Having fallen asleep completely overwhelmed by altitude sickness I awake at midnight feeling much better and when the alarm goes off at 6am I’m almost back to normal, just a residual altitude headache nudging at my temples.
I only manage a light breakfast, no doubt a good thing after so much indulgence so far, and as we eat looking out at the lake, the Belmond Andean Explorer rolls past the window, trundling along the rail track which runs right between the hotel and the water.
Last view of Lake Titicaca
At 7.30 our new guide Maribel meets us in the lobby and takes us outside to where Oswaldo, our driver for the next two days is waiting with a minibus all to ourselves. We load it up with our increasing bags of shopping and luggage and drive up out of Puno, the city revealing itself in daylight to be huge and made up of vast amounts of seemingly unfinished homes, their exteriors unplastered to avoid tax, whilst their interiors are all mod cons.
As we rise high above the city to where a statue of a puma looks down, we get our final views of the beautiful lake. Maribel explains that Titicaca means “big grey cat”, as when seen from above the outline of the lake is like a cat, and in the afternoon the water changes from the gorgeous blues of the morning to a darker grey. How the ancient people who named the lake were able to have an aerial view of it is unexplained, but it makes me think of the Nazca Lines, which are also only visible from the air. Sadly, like Peru’s fantastic Rainbow Mountain, there’s not enough time to see them on this trip.
Our route takes us back to Juliaca, with fabulous views of the plain that we traversed on the train, and as we enter the city we travel parallel to the railway, driving along quiet Sunday streets. We need to stop at an ATM so venture into the heart of the city and are relieved to discover a more developed, modern city than the appearance of poverty-stricken slums that crowded the market stalls along railway track.
We pass through the main square, seeing Santa Catalina cathedral, and getting a view of a Peruvian city that is very much a local centre rather than a tourist destination.
Lake Lagunillas
After Juliaca we follow the road west, hugging the railway line which leads to Arequipa. The scenery is gorgeous, the rolling hills and open plains yellowy-brown awaiting the rains to turn them green and flourishing with flowers. At 4400 metres above sea level we reach Lagunillas, a sizeable lake with a few flamingoes, and incredible views. We stop for pictures and the baños, purchasing a couple of lovely scarves from the roadside seller.
On we travel, across the Altiplano reaching the the Crucero Alto, with llamas and alpacas beside the road along which huge trucks rumble heading for the copper, zinc and silver mines. Occasional villages like Imato appear, remote in this vast plain, whilst on the horizon distant peaks of volcanoes rise up, including Chachani, reaching 6790 metres high.
At 11.30 we reach a junction where the road continues on to Arequipa, our destination for tomorrow. We take the turning for Chivay and the Colca Canyon instead, and stop off at a roadside cafe where various coach parties have also pulled over by incredible rock formations.
Drinking Inca Tea
Sitting outside we sip cups of Inca tea which has the leaves of the chachacoma and muña plants, as well as coca. Its added potency is needed as we’re about to travel to the highest point of our entire trip. In fact, one of the travellers in the roadside cafe is breathing from an oxygen mask which is slightly ominous!
The road continues through vast, dramatic landscapes of the national parks, where wild herds of vicuñas roam, and as we get close to 1pm we enter the area known as Pampas de Toccra, the scenery becoming almost Martian in its rocky desolation. We drive through the Chicurra crater, which despite the bright sunshine still has ice frozen by the side of the road.
Along the roadside are rocks piled up on top of each other, offerings to the goddess Pachamama made when local farmers need to travel off the mountains. In amongst them we spot a viscacha, a little rabbit-like creature, standing stock still by the side of the road, camouflaged from the eagles and grab a quick shot before it scurries away.
At 15000 feet above sea level
At the highest point we come to Patapampa, 4910 metres above sea level from where we get a panorama of seven volcanoes. It’s simply stunning, but as soon as we get out of the van we can feel the thinness of the air and the cold, despite the beating sun. Beyond that we see the Chila mountain range, whose glaciers flow into the Amazon. The word spectacular just doesn’t do it justice, and nor do photos - their flat perspective unable to catch the majestic grandeur.
We begin our descent into the Colca Valley, descending 1300 metres to the town of Chivay, where we have lunch at Mistituris restaurant. We eat with Oswaldo and Maribel and then have a quick stroll around Chivay, with its picturesque square, painted statues and streets. The whole place, like La Reya on the Titicaca railway, has a feel of the Wild West, like an old Mexican town.
Maribel, who walks with a stick, explains that she had been in a terrible bus accident in thick fog and hail on the road from Arequipa to Colca five years ago, which gave her severe injuries. She also describes the near death experience she had, floating at peace towards a glowing moon before being called back into her body as she was resuscitated.
View of Sabancaya from Yanque
Thankfully our drive from Chivay through the picturesque village of Yanque, under the smoking eye of the Sabancaya volcano, which was considered dormant until it awoke in 1991, has no incidents. However there are a few white-knuckle hair pin bends to get us down into the gorge where sits our hotel for the night, the Colca Lodge.
The air has a faint whiff of sulphur as the area has thermal springs, a by-product of the volcano, and our hotel has its own private hot rock pools by the edge of the river. Once we’ve checked in we wander down, and having checked out the alpaca ranch across a swaying footbridge, we spend the late afternoon bobbing around in the naturally heated water.
The Colca Lodge also has a spa and so we treat ourselves to a lovely ‘couples massage’, our respective masseuses easing away the travel tiredness of the last few days, preparing us for a lovely dinner in the restaurant of local Andean fare. The Hiro de Zapallo, a speciality of Arequipa, is particularly tasty with pumpkin, Andean cheese, broad beans and sweet corn.
We walk back to our room under clear starlit skies, with the Milky Way above us, ready for yet another early start and a long day of travel to come.
