Trip diario #2: Peru cont.

After leaving Machu Picchu and Cusco, we went onward to Andahuaylillas to visit its church, the "Sistine Chapel of America." Okay, see, that's a big claim. Given that kind of a build-up, I'd have to say it was underwhelming. Our favorite part was probably the dog on the steps who would snuggle under people's legs as they sat.

We handed Andrea's camera to this lady to take a picture of us and she took it as I was walking back to where Andrea was standing. Then she held up the camera and pretended to hit the shutter as we posed. This is the conclusion we came to because there is no pic of us standing there, just one of me about 10 feet away from Andrea, walking.

Raqchi

Readying her wares in the market (it's somehow funnier when you call them "wares")

Raqchi has ruins. I'm not sure of what because we were very tired at this point and it was hard to listen to the guy, who introduced himself as Marco Antonio, not the international singer, but like him, "I'm looking for my J. Lo." :| Also, he kept saying things like "You may ask, but Marc Anthony, why did they do that?" This of course, led to us mocking him for another week, "Pero Marc Anthony, por que?"

Ruins of something-or-other

How cute is this cow? All doe-eyed and eyelash-y.

La Raya

La Raya is the highest pass in the Andes to Puno, at just over 14,200 feet. We spent our entire time in Peru at 11,000 feet or higher without any ill effects except for when you try to move. Haha. Actually, we were ok, but the hotels have oxygen tanks, just in case.

Boy it's hard to chase after your alpaca at that elevation.

Oh those? Those are the ever-present wares.

Puno on Lake Titicaca

When we got to Puno, we thought we'd finally finally get a vacation from the vacation because every day, we got up before 6 am and then were out all day and would come back at the end of the day, exhausted. A couple days on Lake Titicaca sounded so tranquil. But no.

We got up early to go to these floating islands constructed by the Uros people.

We loved these islands. Literally made out of reeds growing in the lake. You step onto them and you sink a bit. Fascinating!

Reed boats - this one is a puma.

We approached this bird cautiously, not wanting to scare it away. Then it came squawking over and GRABBED OUR PANTLEGS. And we thought llamas were aggressive (they'll like, touch you when you try to feed them).

We bargained a tapestry down and conceded 2 soles "para los bebes." Well geez, if you're going to bring in "los bebes."

All money from stuff they sell goes into the community pot. Communism is such a nice idea.

This would be one of the aforementioned bebes.

See that thing on a stick next to the house? A solar panel. They used to use kerosene but this is much cleaner. How great!

Look at their hair!

Then it was off to Isla Taquile, where we docked the boat and walked uphill into town.

Archways

Taquile's town plaza

The next day, we hired a car and drove 2 hrs on a dirt road to a peninsula to go kayaking. Most uncomfortable road ever. It was warm in the car, but we couldn't open the windows because we were inhaling dust even with the windows down.

Now, between the two of us, we have more than 12 years of Spanish education. Up until this point, we had been getting on pretty well, chatting with locals and Spanish tourists - we even had to take a couple of tours in Spanish. But those vocab lists you get in high school? Those ones that have overriding themes like "Household items" or "Sports and recreation"? Never once did we have one entitled "Nautical terms." And if there was ever a time to have that list, it's when you're kayaking in Peru. I mean, how do you say "spray skirt" or "dry bag"? Or "rudder"? Or "paddle" for that matter? So I've never steered a kayak with a rudder (we were in a double kayak) and we literally spent the beginning going in circles toward a stone wall, while our guide probably had his head in his hands after having given up yelling out Spanish things we didn't understand. We were laughing hysterically, as was our driver, watching from the shore. Luckily, I figured it out and off we went.

Kayaking for an extended period of time at 12,500 feet is kind of painful. "Adonde vamos?" we asked. "Al punte de la peninsula," our guide answered. Oh okay, I see it.

An hour later.
Me: "What? This isn't it? He can't mean that one way out there, can he?"
Sis: "No, it's gotta be that closer one. That one is really far. No way."

Yes way. Three puntes de la peninsula later, we finally reached our destination. He talked about how they ate the moss on the rocks and the growing concern over pollution in the lake while I thought about what was the most direct route back. He asked me about the movie Titanic and the history of the ship and I wondered if we might take a break at that rock over there or maybe that trout farm?

Then we went back to their hostel type thing. Well, first we got lost amongst the farmhouses (they all look the same!) and had to ask an old man and a kid for directions. The old man just gawked in silence, while the kid was unfazed. What, old Peruvian man, you've never seen two Asian girls dressed in kayak gear come wandering by?

And we ate the weirdest meal ever. We weren't that impressed with Peruvian food in general, but this thing, this pancakey thing was unindentifiable. I don't even know how to describe its taste, other than salty. We don't think it was a meat, but it may have been a vegetable. Possibly egg and some type of cheese curd? Who knows. What did we like? Surprisingly, we developed a taste for Coke, which I never drink. I mean, it's been years. Yet, somehow, Coke was delicious. Not delicious is Inca Kola (the Coke of Peru), which is literally just like liquid bubble gum. Sick. I commend Andrea on finishing her glass. We also tried alpaca in various forms, but found it rather chewy. But here's a funny thing to say: "I have alpaca stuck in my teeth."

And oh yeah, the reason why there are no pictures of me in Peru is because Andrea's camera was stolen on our last day. We were so so sad. Here's a pic from that melancholy night, as we returned to Cusco to fly out.

Cusco's Plaza de Armas