7-11
Took the bus to Yanque which was also along the canyon, but higher up where it wasnt so deep. I hung out in the chill square for a little bit and had lunch from a lady that made her soup and chicken right in a little cart there. I then did a cool loop hike. First visited some pre-incan terraces along the canyon. I then crossed a cool suspension bridge and then up a hill to the pre-incan ruins of Oyu Oyu. I finished up at some hotsprings. I made a little mistake with the hotsprings, but a good one. The owner of my guesthouse had told me there were hotsprings near the end of the loop i could bathe in. Yanque was another one of those towns where I was the only gringo sleeping there, but there were tour groups stopping to see the plaza and impressive church.
As I started descending from the ruins, i saw a bunch of tourist vans down in this one portion of the canyon and i figured it must be the hotsprings. When i got down, i saw that it was a very fancy, fancy spa resort. THe fanciest I had seen in South America. Complete with massage tables, fancy buildings and several hot springs pools along the river. It reminded me a little bit of times i had snuck into fancy resorts in SE Asia. I asked the bartender by the hotspring pools how much it cost to bathe there. And he looked surprised, and said, oh you aren`t staying here?. And he just waved his hand and said he didnt care. Enjoy. So i got to enjoy these really plush hot springs. There were a bunch of rich package tourists there and it was interesting to talk with them and see how they viewed Peru and these villages from the comfort of their fancy private transports and fancy vans. They told me they couldnt believe how expensive food was in peru. This made me laugh bc I was regularly eating 3 course meals (meat soup, the meat with rice and potatoes and veg and then tea or pastry) for 2 bucks. they dont take those tourists to the same restaurants.
From this point on i have been running into many more people on fancy private type tours or families on high budget tours. Mostly french and Americans. I guess its that summer vacation seasons. It is so weird to see families and gringo children out on the streets now. Compared to Bolivia which is a big backpacker place, peru is much more geared to package tours and much more guides speaking english.
7-12
Took a minivan to Chivay. There was an amazing market there and I went to town on the food. Yanque was so small that there was only one place to eat...the lady with the cart in the plaza, and it was her tasty quinoa soup and chicken with rice, but for all 3 of my meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So I was excited to get some other food. Mowed down on cactus fruits, alpaca kebabs, alpaca steaks, corn rellenos, and icecream. They had this crazy soup that had an entire llama head in it. i wanted to try it but i wasnt exactly sure all the parts of the head you could eat...like eyes and brain and such. The next place I wanted to go to was Puno on lake titicaca. The only way to go direct without having to go all the way back to Arequipa was to take a fancy tour bus with an english speaking guide. It was a bit expensive for my taste (some of the people from the hotsprings were there) but it was nice to stop at some places such as some lakes and spots with nice volcanic viewpoints. We went over a 4800m (15,745ft) pass and then eventually arrived at Puno (3808m/12,490ft) along the shores of Lake Titicaca. I got to work right away sending lockheed some scanned signature things now that I was in a city with more technology and then I had some tasty alpaca kebabs and pizza. Yum!
Took the bus to Yanque which was also along the canyon, but higher up where it wasnt so deep. I hung out in the chill square for a little bit and had lunch from a lady that made her soup and chicken right in a little cart there. I then did a cool loop hike. First visited some pre-incan terraces along the canyon. I then crossed a cool suspension bridge and then up a hill to the pre-incan ruins of Oyu Oyu. I finished up at some hotsprings. I made a little mistake with the hotsprings, but a good one. The owner of my guesthouse had told me there were hotsprings near the end of the loop i could bathe in. Yanque was another one of those towns where I was the only gringo sleeping there, but there were tour groups stopping to see the plaza and impressive church.
As I started descending from the ruins, i saw a bunch of tourist vans down in this one portion of the canyon and i figured it must be the hotsprings. When i got down, i saw that it was a very fancy, fancy spa resort. THe fanciest I had seen in South America. Complete with massage tables, fancy buildings and several hot springs pools along the river. It reminded me a little bit of times i had snuck into fancy resorts in SE Asia. I asked the bartender by the hotspring pools how much it cost to bathe there. And he looked surprised, and said, oh you aren`t staying here?. And he just waved his hand and said he didnt care. Enjoy. So i got to enjoy these really plush hot springs. There were a bunch of rich package tourists there and it was interesting to talk with them and see how they viewed Peru and these villages from the comfort of their fancy private transports and fancy vans. They told me they couldnt believe how expensive food was in peru. This made me laugh bc I was regularly eating 3 course meals (meat soup, the meat with rice and potatoes and veg and then tea or pastry) for 2 bucks. they dont take those tourists to the same restaurants.
From this point on i have been running into many more people on fancy private type tours or families on high budget tours. Mostly french and Americans. I guess its that summer vacation seasons. It is so weird to see families and gringo children out on the streets now. Compared to Bolivia which is a big backpacker place, peru is much more geared to package tours and much more guides speaking english.
7-12
Took a minivan to Chivay. There was an amazing market there and I went to town on the food. Yanque was so small that there was only one place to eat...the lady with the cart in the plaza, and it was her tasty quinoa soup and chicken with rice, but for all 3 of my meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So I was excited to get some other food. Mowed down on cactus fruits, alpaca kebabs, alpaca steaks, corn rellenos, and icecream. They had this crazy soup that had an entire llama head in it. i wanted to try it but i wasnt exactly sure all the parts of the head you could eat...like eyes and brain and such. The next place I wanted to go to was Puno on lake titicaca. The only way to go direct without having to go all the way back to Arequipa was to take a fancy tour bus with an english speaking guide. It was a bit expensive for my taste (some of the people from the hotsprings were there) but it was nice to stop at some places such as some lakes and spots with nice volcanic viewpoints. We went over a 4800m (15,745ft) pass and then eventually arrived at Puno (3808m/12,490ft) along the shores of Lake Titicaca. I got to work right away sending lockheed some scanned signature things now that I was in a city with more technology and then I had some tasty alpaca kebabs and pizza. Yum!
No comments:
Post a Comment