Adios Bolivia, Hola Peru!
March 2 - We arrived an hour late in La Paz at the main bus terminal. This was due to a stop of the bus on the highway around 1 am. Our bus had stopped due to another bus having been broken down and in need of assistance. After about an hour fiddling around with the workings of the other bus, it was abandoned and its passengers loaded onto our bus. These passengers were dispensed at various stops along the way to our destination. I didn't sleep as well as T who was asleep for the entirety of the event and as a result, I reached La Paz in a somewhat grumpy state.
We called an Uber from the terminal and waited...and waited some more... and finally gave up on the Uber drivers and resolved to walk the 20-minute distance to our Hostel. Upon entering the hostel we were at once relieved. From the outside is was merely a grey stone wall, uninteresting at best, with a set of large wooden doors one of which was left ajar to allow entry.
Inside, the space transformed, a small entryway granted access to a room off to the right, the reception. Marble floors fine fixtures and comfortable velvet furniture composed a fine reception hall. We were greeted by the receptionist and after a brief check-in, we were informed that though we were extremely early for check-in our room was ready for us.
Leading us to a covered courtyard which allowed light to pour gracefully into the double balconies above us and gave life to the various hanging plants which rained down along the supporting columns of the balconies our receptionist ascended a magnificent stairwell to the third floor. Here she showed us our room and handed over a set of keys.
Still tired from the overnight trip, T suggested I nap due to the slight grumpiness which had resulted from the lack of sleep. I obliged her happily.
Waking some hours later I felt much refreshed and a bit hungry. The hostel held the solution to this as well in the form of a large dining room and restaurant on the second floor. Large windows reached from the floor up to a finely decorated ceiling. The floor was of various hardwoods laid out in a herringbone pattern and each of the windows held a large plant of some sort. This combination of formal European style mixed with the green plantlife mingled with the smells of cooking food granted the space a unique atmosphere.
We happily ordered and at our food and after some time, noticing it had begun to rain outside, returned to our room for the evening.
March 3 - Awaking at six o'clock in the morning, we quickly gathered our packs and descended to the reception hall to await our bus to Peru. The bus company T had found to best suit our needs was Bolivia Hop. They sent a representative with a checklist to retrieve us from our hostel and guide us to the bus which was parked a block or two away. It was around 6:45 am when we boarded the bus, which after collecting a few other passengers in La Paz, set off to Copacabana, Bolivia which rests on the shore of Lake Titicaca.
The journey progressed without issue and after a few hours and short ferry ride we arrived in Copacabana around noon. Here we were set to visit Isla del Sol at one o'clock. The boat ride to Isla del Sol took about an hour. Once there we hiked an ancient trail which passed Inca ruins of a temple dedicated to the Sun where sacrifices, both humans and llamas alike, had occurred for thousands of years. The temple now in shambles whispered about just how much had changed since its construction, but as it still held some lesser sacrificial items within its failing walls and weakening ceiling, also spoke of the act of Sun worship which had endured time.
The rest of the hike was relatively uneventful though the local people were warm and greeted us kindly whether they were selling something or not. At the end of our hike, we descended a set of stone stairs that were accompanied by a clean spring water stream. The stream danced merrily down the side of the hill and provided life to the flowers which lined both sides of the stairs.
At the base of these stairs lay a little harbor and dock where our ferry waited to return us to Copacabana. As we boarded the ferry, we spied a boat completely crafted from reeds. We snapped a photo of it, a reminder that tomorrow morning we were set to visit the floating reed islands built and inhabited by the native peoples of Peru. A visit that tragically would not come to pass.
Once returned to Copacabana, around 5 o'clock, we boarded our Bolivia Hop bus and headed to the border of Bolivia and Peru. After passing through the border immigration control, we were met by the Peru Hop guide who directed us to our new bus. This bus was very comfortable and bore us swiftly to Puno. In Puno, Peru Hop had arranged for smaller vans to drop passengers off at their requested accommodations.
The daylight had long vanished over Lake Titicaca by the time we arrived at our hostel. This place felt more like a hostel from my youth, it was a little worn down, and the room was a bit rough around the edges. Not the cleanest of places, there were still bits of wrappers laying on the floor behind the door which the cleaners had missed and a few of the blankets displayed stains of their past abuses. None-the-less the accommodation was acceptable and we made the best of things, requesting clean blankets, which were provided without question we snuggled into the twin bed and quickly fell asleep.
