We left the campground at Las Mercedes in Arequipa earlier than 9 o’clock yesterday and Google figured we’d be near the lake by 3:30.
Nevertheless we quickly found no manner had been we going to cowl the 140 miles, as a result of Freeway 34A is terrible.
It’s arduous to see in images however the pavement is patched to dying, inconsistently in a manner that makes a heavy van bounce. All day lengthy. It was exhausting.
The surroundings was very good and all however this can be a main artery between the coast and the inside. Technically it’s known as the Inter-ocean Freeway connecting the Pacific to the Atlantic throughout Peru and Brazil.
The quantity of site visitors on a Saturday was wonderful and it was largely heavy vans which may also clarify why the asphalt is so badly wrecked.
In wet season you will get mist (“neblina”) in these highlands. Arequipa is at 7,400 ft and the highway right here topped out at 14,600 ft.
They name this space the excessive plains (“altiplano”) and it’s an space that stretches riches from right here south throughout Bolivia, certainly most of that nation is between 12,000 and 14,000 ft.
It’s a tough place to make a dwelling. Temperatures drop to freezing just about yr spherical at evening. We’re far above the tree line and although we’ve been fortunate to date it may be unbearably windy. Aside from that it’s beautiful.
This was the primary time we’d seen vicuñas. The animals you understand as llamas (“yamas”) are actually damaged down into 4 so known as camelids, inasmuch as they’re rebated biologically to camels. In a continent devoid of horses they had been fairly helpful earlier than Spaniards launched horses.
So far we had met llamas, taller with fur in shades of black and brown, and the dbler white alpacas with the tender coat that you simply put on, and down south the burly guanacos in Patagonia. And now these light deer-like dainty vicuñas. They’re mentioned to run quickest of all.
It’s a protected reserve for them however we drive by means of a small city or two up there within the excessive plains of the vicuña.
The city of Imata on the River of the sand band subsequent to a bridge known as…Imata.
They are going to repair your bike and cost your batteries right here. We had a reasonably respectable cellphone sign up right here which stunned me. It didn’t final after all.
A resort (“hospedaje “):
A cone however no police; we breezed on by means of. There was additionally alleged to be a fruit checkpoint however that wasn’t staffed both.
In the event you want a bathroom this city is for you:
And right here you will get fried alpaca chunks. A avenue vendor bought us a bag of meat chunks, properly spiced with a boiled potato and boiled corn in a plastic bag. It was scrumptious d Pugh I forgot to {photograph} it.
However the meat chunks had been wrapped round suspiciously small bones. It was under no circumstances helpful and will have been beef however I’m fairly positive it was alpaca. It appears odd consuming these animals nevertheless it’s a case of what you might be used to. They usually stay nicely.