High Plains Drifters - Puno, Peru
Puno, Peru
NOTE: At the time of writing it hasn't been possible to find computer facilities for backing up/transferring photos from the two cameras so it may be a few days before this becomes an illustrated entry. Please come back again to see the photos.
We checked out of our hotel at about 9:30 but, since we were not due to go on the bus until lunctime and we didn't fancy too much strenuous exercise in the oxygen depleted air, we stayed in the lobby area catching up on emails and reading.
At the 4M offices we met our guide for the journey, the very friendly and informative Maximilian, who smiled a lot and spoke excellent English. It turns out that the journey is to include a couple of brief stops and Maximilian will provide infromation on various features during the journey.
The bus is a modern mid-sized 24-seater with a toilet which Maximilian hastened to instruct us was only for pipi and not for numero dos. He also said we would have two stops at which we could have full toilet facilities but if anyone wanted an emergency stop we could then use the Inca toilet.
We set off promptly at 13:00 with eleven on board and then were joined by three more at the first stop. This left plenty of empty seats and we were able to spread out if we wanted. The bus also had panoramic windows which was a great aid to photography.
Max set out the route for us and explaiend that effectively we would be crossing the Andes from west to east ending at Lake Titicaca. Another section of the journey would be on the Altiplano - the high-altitude plains in the middle of the two main ridges. The journey time was expected to be 6 hours - 50% longer than the climb up to Chivay but at east we would me more comfortable.
Having set out in good weather we reached the first stop after 1h40m at a long, low grey building that would be flattered by the term nondescript. Roofing in these parts is generally a form of thatch underpinned by either plastic or tin sheeting. Inside the brick/cement shack was a series of long, plain tables and one corner was given over to a 'shop' such as went out of fashion in rural Ireland in the early 50s. It was situated just past Paso Patapampo which is at 4910m ASL.
The light snack that was included in the price of the trip (USD45 each) was a simple but tasty sandwich and for something to drink we had been offered coffee, ordinary tea or a special tea - triples - made from three kinds of leaves, one of which was coca. We had been advised o0n an earlier trip to South America that chewing coca leaves was a goood antidote to altitude sickness. We both opted for triples and it ceratinly seemed to help with the mild effects that we were experiencing.
On our first trip to Chile in 2007 we had gone to visit El Tatio geysers in the Atacama Desert at 4320m ASL without any real opportunity to acclimatise and I was pretty pole-axed by the altitude; on this trip Anne has suffered a bit more than I but neither to the point of severe headaches or collapse - or anywhere near it.
As the altitude rose and we entered the altiplano the temperature dropped, the humidity rose and we were soon in a steady snow shower. The land on either side of the road in the altiplano is used for cultivation of some crops but mainly for grazing of llamas and alpacas - both of which are domesticated. Another member of the family - the vicuna - is a wild species and we did see some of them.
Before the altiplano, we passed again through the national resevre that we had crossed two days ago. One of its features is a series of salt ponds and small lakes and patches of green vegetation that we biolgists know as salt marsh species. Thoguh they look like grass from a distance, they are in fact seed-bearing plants with flesyh leaves that allow them to store water that would otherwise be lost to the salty environment. The salt marsh species that most people in Britain and Ireland would know is Thrift - the plant with pink flowers about 2 cm across that you sea above shorelines. (Here endeth the science lesson and the reimder of the principle of osmosis that I guess most of our dear readers either totally ignored or never understood at school).
Another species that inhabits salt lakes on a seasonal basis is the flamingo and we did see some off in the middle distance - but too fleetingly for me to get the camera out. You sit for half an hour with it poised and then as soon as you put it away something flashes into sight. Hence also no photos of vicuna on this trip.
Max told us that the campesinos - the people who herd llamas and alpacas for their wool and meat - earn about 100 Soles (22GBP - no Pound symbols on these S American keyboards; and you can only get the @ sign by a combination of Left 'Alt' + 6 + 4). The supplement it by bartering goods such as the crops and any finshed goods they knit or weave. Not exactly the road to riches.
Children who do go to school typically ahve to walk 2-3h per day to get there. This is a picture we are more accustomed to imagining in relation to sub-Saharan Africa but it is not what springs to mind in this context. In that connection it has struck me that the few humans that you see on these mountains and plains are always walking; I wonder why there is no apparent use of draught animals such as horses, dokeys or oxen?
Another two hours driving brought us to the outskirts of Puno in the dark and we were glad to disembark at the bus station. Based on Anne's Lonely Planet research, we headed for the sales desk of a company called Tulsa and a very helpful young man who spoke good English booked us into two seats for the afternoon run back to Arequipa at 14:30. Upon enquiry, he also let us know that we should not pay more than 3-4 Soles for a taxi into town.
Our first try at getting transport was with a pretty disreputable looking tuk-tuk driver surrounde by a delegation of his mates; he wanted 6 Soles and didn't seem inclined to bargain on that. Maybe he thought his 'backins' would reinforce the prospect of the sale - but he was wrong; we just said no and turned back into the bus station. Outside another door we found a more amenable soul and we were soon at the hotel upon payment of 5 Soles. It was next to the main square (it seems it may be obligatory to call all main squares in Peru 'Plaza de Armas').
The square itself was full of men dressed in black suits, white shirts and red scarves doing that kind of stamping march that you commonly see in news films of South Africa. Max had earlier alerted us that we would most likely see this kind of display, usually accompanied by bands, as they were practice sessions for the main festival of the year in Puno - in February - devoted to the Virgen de las Candelarias (Our Lady of the Candles). If this was a small part of the rehearsals, the real thing must be mighty impressive.
We quickly checked into the hotel and went in search of food and drink and we soon settled on a very homely little bar literally 30 metres from the hotel. There we had a small pizza between us and two Pisco Sours each. It was a happy hour deal of two for one which in other places was sold on the basis of one drink each for the price of one but here he was insistent that they worked on the basis of two per person for the single price - and we didn't argue, especially as they turned out to be the best ones we have had on this trip.
The other important thing we did on checking in was to book a morning trip on Lake Titicaca through the very helpful receptionist. This was, after all, the main point of coming to Puno and it saved us a huge amount of potential trouble as we would be picked up at the hotel and brought back there.