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When the fields came into view, he remembered. Even though he had never been in this place before, yet, still he remembered. The bus, gears grinding, clawed its way uphill, its wheels spewing out loose stones behind like a contrail as the driver fought for traction.   Below, several hundred feet below, the fields, barely stamps. green postage stamps, shone in the sun, almost fluorescent, contrasting against the puke yellow background of parched corn and barley stalks as the bus climbed ever higher above the Andean plain.   It was then that it came back to him, the memory that he had choked back, buried, alluded to, occasionally, but never quite divulged as real.   The coffee splashed over his hand, hot, uncomfortable, not really a burn. More an annoyance as the plane took its first hard bounce and dropped a bare hundred feet or so.   The crackle of the P.A.   “This is your Ca......” was eclipsed at first by panicked gasps from fellow passengers, then by his own...

Correction to last posting, “Juanita” was, in fact discovered on Ampato Peak not Sabancaya. The eruption of the latter melted the snows on adjacent Ampato allowing the discovery. To Continue:   A late flight Sunday arrived in Lima allowing little other than sleep once we arrived back at Hotel Runcu.    An overcast sky, Monday and a temperature of 17C proved quite a contrast to the previous 2 weeks of mostly sunny skies and highs of 12-14C.   A walk to the central retail area of Miraflores was rewarded with the discovery of half adozen craft markets selling product from all over the country. Some of the items were actually cheaper ( though perhaps of poorer quality) than in the originating towns and areas that we had seen in the previous weeks. Some of the vendors even admitted that the cheaper “100% Alpaca” sweaters were actually derived from the rare Peruvian Wooly Parrot- hence the name “Poly Ester!!”   Anyway, with the option of either converting our remaini...

Arequipa, with a population of about 800,000 is the second largest city in Peru. In spite of its size, the key tourist areas are all pretty walkable. The Hotel Inkanto. the fanciest looking hotel so far ($80 a night) is 6 blocks or 10 minutes from the main square.   Reminding me a lot of Antigua, Guatemala but without the cobbled streets, Arequipa has a very colonial look with beautiful stonework and many white buildings in the downtown core. The Plaza de Armas (as usual) is the key point in town. A massive Cathedral fills the entire north side while the other three sides feature a cloister like appearance- perhaps colonnaded balconies might be the proper description. Second floor restaurants provide great views of the central park while (as I later discovered) supplying second rate meals at prices as elevated as the view.   With almost 3 days here, the original plan was a visit to Colca Canyon and Cruz del Condor. Offering a Canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon as well a...

The trip to Arequipa began at 8 am with a disorganized attempt to catch the bus. Apparently we had tickets for the wrong bus line. An employee of a competing company exchanged them for tickets on his bus. He neglected to draw attention to the fact that the price was considerably less and neglected to offer a refund.   The trip began with a return to the centre of the previously mentioned hell-hole Juliaca. Seeing it up close and personal emphasized my initial opinion. I would guess that 90% of the buildings in the city are unfinished (a tax benefit) and that 80% of the streets unpaved.   Departing the city with a full capacity, including the obligatory whining brat in front and two uncontrolled, chair kicking brats behind, we set off along a dull and dusty route out of this city that passed several dozen small brick making operations, each with their own small kiln. Eventually the tacky city perimeter gave way to a somewhat narrow plain flanked by fairly high rocky hills. Tra...

July 4 th ,             Seems that the last 3 days has flown by. Monday, up at 5:30 for a 7am bus from Cuzco to Puno. The trip was a “tourist” bus which meant it stopped in 5 different sites on the way- nothing too memorable! It was pleasant enough trip, in spite of the fact that we did not arrive in Puno till 5:30pm. The last town north of Puno was Juliaca, apparently known as the Taiwan of Peru due to the vast number of factories turning out cheap items from cars to washing machines. Aside from Guatemala City it has to be the ugliest dirtiest town I have ever seen.   Downtown Puno looks nice and clean. The Hotel Punuypampa is by far the best hotel, in terms of comfort and staff attitude, that we have stayed so far. The bathroom even has a small bathtub instead of just a shower. Approaching Uros islands Typical large boat Locals embroidering pillow cases Mother and daughter with wares for sale   The Puno/Lake Titikaka (...

Sunday morning progressed much as planned. A 5:20 wake up call and a light breakfast with a couple of cups of strong coffee. Peruvians tend to use instant coffee in a concentrated liquid form, using 1 part coffee to 4 parts hot milk to supply a basic version of café con leche. the Standard view with Wayna Picchu in background The normal first view of Machu Picchu   The route from town to the ruins is about 2km as the crow flies, and that is a little too steep for a bus route. But the serpentine route the buses do take adds a dusty 10km or so to the trip. Our group assembled at the ticket office at 7am where we met our guide for a 2 and ½ hour tour. The altitude difference, 2400 meters compared to Cuzco’s 3400 made a considerable difference the morning temperature, 16 vs 6C. Agricultural terraces Temple of the Sun Wayna Picchu- as seen through Temple of Three Windows Residential area of ruins View of Ruins from below The route into the site followed an uphill trail which emerged jus...

Saturday June 30th      Yesterday morning was spent touring some of the Inca sites surrounding the city of Cuzco. A re-visit to Saqsayhuaman allowed a more in depth visit to the ruins. Our Intrepid guide Luis, who is a local, seemed very knowledgeable in the history of the various sites. From Saqsayhuaman we went to Quengo, a largely destroyed ceremonial site used for burials and ritual sacrifices. A few km further down the road was Pukapukara, a learning centre as well as a checkpoint and observation post screening movement into the area approaching Cuzco. A final stop, Tambomachay, was used as a relaxation area and bathing area by the Incan aristocracy.   Returning to Cuzco we spent the afternoon exploring parts of the city that we had so far missed.   Arriving at a church some 5 blocks to the west of the main plaza we found ourselves in the middle of a major religious celebration at the church of  San Pedro. A band was playing outside the church, w...