Peru: Some Closing Thoughts

Now that our trip to Peru is winding down, here are some thoughts about our two weeks here, in the order in which they come to my head.

• Traveling on a trip like this, in a country without an easy-to-navigate tourism infrastructure, S and I both felt that we needed a travel agent to handle the details of our trip. We found Roberto at Peru Inside Out, and he and his support was exceptional! When we landed in Lima, the driver handed us a cellphone that we used on occasion to check in with him, but usually, things ran smoothly. Drivers met us at the hotels, airports, and train stations. We had knowledgeable guides on our trips (Nancy in Lima, Roberto himself in Arequipa, Omar in Colca/Chivay, Janet in Cusco/Sacred Valley, Augustine in Machu Picchu, Dino in the jungle), and the details of the trips (hotel reservations, train and plane tickets, etc.) were all taken care of. We definitely splurged on this trip, but if you want to go to Peru, check out Peru Inside Out (and I hear they're expanding into Ecuador too!).
• I'm very glad that most of our tours were private. The one time we spent stuck on a large bus (for Inti Raymi) was awful.
• Speaking of Inti Raymi, don't buy the ticket to the big show. It's not worth it. Just wander the town and go to the two free events in Cusco proper.
• Cities we liked: Lima, Arequipa, Cusco.
• Cities we didn't like: Puno
• Hotels we loved: Casa Andina in Arequipa, Colca Lodge, Tambo de Inka in Urubamba, Inkaterra in Machu Picchu Pueblo, Hacienda Concepcion near Puerto Maldonado.
• Hotels we didn't like: Tierra Viva in Puno (but the staff was great)
• The star-rating of hotels seem to be relative to what the city has to offer. Tierra Viva was a four-star, but it was by far the worst property we stayed at.  Colca Lodge was a four-star, but it was on par with the five-stars in the Sacred Valley. Do your research!
• In general, all of the staff at the hotels, airlines, etc., were all excellent. Most spoke English, and if not, they indulged my pigeon Spanish.
• We spent way too many days traveling. There was one time we spent three nights in one place. The rest of the time, we were in the same hotel for one or two nights. That was a mistake.
• Also, we planned too many things. We actually had very little time where we were able to laze about. The few times we did, it was often because we were on a train for 10 hours, or something like that.
• Do not discount the altitude issues when traveling in Peru. It's there, and it's real.
• S found some clothing made by Ex Officio that was specifically treated to ward off bugs. We both bought some, and I treated some of my other clothing with a spray to do the same thing. It worked fantastically. We both came back from the Amazon jungle with nary a bug bite.

If we were going to come to Peru again, I think this might be a smarter itinerary:

• Three nights in Lima
• Three or four nights in Cusco
• Four or five nights in the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu
• Three nights in the jungle

Peru: Day 5: Colca Canyon, Chivay, and on to Puno

A terrible night's sleep. S got maybe two hours. I got four or five.

Today was a pretty awful day.

We got up at 5:00 am to shower, grab breakfast, and meet O and R for an early morning drive through the Colca Valley and into Colca Canyon. The last part of the drive was 70 minutes on an unkept gravelly road with switchbacks, ruts, steeps, and big potholes. We were both queasy when we reached the top of the canyon.

The Colca Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world, about three times deeper than the Grand Canyon. The road up is lined with small towns, merchants selling wares, old mining camps, tunnels, and shepherds with their flocks. At the top is a lookout where most mornings the gigantic Andean Condor flies. It's huge - over three meters in wingspan, and it glides around on thermal drafts. S didn't last long in the cold windy mountain air. She saw a condor and then went to the van to take a nap. I took some photos.

We retraced our drive down the canyon wall (doing down was no easier than going up, and we all cheered when we finally reached paved road). Once back down, we headed into Chivay, the small dusty town where we had lunch yesterday. O took us on a tour through the market, which is open daily and has all sorts of produce, domestic products, and clothing. O told us that the two main communities in the Colca Valley distinguish themselves by the style of hat they wear, which in turn is modeled by the way the tribes used to modify the shapes of their babies' heads in the pre-Columbian days.

We also stopped for a photo with O.

Lunch was another buffet like yesterday, with slightly different cuisine. Still tasty, and a great variety. O showed us photos of his daughter Maya (Maja?), who is two and has huge eyes.

Incidentally, there's a tune that Paul Simon made famous in the states called 'El Condor Pasa.' The lyrics Americans may know start out 'I'd rather be a hammer than a nail...). Well, not only is that a real Peruvian tune, but it's super-popular here. We've heard it five times today already, and as I write this, the day is only half over. Wait, make that six. I asked O, and he says it's not just a song for tourists. It's a real song that Peruvians identify with.

We left Chivay and headed back up onto the high plains. S and I almost immediately fell into a light sleep. Again, we passed the highest point in our journey, but this time we stopped for photos. This is Fozzie Bear's favorite volcano.

O took his leave from us at a rest area where three roads converge, so we said our goodbyes and continued east to Puno with just R at the wheel. He doesn't speak much English, so S and I were able to have a nap. Thankfully.

Puno is dirty and poor. Our hotel is freezing, and the heater only turns on when the temp gets below 64 F. S ran the hot water to warm up the room, and I read, wrote, and watched Italy beat England. Then, I went out to find some pizza to bring back to the room. Bad pizza. Then we watched Ivory Coast beat Japan and snuggled.

Today is one that we don't need to ever repeat. The condors were nice, but they weren't worth the two days of driving at altitude, sometimes along nasty dirt roads to see. Puno is definitely not a destination we'd return to. O was a great guide, but other than that (and the nice lodge we stayed in last night), this leg of the trip was not worth it. Peru has some beautiful things to see, but their infrastructure needs a lot of work.