Early in the morning we are planning to take a bus going from Puno to Cusco, travelling via some highlighted spots along the way. When we arrive at the bus station the popular Inka Express was sold out, but we have learnt that there is always another way…so we arrange for a different transportation. The road to Cusco crosses a high point of 4300 meters, with a stunning view of about 5500 meters high, snow-covered mountains. In early evening, after 10 hours on the bus, we arrive in Cusco. The view of the Cathedral is a classic, fascinating postcard. Looking around for a hotel to stay we get a good deal at the Inka Teatro, just few blocks outside town.
Going up and up the valley we reach the city of Puno. All the houses are in bare bricks without any painting on them, and they therefore look incredibly homogeneous spreading from the shore of Lake Titicaca into the mountains around.
The Lake, and the city of Puno, are at an impressive altitude of almost 4000m above sea level, but being almost in a plateau the surrounding mountains don’t look so high and the whole background looks more hilly than Andean.
We have decided to take the night bus to Arequipa, and we therefore have one more afternoon to spend in Nazca. We are lucky enough to get into a bar which is showing Chelsea-Barca! Ten minutes before the end of the match we take a minibus to see Chauchilla cemetery which is in the middle of the desert. The place has a many original tombs with mummies and artifacts, all well preserved. Time for a very light dinner and we head to the bus terminal for the 22.30 bus. After 11 hours of smooth ride we get into the amazing town of Arequipa at 2400m of altitude. It finally feels really great to be able to put on some long trousers and stop sweating! The maximum temperature of the city is between 21 and 23 degrees all year, so during the day the comfort is at top level. The mountains at the back of the city are amazing, in particular the perfectly conical vulcano El Misti. More »