The Peru Diary Part 2 (Dec 18-20)

"Eat a light breakfast and drink some Coca tea" was the advice we got ahead of our drive to the Colca valley. The 4 hour drive was going to take us all the way from just under 8000ft to over 16,000 feet before we came back down to around 12,000 ft. Eat too much and you might barf. The plan was to head to the Colca valley for two nights and then drive from there to the city of Puno, which is on the banks of Lake Titicaca. It was a package deal - van, guide, driver, and accommodations. A Dutch family of three joined us for the entire time. The guide was a young chap by the name of Alex - Alex took his guide role very seriously and invested even the most mundane details with a great deal of solemnity. He spoke very deliberately and believed in repeating everything (especially plans) over and over again, but with an air of saying it for the very first time. The driver remained silent most of the time, but both guys were very friendly and made good traveling companions.

Soon after we headed out of town, Alex had us purchase coca leaves and made a big song and dance about the "right" way to chew them (mostly much ado about nothing).  Chewing the leaves was a mixed blessing (Sangeetha & Malini almost threw up, which would have been truly ironical since the leaves were supposed to fight nausea); there was another unfortunate side effect, which we didn't figure out till we got to Puno. We also stopped along the way for another drink of Coca tea. All of these measures were supposed to help us fight the effects of the high altitude.
As we went higher and higher, the landscape got distinctly lunar and it was spectacular - this was the high Andean desert - arid, but dotted with oasis where locals were grazing their livestock. We passed through a protected zone for Vicunas - the most prized breed of alpacas. They are only found in the wild and by regulation can only be caught a couple of times a year to be shorn.

Highest Altitude Point

About two-thirds the way into the ride we reached the highest point - 16,038 feet. We stepped out gingerly and walked about slowly in the stony landscape. There were the requisite souvenir stalls, but little else. The sun felt intense and breathing was labored. After a few minutes we had had enough and got back in.

We got to the Colca valley after about 4 hours of driving and a couple of miles of dirt track led us to our lodgings - Casa Mamayacchi in the little village of Coparaque. Thankfully it turned out to be pretty nice inside and we fell upon the buffet lunch like hungry wolves. It was all local Peruvian food - lots of fresh veges and barbecue chicken and alpaca. It was delicious - easily the best meal we had had till then. A short rest followed lunch and then most of us joined Alex for a hike into the mountains. It was a good hike - climbing at that altitude was a challenge, but the spectacular views and clean mountain air more than made up for it. Dinner was similar to lunch and we turned in for the early start the next morning.

Condor Sighting at the Cruz de la Condor

We were in the Colca valley to see the Colca Canyon, whose claim to fame was two-fold: at it deepest point, it is almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and it is home to condors, which is a revered symbol of the Incas. That morning, we were going to get to both: drive to a point on the edge of the Canyon called "Cruz de la Condor" where it was possible to sight condors in flight. The drive was a bit bone rattling, but views were great as usual. Upon arrival at the Cruz de la Condor, we found that it was rather crowded with a number of other tourists.

Colca Canyon

After a long wait, we finally saw one solitary condor take flight and that was about it. We then took a longish hike along the edge of the canyon and caught up with the tour bus at a later point.  We had a couple more condor sightings during the hike. The Colca Canyon was spectacular, but the depth was hardly as advertised. Turned out that the deepest point is much further and we were not going there.

We were famished by the time we made it to Chivay for our lunch - one look at the restaurant and my hopes sank. Sure enough, the buffet was as unappetizing as food could get and we suffered through it. Later on, we decided that this was the worst meal of the trip.  After a short rest in Mamayacchi, we headed out to the local hot springs. This was nothing like the snazzy Baldi hot springs that we visited in Costa Rica, but it only cost us $3 each.

The next day - Dec 20th, we started early for our six hour drive to Puno.  Once again we were going to climb to the high point (16,000+ feet), but once it started raining, the views changed quite dramatically. Unfortunately, Abhi got hit by motion sickness and photography was pretty much set aside. It was 6 hours with no food stops and we were rather glad to arrive in our Puno hotel, which promised to be the most modern of all the places we were staying in Peru.

In the evening we made a trip into town (our hotel was a bit outside), dropped off laundry, and got dinner. Puno is a bustling city with narrow streets on the banks of Lake Titicaca. While we were in town, we followed RD's lead in booking a trip to the floating islands on the lake. That was going to be the highlight of the following day.

The Dutch family also had come with us to Puno (but were staying in a different hotel). They were made up father, mother, and daughter (in her late 20s) and were in month 8 of a 12-month world-tour. They had already spent close to 4 weeks in Peru.

One thing that deserves mention is the extreme bloating that many of us got hit by. I first felt the rumblings during the drive to Colca valley and initially attributed it to the altitude. It however continued even after we had come down and upon inquiry, others also reported that they were terribly gassy.  We then decided that it was the Quinoa that was doing it and I promptly struck that off my menu. We were feeling better until I took a drink of Coca tea and sure enough, the gas was back and we had the true culprit. That was the last time I had anything to do with Coca leaves.