We’re nearing the end of our odyssey. It’s Day 13 of our 17 day journey and we have seen and experienced so much! Every day has been epic and different from the one before. And we have had incredibly full and active days. In fact, we started thinking about home, that far away place nestled in the forests of Tennessee. Maybe we could just skip this part?
Today the odyssey shifts gears to a more laid-back pace and looking at the remaining itinerary, something maybe better suited to the ‘tourist’ crowd rather than us ‘travelers.’ Wait, what does that even mean? As much as I want to be a traveler, I think I’m still pretty much a tourist. Hmm, what does the Google turn up…
Tourists often visit places for short durations, prioritizing popular sights and activities; travelers, on the other hand, may take longer trips, delving deeper into local cultures and customs.
difference.wiki
While tourists tend to stick to well-trodden paths and comfort zones, travelers often venture off the beaten path, seeking authentic experiences and connections.
Tourists typically seek relaxation and entertainment in their destinations; travelers look for broader understanding and personal growth through their journeys.
Okay, I think I can get behind these definitions. Although to really ‘delve deeper,’ learning the language would have made it much richer!
So maybe we are travelers who are going to experience touring for a couple of days!
That’s what I was thinking anyways…
The Ride to Puno…
As surprising as it may sound, Hobnail Trekking and Alpaca Expeditions picked us up and delivered us to the bus station right on time. It was so nice to have our tickets handed to us, and find all the options for the day already included! We have felt pretty spoiled on this trip.
The ground transportation here and the roads have been an unexpected surprise. Yeah, there are some scary unpaved mountain roads and nary a guardrail in all of Peru, but they were all in great shape.
And the touring coaches were very cool. Modern and sleek, kinda like jetliners. Except more comfortable and quiet!
On our way out of Cusco, our big green Mercedes coach (green seems to be a thing for us on this trip, I like it) pulled over so that the tour guide could grab some fresh bread.
I found this humorous because this is also where Alpaca pulled off to get bread for our lunch at Rainbow Mountain!
You can see the baked goods on the left…and the massive oven in the back on the right. It seemed most restaurants had an oven like this, but this is the biggest one I saw.
Obviously a local favorite.
Our first big stop on the 8-hour coach ride was the Temple of Andahuaylillas, also known as the Sistine Chapel of America. Built after the Spanish conquest of the Incas by the Franciscans, and then later ‘redecorated’ by the Jesuits, the outside does not prepare you for what’s on the inside.
Once again, no photographs were allowed in any of the churches, the one above is actually a photograph of a billboard outside the church. It’s maybe the most ornate thing I’ve ever seen. All of the gilded structures were put in place by the Jesuits…and over the wall art of the Franciscans that were before them. There were huge paintings of various Biblical events, like the beheading of John the Baptist, all around the upper walls. Full-sized sculpture and relief of angels and saints were everywhere, their eyes watching my every move. The whole place kinda creeped me out. I can’t imagine how one would find a peaceful worship in there, but maybe that’s just me!
The Inca temple of Raqchi was next on our list, and it was impressive. It’s not fully known what it was all about, but it was certainly a control point on one of the main Inca road systems. There were over 200 storehouses and the Temple of Wiracocha was considered the largest single-gable structure in the Incan empire, over 80 feet wide and 300 feet long. The grounds were surrounded by a stone wall nearly 3 miles long, enclosing about 8,000 acres.
You might be able to get a glimpse of the protective wall running along the hills in the distance.
Altiplano
The word means ‘high plain’ in Spanish, an indeed it is! The Altiplano is the second largest high plateau after Tibet. It averages well over 13,000 feet and is 5,500 miles long! As we traveled through this high, dry country we left the Cusco region behind at La Raya pass. A different culture, the Aymara, come into being here in the Puno region.
A nice lunch buffet at the Restaurant Turistico La Portada del Sol was followed by the small but wonderful Inca/Aymara museum at the Pukara archaeological site.
Puno at Last!
The traffic in Puno was, shall we say, more eclectic! Most of the towns we have visited had a predominant type of vehicle. Cusco for example was filled with small car taxis. A small town in Sacred Valley was mainly tuk-tuks.
But Puno had it all and had a lot of it! Buses, trucks, cars, tuk-tuks, and an amazing amount of small three-wheeled motorcycle cart things, where the guests sit up front, hanging over the front wheels and are completely exposed. With all the big vehicles, I would be terrified!
We were picked up promptly at the bus stop and then shuttled to the Tierra Viva Puno Plaza Hotel near the main square in Puno. It had been a full day and we were tired and a bit nervous about navigating the big city. But the hotel staff completely put us at ease and gave us excellent advice on where to explore, some good restaurants, and the closest supermercado, a supermarket.
Because tomorrow, we are going to stay overnight with a family on Amantini Island in Lake Titicaca, and a housewarming gift of food staples is considered a nice gesture. The supermercado was interesting. It was more like an indoor flea market, with small rooms crammed full of food stuffs. And tucked somewhere in every room was the seller. There was a ‘block’ dedicated to meats, a block of fresh vegetables, etc. Like a giant supermarket but broken into many sellers. We wandered around and found a booth with our staples and bought 1 kilo each of sugar, quinoa, and rice for our hosts tomorrow. It was all weighed out of big sacks and packed for us.
On our way back to the hotel, we wandered toward the main square. We heard music and as we came around the corner, there he was.
We always knew Michael Jackson was around somewhere, and apparently it’s Puno!
We were just in time to watch him dance and he nailed it!
We finished out the day with a light meal and nestled in for the night.
Tomorrow is going to be interesting I think.
