Today would be a day of acclimatizing to a new altitude. We left Cusco, which has an altitude of 3,300 meters, and travelled ten hours by van to Puno, which has an altitude of 4,000 meters.
Our day really involved what I have penned ¨The Altitude Stupor¨. Multitasking is now a bygone talent...Stephanie says she can´t even talk and pack at the same time. We spend a lot of energy buying water and of course what goes in must go out! Then there are the waves of fatigue and annoying headaches, but we help each other and of course we do have the COCA TEA, which does give us a delightful sense of well-being and giddiness - three consecutive cups actually gives you a buzz.
Our first stop was at Tipon, which means boiling water. The Incas mostly grew potatoes at this Inca farming site and had developed a complicated aquiduct system. We later turned off the main highway and little did we know what was ahead of us.
We commenced a journey up a narrow gravel switchback road. Our driver Omar is young and quite capable, but he loves to drive FAST. As he ricocheted us up this mountain, our gasps soon turned into screams of terror (even from Janet, our seasoned traveller who has travelled many such roads in India and Crete). When we finally surged though the gates at the top, there was wild applause for Omar and his tip definitely increased because he had kept us from plummeting to our deaths. The Inca ruin was magnificent. We were the only tourists there, which increased the sense of calm and reverence for the Inca history, the breathtaking setting, and Abu, the Spirit of the Mountains.
The ride down was less 'loco loco' and we were able to appreciate the people of the community who continue the livelihood of terraced farming on this mountain. We marvelled at the eight-year-old boy driving the cows up the hill, the vibrant colours of the women´s clothing contrasted against their dark skin, the oxen ploughing the fields, the cutting of the hay with scythes, the independence of the children, the barro (mudbrick) houses and barns, and the community of men meandering up the road to the fields in order to bring in the harvest.
Our lunch was a buffet which included some of the best food I have ever eaten and I am very excited that we get to eat there on the way back to Cusco. The region near Puno is ¨The Home of the Coca Leaf¨. This region always elects the Red Line or Communist Party and our guide Denis is not allowed to stay with us because he is from Cusco.
While passing through the black market city, Juliaca, we were stopped by the police, who apparently look for any excuse to pull over cars from Cusco. Denis would not even let us venture out of the van because it was too dangerous, but we were quite entertained by the street vendors and watching to see if our driver would be hauled away. Interesting that the people of the Red Line Party who profess the communist values of of equality among the people and the sharing of resources are supplying the black market and are actually racist to other groups of Peruvian people.
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