Where are Ron and Ellen?
Latin America, 10 November 2008 - 3 March 2009
Ron and Ellen (and llama) at Machu Picchu, Peru, December 2008
Arequipa, Lake Titicaca, Cusco, Peru, November 2008
To see photos from Arequipa, click on the thumbnail at the left.
To see photos of the Monasterio de Santa Catalina in Arequipa, click on the thumbnail at the left.
Breathless in Cusco
To see photos of Lake Titicaca and the route to Cusco, click on the thumbnail at the left.
24 November 2008
Cusco, PeruDear Family and Friends,
Here we are, breathless at 3326 meters [10,912 feet] altitude in Cusco. Even though we spent 3 days in Arequipa at something like 2800 meters, and then were in Puno for two days at 3800 [12,500 ft], we still get light-headed and breathless with almost no effort. Ron says he looks forward to the time when he can put on and tie his shoes without being out of breath! Ron's problems are made a bit worse by the fact that he woke up last Thursday morning with a cold and a terrible sore throat, feeling like something was caught in it that made him feel like he was choking. Friday morning we went to the tourist bureau in Puno and they recommended a medical clinic for tourists, so we went there and Ron saw the doctor, who diagnosed him with epiglottitus (the epiglottis is the little thing that hangs down in the back of your throat). The doctor prescibed antibiotic, anti-inflamatory, and the standard medication for altitude sickness, since altitude would make the symptioms worse. Now four days later he still has a very sore throat, but is definitely feeling better. So we are taking it very easy, especially since we have 3 weeks here and donīt have to pack in all the sights in a couple of days like most tourists -- we don't know how they manage!
So, backing up a bit.... We took the overnight bus (very cushy reclining seats, so we actually slept) from Nazca to Arequipa, a beautiful colonial city, and spent 3 days there. We did a lot of walking, including a long walk one day into one of the quieter outlying neighborhoods. We spent a few hours one morning in the market, marveling at the quantity and variety of potatoes for sale. The Plaza de Armas [every Peruvian town or city has a central plaza with this name] was the scene of lots of activity, everything from a wide variety of people to watch, to school groups marching and dancing to their school band, to a march and demonstration of older people unhappy (as best as we could interpret the multiple banners) with provisions for health care and pensions for the elderly. We spent an afternoon wandering through the huge Monasterio de Santa Catalina, an enclosed convent founded in 1579 and only opened to the public in 1970. It still has an active enclosed convent in a newly built section. But the old section that is now open is almost like a small city, with streets and passageways and nun's cells and kitchens and living quarters, cloisters and chapels, dining halls, and on and on. Quite beautiful!
Thursday morning we took the bus to Puno, climbing up and up and then across the altiplano, a huge flat area, not as desolate as the coastal desert, but still pretty barren. Mostly short dry grass, with lots of herds of alpacas, sheep, and cattle tended by herders. There are salt flats, and also a huge lake, where there are flamingos and other water birds. We never though of flamingos as high altitude birds, but there they were.
In Puno, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, we took a boat ride out to the floating islands, reed islands inhabited by an indigenous group that builds houses and boats -- and the islands themselves -- out of the reeds. Ron was on Lake Titicaca in 1971, and was simply stunned by the huge population increase on the floating islands, and the huge increase in number of houses, boats, etc. He feels it is significantly more than can be attributed to normal population growth, and that, because of the huge increase in tourism, people are actually moving to the floating islands, even though life is very basic, e.g. no electricity. Back in Puno, the excellent trout from the lake made a fine dinner.
We decided to come on to Cusco two days earlier than originally planned, since we thought that if Ron continued to have problems with his throat it would be better to be here where Laurie has all sorts of contacts with doctors and clinics. To get here we took the highly-recommended Inka Express, a comfortable tour bus that leaves Puno at 7:30 in the morning and arrives in Cusco at 5 pm, with an English speaking guide (who was really excellent). The bus makes stops at several ruins along the way, and at La Raya (4335 meters), the high mountain pass where you leave the dry altiplano and start down into the Sacred Valley. The glacier above La Raya is the source of the Urubamba River, which we watched change from a tiny trickle to a big and fast-moving river as we went along. The change between the barren altiplano and the much greener farmland beyond La Raya was quite startling -- the miracle of water. There was also a lunch stop for an excellent buffet, which gave us the opportunity to taste a wide variety of foods.
When we arrived in Cusco, Steven and Laurie were there to meet us and took us to our hotel, and they and we then settled down to rest and recover from altitude at our respective lodgings.
Yesterday afternoon we went over to their apartment, just a few blocks from us, and talked about their project plans. Then Pavela, their Peruvian colleague on the project, came over with Juana, a young Spanish woman, who has also worked in Sipascancha, and we all went to visit Adela and Nino, who teach in Sipascancha during the week and live in Cusco. It was wonderful for us to meet all the folks we have heard so much about from Laurie and Steven, and to hear about their hopes and plans for this year, and their review of the project results from last year. Lots of Spanish and some English flying around, but Ron and I were able to follow most of the discussion (with some translation help from Steven and Laurie). Adela fed us all dinner (broiled chicken and french fries and vegetables, with a lot of joking about the chicken and fries being Peruīs national dish), and then we caught a taxi back to our hotel.
Today we have done some wandering around Cusco (at a very slow pace given that we are all still dealing with the altitude), and plan to meet in a bit for dinner. We are working on coordinating our sightseeing plans (Machu Pichu etc) with the plans Laurie and Steven are developing for visiting their villages. We expect to go with them at the times they will be in a village just for the day, but not when they are spending several days out of Cusco.
Love to all,
Ellen and Ron
Back to the Latin America 2008-2009 index
cfw.com
Questions? Send email to Ellen, ebouton 
operamail.com
While we're traveling, reach us at bikepacker
Last updated: 2 January 2009
