After two great weeks in the Sacred Valley it was time to choose our next destination. Thanks to our limited preparation we only had one remaining must-do item on our list: take a Spanish-course. And in any case it made sense to learn Spanish before heading further off the beaten track 😉
After some online-research and talking to other travelers we soon narrowed down on the city of Arequipa, which seems a very attractive city to spend a few weeks and at the same time has a good selection of Spanish schools, without being overrun by foreigners, like Cusco where you might end up only hanging out with English-speakers. Arequipa is in the south of Peru, a 11 hour bus ride from Cuzco, which we were keen to cut down. Looking on the map, Puno and its neighbouring Titikaka lake seemed an attractive stop. The route would bring us through the Andean highlands and pass by a few historic places. Great that there is a bus company offering a guided bus trip with a few stops along the way and a knowledgeable guide (and comfortable seats) 🙂
After a stop at a beautiful church we came to the village Checacupe where you can cross the river via three types of bridges, a modern steel one, a colonial stone bridge or a (reconstructed) Inca rope bridge
As it was week-end the kids had time to perform a traditional dance for us and earn some pocket money:
Next was the highlight of the tour, the Inca village Raqchi with the enormous temple Wiracocha, of which the two-story 20m high foundation walls have been well preserved:
A shame the roof itself is no longer around – at 3’500m altitude the sun was burning hot, even the sheep were fighting for shadow:
Climbing in altitude we got past the tree line and landscapes changed totally from the previous rich valleys. With very limited options of food, life here gets pretty tough and people live mostly from their herds of Alpacas.
A stop on the highest pass along the route gave us a chance to indulge in the great scenery.
