Amateur Traveler: Sunday, May 24

Our transportation to the bus terminal was to arrive at 7:10am. We all slept a lot better than the previous night, not necessarially great but better than the night before. Now I could make it up the four flights of stairs to our room without stopping. But I was still not 100%. We could not be rushed as we would run short of breath. Tristan tried to rush since he was running late and threw up in the sink. Apparently the body adjusts to the thin air at high altitudes by increasng the supply of red blood cells. But it takes a little bit of time.

I went down to the lobby early to check out and get some breakfast. Our ride to the Bus Terminal was already there. They were expecting us to go, but I resisted. This would not be the first time that a ride would be scheduled for a particular time, but they really wanted you to go earlier. I never figured out what was going on.

We were taken to the Bus Terminal. We had a driver and a host in the Van. To get on the bus it was going to take another host, a bus coordinator, the guide, and a Police officer doing security duty to get us on the bus. I didn't know what was happening, but after a few passport checks and some kind of "tax" we were on our way. The bus took off at about 8:00am. We were to arrive in Cusco at about 5:00pm. In the meantime we were going to visit a few points of interest and be served lunch.

As we drove to our first point of interest we drove through the city of Juliaca. Juliaca is a city of about 250,000 people. From discussions with others we knew that it was a city of commerce. It turns out that Juliaca basically manufactures what we would consider illegal goods. Many of the garments sold on the streets of Peru to tourists are made here. That means they are massed produced with nylon materials not handmade from Alpaca wool as the street vendor would have you believe. They also sell copies of well know brands and put a brand name on it. Apparently many of these products also come from Bolivia. So there are a lot of low paying jobs in Juliaca. The main method of transportation is the Tricycle. These are taxis that are powered by peddle power. There are 25,000 taxi tricycles in Juliaca. The town is mostly unfinished buildings with dirt roads. Many people do not finish their construction in Peru, for once construction is finished the taxes are due. It was a fascinating city to see.

As we continued to make our way down the highway the worse I felt. We stopped at a museum to see some pre-Inca art. Then we stopped at the top of the pass, La Raya. This was to be the highest point in our travels, 14,232 feet above sea level. If you have altitude sickness you are not supposed to continue to higher elevations, . . . no kidding?!?

One other thing to mention. On our way to La Raya pass we got a good feel for the rural way of life in this part of Peru. We saw a lot of work done by hand. We saw groups of women doing laundry in the river. We saw harvests done by hand. We saw crops be carried on people's backs. We saw workers carry bundles of tree branches on their backs. We saw fields being tilled with animals. We did not see any tractors in use. No trucks or mechanization out in the fields. Most of the women wore what would be considered traditional Peruvian clothing. That type of dress is not just for tourists. It is difficult to get photos of this lifestyle. The buses do not stop for these scenes. Even though they are just as interesting to me as Inca ruins.

Next we stopped for lunch and of course I had no appetite. We sat next to a Canadian couple from Vancouver. They were both just out of college and this was there big fling before heading off to the workforce. The food was a buffet style lunch that was pretty good. We had a flutist as entertainment.

Our next two stops were quite interesting. First we stopped at Raqchi, an Inca temple. It is the only surviving Inca temple. As a matter of practice the Spanish tore down the Inca temples and used the materials to build a Catholic church. But in this case the locals did not tell the Spanish what the structure was for and so it was never tore down. The Raqchi archeological site also contains the dwellings and terraces built by the Incas. It is a large site and rather interesting. The last site is known as the Sistene chaple of South America, an ornate Catholic church whose interior is wrapped in mostly gold.

One observation I made will we were driving is that very few Peruvians own cars. The basic mode for long distance transportation is a commercial van. The people are packed into the van and any belongings or luggage they might have is tied on to the top of the van. There are many of these vans out on the roads and there seem to be certain crossroads that served as transfer points. Traveling as we were in a large roomy coach seemed to be only for white tourists from North America and Europe.

Finally we arrived in Cusco, it was about 5:00pm. We took a taxi to our hotel. The hotel was nice and roomy. I tried to eat dinner, but I was still not hungry and felt a slight fever. But we were at a lower elevation, about 11,500 feet. Hopefully I would start to feel better. We went to bed as we had to get our cab at 5:45am the next morning to catch the train to Machu Picchu.

At La Raya pass, 14,232 feet