Road Trip 4: Arequipa - Nazca - Lima

Just outside the city, we finally got a good view of the volcanos.

Volcanos around Arequipa

Dessert between Arequipa and the ocean

Two hours later, we were back at the coast and saw the Pacific Ocean. We stopped several times to make blue and sandy pictures and change drivers.

the way to go

Back to the Pacific Ocean

The coast line was uneven, so went inwards drove to a green oasis, headed a bit up, driving down on cliffs and this continued for some hundred kilometers.

Driving along the cliffs ...

... and the oasis valleys

 
At Chanca, we changed again and while Heidi was sleeping I sped north on the Panamericana through the dessert. That afternoon, we made it earlier to our destination then our Google Maps estimate.

Speeding on Panamericana

We booked a Nazca flight for the morning, went for dinner and I did again some laps in the pool.

The next morning, we were at 7 am at the airport to get our flight over the Nazca lines. We boarded an eight-seater Cessna and started. We saw more than 12 Nazca lines among them the monkey, the astronaut, the spider, a colibri and condor. Some were clearly visible while others were hidden well and you needed to look at them from the right angle.

Before take off

Nazca Valley and dessert

The astronaut

The colibri

The condor

Survivors

At 9 am, we had breakfast in the Hotel and afterwards drove back in direction of Lima. We found another mirador and also saw the Lineas de Palpa. They were more figuresque than the Nazca lines.

Lineas de Palpa

We made a shopping stop in Ica and another toilet stop at Boulevard de Carmen. In the afternoon, we reached Roxana’s place in Lima.

In the evening, we met Karina and Freddie for dinner with other alumni. We had a wonderful evening.

Alumni gathering

The next day, Roxana went with us to Mozart for brunch and afterwards to the city center. We saw Easter services at the cathedral and churches. We got a guided tour at San Francisco church and saw the convent and catacombs. 

Cathedral

San Francisco church

In the afternoon, I packed my backpack, carry-on and laptop bag. I said goodbye to Heidi and Roxana, and did the last 25 min drive back to airport alone. I survived the dangerous roundabout again and returned the car without scratch.

Returning the car in one piece

We safely made it 3,000 km around Peru. Most of the roads were in good shape, only the city roads disappointed. Speed limits are 100 km/h on the Panamericana  and major highways, 60 km/h in the city - otherwise follow the signs. Except for the Panamericana, all the highways only have one lane and there are awful lot of trucks.

The indicator is used in different ways:

• indicate left if there is a car behind you and you want to give them permission to overtake
• use warning flash lights to signal you wanna stop.

Luckily, none of our itinerary was affected by the March floods. In Peru, there is usually only one way to go and no parallel secondary and tertiary roads. 

It was an amazing experience traveling around in Peru. Just take care of the altitude - it will get to you.

Arequipa

Maricela and her sisters took good care of us.

Playing games with the family

We explored the city centre, the cathedral, the Plaza das Armas and the shops. The afternoon we spent in the Convento di Catalina - a closed of area like a city in the city. Compared to monasteries I visited in Europe, this was more spacious and each nun had its own house or flat with a kitchen.

Iglesia de la Compania

Plaza das Armas

street in the convent

blue court yard

the convent from above

Afterwards, we returned to the Iglesia de la Compania as Katerina advised us there should be some outlet stores nearby. Finally, we found it in an old cloister. I got lucky and bought an Alpaca sweater and scarf.

Claustro de la Compania 

In the evening, we saw an Easter procession carrying a saint around Plaza das Armas to the Basilica Catedral de Arequipa.

Easter procession

Basilica Catedral de Arequipa

On the second day, we went to different miradors to get a view of the cities and the surroundings. The three volcanoes were hiding behind clouds.

Mirador Carmen Alto

Mirador de Yanahuara - volcanos hide in the clouds

In the city centre, we visited a covered market with all kinds of fruits, potatoes, corn and much more.

Fruits

Guaba - cotton candy fruit

All kinds of potatoes

In the afternoon, we rested and and in the evening we walked to the supermarket to stock up on drinks and food. We left on Good Friday and Maricela had the Easter dishes (riz con leche and chicha morada pudding) so we tasted them. 

Road Trip 3: Cusco - Lake Titicaca - Arequipa

Let's Drive again - the smile is back

We drove again in the direction of Vinincunca when we headed to Lake Titicaca. After an hour or two driving through bigger villages and smaller towns, the road picked up and climbed past the 4,300 m mark. 