March 4 - We again woke at six o'clock to grab a hasty breakfast before our arranged tour of the floating islands which was to begin at six-thirty. T had noticed the previous evening that though our bus to Cusco was scheduled for 10 am, our tour time had been set for the afternoon. She had made several attempts to contact the tour company to ensure this was simply an error and that we would still be picked up at six-thirty, but she had received no response. Time passed and it became apparent that the company had made an error and we had missed the floating islands.
This dampened our spirits some, as we had looked forward to seeing and experiencing one of the most quirky living accommodations on the planet, but it will simply give us cause to return for another visit in the future. At 10 am, a Peru Hop representative arrived at the hostel to take us to Cusco. He led us first to a van with a Peru Hop sign on the dashboard. This was unsurprising initially as we assumed it would simply take us to a larger bus where the streets were more navigable; the streets of Puno are quite narrow making it unreasonable for a large bus to use them.
However, we grew a little suspicious as it became more and more obvious we were leaving the town of Puno all together and entering the countryside. Not caring to be left out on our destination, we questioned the guide as to where exactly we were off to. Fortunately, we were relieved to learn that due to difficulties with one of their buses the previous day, we were being taken to another town along the route to Cusco where we would meet up with a different bus. All went exactly as the guide had explained.
Once on the actual bus, we spent much of the day observing the highland countryside of Peru. The desert landscapes of Bolivia faded and were replaced by the dramatic peaks of the Andes which slowly greened as we moved west. Along the streams or in the valleys we could spot the study structures built be they highland peoples of Peru. The homes were built of thick mud bricks with thatched or corrugated tin roofs.
Though simple, they seemed honest and welcoming, closer to the earth they were made of. The towns lacked the same number of walls which we observed in other countries and most of the walls which were present did not bear the spikes, razor wire, or shards of glass on the top so common elsewhere making it hard to believe the violence of Peru's past we would come to learn of later in our time there.
After stopping for a late lunch and a few additional hours on the bus, we arrived, in Cusco. Peru Hop had arranged for taxis to drop us off at our accommodations again. Before we knew it we arrived at Gaia House Hostel. We met briefly with our GuidingPeru guide who laid out what our itinerary for the Huchuy Qosqo Inca Trail to Machu Picchu would look like. Then after check-in and tossing our bags into a very nice room, we went off in search of an ATM and (since T's stomach was beginning to rumble) some street food.
We found both in rapid succession. The main square in Cusco provided a well lit private ATM and a small stand on the way gave us our first experience with papa rellena. Papa rellena is basically a potato that has been mashed, then stuffed with carrots, onions, meat (usually ground beef), and sometimes an egg which is then fried to a golden brown. For those familiar with what a Runza is, it is basically a runza with potato instead of bread for the exterior. Usually, T and I remain fairly vegetarian based, as a matter of preference, but for these and local international food, we sometimes make exceptions. These are one of those. They are freaking delicious!
Full and happy, we returned to Gaia House. The hostel itself deserves some description. It had a charming little courtyard which greeted travelers once they had passed through the iron gate. From the street, it was a rather unremarkable place, simply a set of large wooden doors, lit by lanterns on either side. The doors were oversized, so the door on the left had a smaller human-sized door which during the day was left open to allow guests to enter the short corridor which sloped up to stop at a green iron gate. From this vantage point, the receptionist had a clear view from across the courtyard to the gate where they could allow the iron gate to open. Alternatively, there was a buzzer that could be used if they were temporarily away.
Stepping through the gate, we were already standing in the courtyard. Straight forward and on the right wall a stone staircase led up to the second floor which had a balcony that shot out to the left and then wrapped around the courtyard ending above where the entrance corridor was. This balcony granted access to the living quarters of the nuns, now converted into private rooms or dormitories. Grey granite columns wrapped in vines held up the balcony. The courtyard itself was of grey stone and held two large round tables made from wood. The grey of the stone met whitewashed walls accented with turquoise trim at the edges of the courtyard. The effect was altogether charming. It was a pleasant place to rest for the evening, our private bedroom with attached bathroom was more than sufficient and we looked forward to returning to it after our 4-day trek.
- G