The tienda faces the plaza and there were some young men outside on the steps. Meliza and I moved outside to sit near them. I asked if they could spin. Freddie, sitting next to me smiled broadly and said yes, and he started using the little Turkish spindle while his friend tried out the one that Ben made me.
I decided to take a little tourist jaunt to the island of Amantani in Lake Titicaca. You can purchase a tour from one of many agencies in Puno, but if you go to the pier in Puno and pay the captain directly for the trip and then pay your host family directly, the families receive more of the proceeds and don’t have to wait for the agency to send the money.
Sitting there with no work reminded me of a very classic American story by Mark Twain. In very broken Spanish, I tried to recount Tom Sawyer’s method of snookering his friends into whitewashing the fence.
The tiny pueblo of Chucuito (about a 30 minute combi ride south of Puno) is well known for the arches you see everywhere.
A woman sat on the ground with not only her raw fiber of many colors, but also her hand-crafted husos (spindles) for sale. WOW! Here I was
As I turned to leave, the woman in the stall across the way held out a ball of yarn and asked “Lana de alpaca?” JACKPOT!!
The Festival takes on a new meaning in Puno, where the Virgin of Candelaria is the patron saint and the celebration goes on for two weeks! Dancing and music go on every day and last late into the night.
On my third day in Arequipa, Adela took me to Michell’s Fiber Mill. There is an outlet store there with all kinds of alpaca yarn at very good prices. Adjacent to the mill is Mundo Alpaca, a museum showing the process of preparing alpaca fleeces for market—both by hand and by machine.
When I entered the restaurant I was overcome with emotion. I was the only one in the lodge eating that night and Juan had prepared a table just for me with white table cloth, tea service, a candle, and romantic Peruvian music in the background.
The south of Peru reminds me of some of the landscapes you see in the Southwest. Miles and miles of open desert country, with an occasional river running through.
This blog entry is especially for all those people who have commented to me about how brave I am for travelling on my own. Occasionally I have these experiences that put me in my place where so-called “courage” is concerned. And what is courage, after all?
I have a pair of sandals that I have had about 10 years and I love them! At home, it is just about impossible to find a shoe repair shop, and even when you do, the repairs are sometimes as much as a new pair of shoes.
There was a group of women right next to me and one of them handed me her beautiful shawl and hat to put on. We laughed as I modeled for the camera.
Each month Michell employs two women from fair-trade organizations in the Cusco area to demonstrate their craft for museum visitors. I sat down beside this beautiful woman and watched her work for a little over an hour.
This is a fusion of Chinese and Peruvian food. It starts out as a stir fry of marinated beef loin (lomo) stir-fried with onions and tomatoes. But there’s a Peruvian twist: Adela mixed the french fried potatoes into the stir-fried meat!
Coca leaves are readily available in the street in Peru. Coca is particularly effective against altitude sickness (“soroche” in Spanish) because coca assists in a greater absorption of oxygen in the blood and therefore to the brain.
On Saturday, the day after I arrived in Arequipa, I decided that I would go and explore the city on my own….it was quite an experience as I learned how to dodge taxis and try not to let the sights and sounds overwhelm me.
I am trying to keep my expenses way down and my pre-trip research revealed that excellent meals can be very cheap here…I had had plenty to eat, but just as I finished my last bite, Leo brought me a small postre (dessert) of sliced bananas. Perfect!
Then I had to find a place to sleep in the airport. I did not want to try to figure out where to stay over just one night when I would be leaving Lima immediately the next day. I found a place where other travelers were awaiting flights the next day and we all slept together on the floor.
In two weeks I am off to a new adventure. By way of explaining the impetus for this trip, I will answer in FAQ format the questions with which friends and acquaintances have been bombarding me.