Peru – July 12
Today we are departing our lovely Puno (haha) and heading
for Arequipa, which we hear is really lovely.
We prepare to leave and make our way to the bus terminal. Our ride leaves a little to be desired,
especially since the last bus we rode in on was truly plush. This one appears to be a more “local” bus and
is filled with mostly native people. We
get underway and about 4 hours later we make a very quick stop to eat
lunch. Our stop is in the most remote
place on earth and one of the more filthy ones too….hmm. Poor Annie has to use the bathroom and we ask
one of the local shops and they direct her to it. Hudson escorts her there and when the
re-emerge, they tell us there was a whole skinned lama on a table in the back
room…gross. We nearly miss
the bus while trying to buy chips, but we run across the dusty street and make
it back onto the bus just in the nick of time.
Another 3 hours and we are approaching Arequipa. We can see the snow capped tip of Chachani and
the cone of “El Misti,” one of the tall volcanoes that make a ring around the
valley of Arequipa. As we approach the
city, our bus driver decides to give us a thrill ride and begins dodging in and
out of traffic barely missing cars, trees, boulders and anything else that
might come into its path. We are now in
the city and the thrill ride continues as this immense bus is determined to get
to the station first. Finally, we arrive
and the unloading of luggage begins. We
find a taxi that is far too small for all of us let alone our baggage, but the
driver seems intent on shoving everything into the car. The kids are complaining…again, but all I can
do is laugh at the sight of us crammed into this teeny vehicle! We arrive at our hotel and it is located on a
lovely walking street. Arequipa looks
like a really nice city. We settle in for
the night and rest our weary bones.
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