The pressures of Peru involve seeing and doing a lot of things in a very small space of time. We kept the momentum going and caught an overnight bus from Puno to Arequipa about 2 hours after we returned from our Lake Titicaca tour. However, our journey couldnt start without the usual series of confusion and Peruvian inefficiency we had grown to accept.
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Our bus tickets werent waiting for us at the hotel as promised. We failed to adhere to travel rule #457 - "never hand over money without receiving what you paid for straight away". The ticket lady promised to deliver our tickets to the hotel by the time we returned from our tour - about 1 hour before the bus departed for Arequipa. It seemd like an ok arrangement at the time. It seemed not so OK when we returned.
So I took it upon myself to march back to the office and demand an explanation (in Espanol, mind you) from a lady who may or may not still be working in the bus ticket business. Luckily for us, she just forgot. Anyway, I still registered my customer complaint with her. I dont think it had the desired effect because she laughed at my spanish and offered me tea.
Another cold bus ride. This time I was prepared for it. But of course, I had to get the only seat on the bus with a broken window. It was more than freezing and I couldnt get to sleep at all. It wasnt so bad though because night buses in Peru can get quite dramatic.
Any time the bus stops for more than 2 minutes - locals board the bus trying to sell everything from bread, nuts, and hand woven cloths. It really struck me how hard the women work here. They stand outside in the freezing night waiting for buses to make a few pesos. Then someone will start preaching about something to a highly disinterested bunch of passengers. The man on our bus made some political statement for about 10 minutes and then passed his hat around for some donations. The next time our bus stopped it was at a security check point. I was a bit nervous as they opened the luggage compartment and went through our stuff. Next, the officials boarded the bus with flash lights and walked around doing important looking things. I just pretended I was asleep. I can see how these types of officials can use their power and status in corrupt ways. I could see that the locals were quite intimidated by them.
We got to the bus station around midnight and caught a taxi to the hotel from which we wanted to book our tour. The taxi driver tried every trick in the book to take us to the hotel from which he gets his commission. He even waited for us at our hotel in the hope we would change our mind! We booked our canyon tour for the next day and were chaperoned to another hotel with room availability. It wasd a friday night and the riot police were in the centro area waiting for things to turn ugly. It was fine though. Just a bit scary seeing how many of them there were!
Our tour to the canyon in Arequipa (the second largest in the world) was memorable more for the people on the bus, than the canyon itself. It truly felt like we were going on a family picnic. The bus was full of middle-class Peruvians bringing their whole family along! Grandmothers, toddlers, teenagers, parents. It was quite interesting hanging out with them and seeing how they vacation. We also hung out with other travellers from Canada and Scotland. The "trekking" which the brochure promised turned into a very leisurely walk interrupted by constant reminders to the young kids not to throw stones into the valley. The "fabulous local information" that the brochure promised, turned into a running commentary of the life of Carlos (a 15 year old Peruvian we befriended who is Arequipa's reigning champion in freestyle and backstroke for under 16-year olds!). He was great value and educated us in Latino hip-hop and the life of Eminem. All the locals on our tour spoke perfect english and tried so hard to improve.
So anyway, oh yeah - the canyon. I must say that the Grand Canyon in Arizona was far more spectacular to me. The grand canyon seemed far bigger and more overwhelming for the senses. I think I was far more impressed with the novelty of this canyon being the world's second largest. How funny is that! Apparently the first largest canyon in the world was only a few miles
away but apparently no one is allowed to see it. I dont know why. I wasnt
listening to the tour guide when he said that part. The best part of the canyon was watching for condors. They are massive and majestic creatures and fly so fast and so high! It was a lot of fun waiting to spot one. The Peruvian families would get so excited and pull you over to see the one they were looking at!
I think I really appreciated the whole family vibe. Its fun travelling with friends - but I really do miss the whole family chaos that is involved with any public outing. Its nice to see that this is not just confined to being Sri Lankan. The Peruvians are just as chaotic and excitable.
Haley and I tried very hard to get the best photo of the condors. This involved standing on broken walls and Haley having to pull a Macgyver and rescue my camera batteries which had fallen over the other side of the rope. She is so brave. My hero!
Other notable parts of the tour involved avoiding $15 tour company lunches by going to the dodgy parts of town to eat "typical food" for $3. We did have to sacrifice a few comforts though. Haley found a maggot in her soup and we had to endure listening to very, very bad singing from locals who then demand payment. We also enjoyed a couple of hours in hot springs (even though we were constantly splashed by the little kids attempting somersaults!).
When we arrived back in town Haley and I partied with the Canadians and the Scottish girl. It was great swapping travel stories and it dawned on Haley and I that now WE are the expert travellers dishing out the advice to others. What a spin-out!
Our flight left very early in the morning so of course, we decided that it would be far more beneficial to stay out. So we danced to Reggeton (my new favourite type of music - and made them play our favourite song 'Gasolina') and sleepily stumbled to the airport a few hours later.
Leaving Peru. Mixed feelings. Certainly a country which gave me the most number of highs and lows. I loved the culture and the beauty of the country. However, having the natural beauty of Peru constantly packaged into tourist traps is very tiring. At the end of 2 and a half weeks I felt completely fatigued by this country. I love it, I hate it and I am confused about it. I have never been faced with so much contradiction, so many tourists, so much hype, so much natural wonder surrounded by tacky commercialisation. What would the Incas think if they knew about "Inca Kola" (the Peruvian version of Coca Cola)? How have I come to think that its ok to ignore a 2 year old while he tries to sell finger puppets and postacards to strangers? Why do busloads of tourists stand there and take photos of a woman dressed in traditional dress with a llama and think that this is real? I dont know. My few weeks in Peru has really affected me. I now have a different bar with which to compare my life.