, the red soil and the smells reminded me so much about our own Sahyadri range and for a moment I thought I was hiking to one of Shivaji’s forts.

Colca Canyon

Lunch was simple – based on potatoes, vegetables and bread. The family that served us lunches also let us relax in one of their guest rooms and that 30 minute nap was the most beautiful one I had in a long time. It usually happens that way, doesn’t it? We city people love the countryside, and sleeping on earthen floor inside a hut made of straw, at least I do.

Rock scales

After lunch and relaxation, we were too lazy to go further, but we had a schedule to keep. The route climbed up, up and up until it hit two tiny hamlets. They hold a huge annual festival at this square outside the Church in which hundreds of people from neighbouring villages participate. This village reminded me so much of the village called Datmir somewhere in Himachal during my trek to Har-ki-doon. The guide informed us that the religious practises of these people were hardcore Incan, but the only difference the Spanish imposed was to worship Christ instead of the Inca deities. But the locals still revere the earth, water, wind, and other elements of nature.

Bridge

Finally we reached another village called Oasis because it was really one (literally). My friends thought that this name was funny because tomorrow someone might name their village ‘Beautiful’ or ‘Peaceful forest’. But then there are Indian villages called ‘Sundar nagar’ (beautiful city) or ‘Shantivan’ (abode of peace) and they found this interesting.

Local women dancing

Alpaca, the local sheep

There was no electricity. We slept in tents; with mosquitoes. My mosquito repellent emptied into my bag mysteriously and my clothes for the next day got soaked in it completely. I get the feeling that the leader of mosquitoes did that on purpose so that the repellent that blocked their feast would be gone the next night. Alas, we had no intention to be there for long.

Campfire at night

The next day we woke up at 3 AM and started climbing the mountain with our torch lights. After a while, my eyes rivaled that of an old owl and moonlight was enough. We got spread over a distance because everyone was hiking at their own speeds. Four hours of climbing got us to the top. Thanks to my friend who gifted me an iPod before this trip, it became easy to sustain.

Church

The Colca Canyon is an interesting place. Imagine yourself are standing on a huge block of cheese. Now imagine that a sharp knife being plunged into the block, forming a slit. There you go, that’s a Colca canyon. Last night we were at the bottom of that crack. It was a relieving feeling to be on the surface again, after four hours of climbing, my shirt was totally dripping sweat. Now I had a choice – sweat drenched and smelly shirt or mosquito repellent drenched but fragrant shirt (I carried only a tiny backpack on this excursion).

Farm terrace. Football field during summer. Looks like a UFO landing site to me!

So in the last two days, we started with a body ache from the Condor watch point, went up and down the Colca canyon and emerged all sore and smelly on the second day. By evening we reached Arequipa by bus, signed off from the trek, exchanged email addresses with others and finally parted ways. I didn’t know what I was doing next, there were a number of options but that will be my next post.

Early morning

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Colca Canyon Photo Gallery

This blog post is part of my Peru travelog series. I was in Peru for some time during Apr-May’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the Index page by clicking here to get complete Peru travelogues. I look forward to your comments. Thanks

• Andean Explorations - 9: Arequipa to Puno (24)
• Andean Explorations - 7: Andean Condors in Colca (26)
• Andean Explorations - 6: Arequipa (16)
• Andean Explorations - 5: Lima to Arequipa (8)
• Andean Explorations - 4: Miraflores – the uptown district of Lima (21)