A Taste of the Andes

After leaving the Huacachina we headed south once again. Stopping in Nasca for a few days we were able to see the city but unfortunately taking a plane up to see the lines was a little out of our budget. We stayed in a cheap hotel long enough for our friend from Ica, Andres, to catch up with us. The three of us headed even further down the coast to Camana. Since summer was coming to an end the beach wasn't too crowded but on the weekends there were still enough people to make a little money. We found a nice little hostel a block from the ocean and soaked in the sun. We stayed for the extended weekend then followed the crowds to the closest city - Arequipa.

Unfortunately we didn't choose the best day to leave. We had heard rumors of a nationwide demonstration opposing a tax placed on farm fertilizers, but were told that it wasn't starting until the next day. We tried to hitchhike but after several hours in the hot sun we flagged down a bus and the driver gave us a discount. Little did we know, we were given a discount on account of the demonstration already starting and fewer people traveling that day. What should have been an easy three hour bus ride to the city took about 18 hours... if we didn't have so much to carry it probably would have been quicker to walk. The demonstration involved farmers and other protesters blocking roads with large boulders and waiting on clifftops until the odd car or bus passes on the road below to drop large stones on them. So, in lieu of personal safety the bus was stopped before entering a canyon road to wait until nightfall when the protesters went home to their families. I, unfortunately, was still sick with an awful stomach flu and stuck on a bus with no toilet in the middle of a desert with no trees to squat behind. Needless to say... it was an unpleasant experience.

We finally arrived in rainy Arequipa around 4am the next morning... exhausted, hungry, cold, and at each others throats after being cooped up in the bus for so long. We found a large room with two beds close to the center at a decent price and the three of us fell fast asleep.

The rain and cold put a bit of a damper on our time in the 'white city' but fortunately most days it didn't start raining until the afternoon, which gave us a little time in the mornings to sell at Fundo del Fierro (a little spot near Parque San Francisco that artisans aren't bothered too much by the police). The money situation was, however, pretty tough, so one day I decided to go with Andres and be a moving statue. We painted ourselves all black with gold tear drops and gold lips. Then we stood still on the sidewalk until someone dropped coins in our tin can. Our act was me playing my jimbe and he would dance. It was so much fun! And we were able to make a decent amount of money. The down side was that I was washing black paint out of my ears and toenails for at least a month!

Apart from the weather, I really enjoyed Arequipa. The architecture is beautiful and you can find some hole-in-the-wall restaurants that make great Lomo Saltado. We stayed for a couple of weeks then Andres returned to his family and Arturo and I took a rather windy bus ride overnight to Cusco. Once again we were greeted by rain and cold... a little less rain, and a lot more cold.

The second we arrived in Cusco I knew I was going to fall in love with the city. At the bus station we grabbed a cab and asked him where the most affordable hostels are and where the artisans sell - he took us to San Blas. After asking around a bit we found a woman who rents rooms in her house for a great price. Arturo and got a HUGE room for only 10 sols per night (that's about 3.5 USD)! It was a decent place in a good location - really close to the plaza where we were able to sell. Travel always makes me realize how small the world really is - and two days after we arrived in Cusco a girl walked by our "street boutique" that I had met almost a year earlier in Mexico. It was crazy enough to run into her on another continent, only to find out that she was staying in the room underneath ours! When I had met her, Paloma, in Mexico we weren't able to speak the same language (she's from Chile), but this time we were. Paloma and I caught up on eachother's travel stories and became fast friends. We also met a lot of other really great people - many of whom spent a good deal of time in Cusco.

Being in Cusco and the surrounding Sacred Valleys was incredible. The history that has been carried through time in the everyday things make it a magical place. Unfortunately the rain put a bit of a damper on seeing much of the valleys and Incan ruins. It also made it more difficult for us to sell. We did, however, discover some of Cusco's little gems. El Baratillo, for example, is an incredibly cheap and large market that happens every Saturday. The small daily market near in San Blas near where we were staying also offered us cheap eats - our favorite being some awesome vegetarian food cooked by a friend of ours. The pizza place... tasty personal pizza, garlic bread and soda for 5 sols! it was always worth the long walk to this whole in the wall pizzeria. The nightlife in Cusco was a lot of fun too. There were plenty of different bars to choose from and lots of live music - and the crowd was a good mix of tourists and locals. We also became friends with many of the other artisans we met there. I always love the family feeling and unity there is among them even though in reality everyone is competition for business; but the ettiquette dictates some very strict unwritten rules that help everyone in the long run. Although I didn't make it Machu Picchu (much too pricy) or to visit much of the Sacred Valley, I did take a day to see a few of the ruins closer to the city. Paloma and I went with two brothers from Chile that were also staying in the same home we were. The four of us hiked up the mountain straight above San Blas until we ran into a woman offering horseback tours of some of the ruins. We decided to try it out and she led us to choose our horses. Even though I didn't have a ticket to enter any of the ruins, our horseback guide gave us tips on sneaking in and led us to many ruins that didn't require payment. At the Temple of the Moon an elderly woman was there who knew a lot about the symbols and carvings of the temple. The day was crisp and clear, at least for the morning, and was perfect for horseback riding through the valleys. Our tour lasted about five hours and we were able to see several different ancient Incan sites. It was really an amazing day.

Paloma and I had begun talking about visiting the Amazon jungle. Even though Arturo and I had originally planned on heading south I was a little disappointed that I would be heading away from the jungle and would leave Peru without seeing it. Two more of our friends, John and Rosanna, a Colombian/Australian couple, were also talking about heading toward Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon. It didn't take much for our friends to convince us into backtracking and changing travel plans.