Category Travel
Colca Excursion: Peruvian Camelids
Peru boasts two of the world’s deepest canyons, both of which are within a day’s drive from Arequipa. Of the two, Colca Canyon is the deepest (it measures 4,160 meters in depth; the third deepest in the world after canyons in China and Nepal, and more than twice the depth of the Grand Canyon). It […]
Arequipa: Sunday Night
On Sunday, after church and visiting the monastery, Amanda and I wandered around the old downtown area of Arequipa. Although not quite as charming as Cusco, Arequipa is still a lovely city, with many fine examples of Spanish colonial architecture. Almost all of the buildings (old as well as new) are constructed from the white “sillar” […]
Arequipa: Santa Catalina Monastery
Nestled in the colonial heart of Arequipa is the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, a still-working convent that was founded in 1580 by a rich old widow. It was a super-selective, prestigious convent where the upper crust sent their second daughters (or other daughters not destined for marriage) to become nuns. Once inside, the women never left […]
Mormons in Arequipa
On Sunday, Amanda and I mended our heathen ways and went to church — and we had such a great time that we’re seriously tempted to go to church more often when we travel! The day started off on a somber note. As we walked to the chapel (which we found after abandoning the church’s […]
Puno to Arequipa
Another 6-hour bus ride today. This time from Puno to Arequipa, the second-largest city in Peru. No good stories emerged from this trip. The bus wasn’t great — it smelled bad and had cracked windows — but it didn’t break down and had sufficiently good air circulation that the windows remained unfogged the entire time […]
Puno – Lake Titicaca
Yesterday was a mixed bag, with some high points and some really low points. The first two-thirds were pretty miserable. I woke up at 4:45am (an hour before the alarm was to sound) and could not go back to sleep. At firs, it was just a question of needing to use the facilities. But I contunued […]
So cold!
As I type I am lying in a little posada in Puno, Peru (12,420 ft) under five woolen blankets (plus the topsheet), wearing three pairs of pants, two shirts, two sweaters, two pairs of socks, and the “sun thing” that Heather and Jordan gave me for Christmas on my head. I look like a cross […]
Cuzco – Day 2
By comparison to the past two days, today was downright calm. We slept in later than usual (getting up at 9am) and spent the rest of the day taking care of basic needs (laundry, some groceries), additional travel plans (bus tickets to Lake Titicaca, our next destination), and sight-seeing around town. In particular, we went to […]
Wayna Picchu
As you’ll recall from my post about Machu Picchu, I lucked out and got to be one of the 400 people permitted to climb Wayna Picchu on the day we visited. It is probably the steepest hike I’ve ever done (without crampons and and an ice-axe, at least), and it certainly was one of the most dramatic settings for any hike […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 