4,335 m

High mountains and good weather

From there onwards it was again driving through the middle of nowhere interrupted by some lamas or alpacas, shattered houses and a train line. At the end of mountain plains, the town of Juliaca showed us what really bad roads are - basically no pavement and pothole next to pothole. Thirty minutes later we drove down through Puno and exited to the south and found our lovely hotel at the seaside. 

no traffic

Driving in Juliaca

Puno - a stone city - no greens in sight

Also the lake has quite an altitude with 3,800 m. We wandered to the lake and around the garden. The dinner was great. At the night, we got a murderous thunderstorm over the lake. That seemed to happen on a regular basis as I found several blog entries. 

Lake Titicaca

Hotel Taypikala Lago

Beautiful garden

with flowers

sunset on the lake - no thunderstorm yet to see

To go to Arequipa we had to cross Puno and Juliaca again and then turn to the west. The road followed the usual layout that drove us crazy. Climbing high (above 4,600-5,000 meters) and remaining high. The last hour before Arequipa, we finally started descending and our ears hurt as hell.

nice views on the way

Lagunillas - 4,413 m - still not the highest point

Finding our way in Arequipa was challenging as the GPS did not differentiate between one direction and normal streets. In the end, we made it to Mariella’s place - an AIESEC alumna who hosted us for the next three nights.

Welcome to Arequipa

Machu Picchu and our attempts at trekking

I had the most awful night of the trip. My stomach was on fire, my head was aching and I could not sleep. When I finally vomited all my lunch and dinner out, I could find a bit of rest. The car picked us up and brought us to the train station from where we took a bus to Ollantaytambo. There we changed into a luxury train service (Vistadome) to Aquas Calientes. 

Vistadome in Ollantaytambo

We left a part of our luggage in a restaurant and took another bus up to Machu Picchu (20 min). Several times we had to show our passports already, the entrance was another check point. We followed the path and then stood on a terrace looking out on Machu Picchu and Huyana Picchu. 
We made some initial pictures and moved forward to the next check point and entrance to the hike up Huyana Picchu. 

Machu Picchu and Huyana Picchu

The top view should be amazing. Our special ticket was for climbing up between 10 and 11 am (the last for the day, an earlier one starts at 7 am). We started first down, then up, down and up again. In between, the rain started. Soaked through to our skin and still far from the summit, we decided to turn around. The stone steps back were already slippery enough and the summit was clouded. We waited in a covered area for the rain to cease. When it became lighter we exited to the Cafe and toilets and drank the most expensive tea ever. We returned to Aquas Calientes, dried off, ate lunch. In the afternoon, we bought another bus ticket (24 USD) and went back up in sunshine. 

Touching the top of Huyana Picchu

Better weather in the afternoon

Coca plant - the leafs should help with the altitude

The lama does not like me,

but Heidi.

We stayed till the sight closed and as we had to wait for a bus to bring is down, we nearly missed our train. The attendants served us a small dinner and put on a cultural and fashion show. In Ollantaytambo, we were exhausted and fell right into bed.

I woke up the next morning with a cold that got worse and both of us struggled with altitude sickness. Nonetheless, we started our trek later on horses to Laguna Ipsayqocha. After another sleepless night (this time in tent above 4200 m) and both feeling bad, we returned to Ollantaytambo instead of continuing. The last hour walking down, sun came out and I got an sunburn. The spent of rest of day eating chocolate and sleeping. 

Start of the Trekking

Rain started before we left the valley

Up the mountain we ride

our camp at Laguna Ipsayqocha

Feeling better the next day, we went by car to see some Inca sites. We did not make it to the thermal springs as a road block by local people blocked us, Instead we drove to the Salinas de Maras, walk to the salt pools and bought salt to bring home. 

Las Salinas de Maras

Our cook and driver prepared a delicious lunch in the front yard. We returned to Cusco visiting a small zoo with condors and bears and a textile store. 

Spectacular bears

natural dyes

condor flying

After a day of relax in Cusco, we  went for another trek to Vinicunca - or the rainbow colored mountain. We got horses to carry us most of way, but the altitude, my cold and exhaustion were getting to me. I could not smile above 5000 m and due to the clouds and rain the colors were not really visible.

Vinicunca - I cannot smile above 5000 m

The next 36 hours we spent in Cusco exploring the city, wool stores, getting my Mac charger repaired and devouring Peruvian food. 

Heidi in baby alpaca wool heaven

Tasty