Day 6: High altitude transfer day

Altitude is almost a constant conversations topic on this trip... What’s our current altitude?  Are you out of breath?  Are we going to have altitude sickness?  Don’t over exert yourself!  My head hurts (Beth just said that while I’m writing this).

For sure altitude had been a factor here... when we got to Arequipa at 2,400 meters above sea level, we definitely got out of breath easily (like, after going up one flight of stairs).   We became obsessed with drinking coca tea (a tea derived from the same leaf used to make cocaine).   The effects of “cocaine” alleviate some of the effects of altitude, and as you get higher (in elevation, lol) you see locals chewing on coca leaves quite a bit.  We had read how one serving of coca tea related to a fraction of a line of cocaine (of course, we are ingesting, not mainlining or snorting it!) and now Abby is constantly asking with concern “how many lines of cocaine is this coca candy?”.

We transferred to Puno today, the city that lies nestled in some steep hills next to the guffaw instilling Lake Titikaka (I can hear Alex giggling even as I write that), the highest navigable Lake in the world (how’s that for a travel superlative) at around 3800 meters.

To get there, we’d have to pass over the volcanic mountain range first, then down a bit then over the spine of the Andes, the down to Puno.   This also started our engagement with Explore Andes, the trekking company that we had liked so much we got them to organize the rest of our transport and accommodations from here on in.

So far, so good.  We were met by our guide, Omar (we were intrigued to meet a local Peruvian Muslim, but nope, he was named after a character from Dr Zhivago, lol) and our driver Rui.  The van was super comfortable, a stark contrast from the rafting van.  Omar was great, and gave us a ton of information on Arequipa as we rolled out of town and began to climb into the volcanic range.

Omar had everything planned out, had water for us when we needed it and was very attentive to the tiny bladder gang (Robin, Matt and Beth).  The landscapes were beautiful, rolling desolate hills with the occasional spring fed farming valley.   The two lane highway was cut into the sides of rounded mountains and wound on and on.   Often we would run up against very slow moving trucks, laden with fuel or other goods that were struggling up the perhaps three or four percent grade of the road.   They were pretty easy to pass but you could see why there would be crosses all along the highway eulogizing a victim of a traffic accident.... passing the slow moving trucks at the wrong spot would be hazardous to your health.

For about an hour, we were in view of the almost fake looking cloud of smoke from an active volcano.   The smoke stood still, hundreds of feet in the air and seemed almost solid to touch.   We passed through a huge protected area, like a national park, where we stopped by the side of the road to snap some pictures of Vicuña and Alpaca.

We had lunch just past the highest point in the drive (4,400 meters), and Omar warned us again about the sun... the sun can burn you very quickly at this altitude, one more thing for the mothers of the group too worry about :-).   The boxed lunch picnic was at a little bend in the road that had some local vendors selling the ubiquitous Alpaca sweaters and other crafts.  It overlooked a beautiful lake (I guess it was non navigable!) and we sat there munching on lunch while watching the cutest little Peruvian boy dressed with a little cowboy hat playing.

The last turn towards Puno was in the large town of Juliaco, a dense, thriving place that reminded me of an Indian city.  The roads were packed and we came to a standstill in traffic, surrounded my tuk tuks, buses and pedestrians weaving in and out.  I couldn’t stop staring at the action.  Omar told me that this city thrived on contraband - buying and smuggling comparatively cheaper goods from La Paz in Bolivia and selling them here.  Prices in Bolivia are half of what they are in Peru, as their economy as not as advanced as the Peruvians.  

Throughout the ride, Omar talked quite a bit about the corruption of local, state and national politicians and government run organizations.  It’s like that throughout South and Central America, he said.  It’s always been like that and they don’t really see how it could ever end.  It sounds very frustrating.   Omar also told us how Chile is essentially universally despised by the rest of South America.   He described them as the “Germany of South America”, and not coincidentally Chile has a large German population and historical connections to that Country.

We arrived at our hotel, nestled beside the lake and perhaps 20 minutes from the town centre of Puno (not much to see there that we’ve heard about).  We were handed off to our local Explore Andes rep named Jorge.  He walked us trough he itinerary for the next day or so, and handed us our room cards (very smooth check in experience!) and soon we were having our welcome drink while watching the kids chase down wild guinea pigs that were literally everywhere.

I forgot to mention... the solar eclipse happened around 4pm, so naturally, Alex pulled 8 pairs of eclipse glasses out of his magical daypack and we all, safely, enjoyed the eclipse.

Dinner saw 8 people with drooping eyes and heavy heads.   We were yawning while downing our tasty food and were soon back at our rooms and tucking into bed.   You would think we’d all been working out or running laps around the town, but no, it was just the altitude I guess.