Back in Australia
Back at work
Back to writing about this journey...
Now where was I?
Dinner the night before we left Arequipa was served atop the tallest building overlooking the brightly night-lit white stone cathedral in the main square. The climb up to the rooftop restaurant was via a narrow stairwell that changed so markedly between levels that it wasn’t beyond the realm of imagination to think the building had grown floor by floor, over a period of years to attain a better view of the square. As I laboured up the steep steps I imagined the workers, who no doubt, carried supplies up the five floors to the restaurant on a daily basis.
Once we were seated on the open terrace, a lass in a traditional outfit draped us all in turn with heavy woolen ponchos, those usually only worn by Peruvian men and shepherds, to keep us comfortable in the cooling night air. The food was forgettable but the view was splendid. I ordered a cheese salad never thinking that cheese would be the main ingredient with salad vegetables as a garnish. Tedy negotiated free pisco sours for all, and they arrived in such tiny glasses we had to order another round before we were satisfied.
Hayley left the dinner early feeling unwell. On the way back to the hotel the youngest 4 of the party – Kai and Manya, Tedy and Jaime tried unsuccessfully to con me into going out on the town as they headed off to see what the Arequipan night life consisted of. I was tired from sightseeing and once back in the room Hayley quizzed me about exactly where they had gone.
The next morning we joined one another in the breakfast room. I ran back to get my reading glasses and mistakenly burst into Tedy and Jaime’s room. Jaime had a look of panic on his face that made me laugh – I’m not sure what he imagined I was there for – and Tedy good naturedly ribbed me for being a blonde and forgetting my room number. I returned to breakfast and found it had a delicious selection of fruits together with great smelling coffee in a tall white china pot. I ordered my customary huevo (egg) and poured myself a full cup, surprised at the thick sticky consistency of the coffee. I knew when I added the milk that I’d made an unfortunate error. What I had greedily poured into my cup was a coffee base mix that was to be added sparingly to hot water. Afraid of appearing rude to the attentive waiter I gulped the bitter sludge down while picturing the sleepless night that awaited me after such a massive hit of caffeine.
Later as we headed out of the city we stopped briefly to allow Hayley to get money from an ATM, and I jumped out of the bus to buy a sun hat at the ubiquitous roadside stall. The women sat behind their wide range of wears all spread on blankets on the dusty footpath. I chose a fawn bucket hat with an Adiddas logo from the vast range of ‘branded’ hats. I refused to bargain and paid the price first asked – the woman generously threw in a colourful brooch made from wool wrapped around wire in the shape of a man and woman in a fond embrace. I turned the hat inside out and pinned the brooch on the front. Perfect. I’d landed a winner. Tedy was already wearing his new orange baby alpaca knitted beanie he’d bought the day before, and it looked very striking. Back on the bus and we slowly wound our way out of Arequipa and over the top of the Andes.
Gradually the jumble of grey concrete buildings lining the road thinned then disappeared completely giving way to breathtaking views in every direction of a most mountainous desert. The geology was astonishing. I wildly snapped shots through the window of the bus as we climbed higher and higher, til we reached a plateau covered with hummocks of tall golden grass where there was a tourist bus stop complete with a café and roadside stall with an extraordinary eroding mesa towering above. We all ordered coca tea on Maritza’s recommendation to deal with the effects of the altitude. Patrick was looking poorly and began to succumb to a combination of flu and altitude sickness. I felt a dull ache in the middle of my skull, not unlike the throb of a hangover without the fun to concoct it. I mentally congratulated myself on the decision not to go out partying the night before.
We all photographed the mesa, checked out the stall run by women with small children in tow, selling a rainbow of scarves and blankets and hats and jumpers, then Tedy and Kai and I fed and patted the llamas and sheep round the back of the café. We all drank tea before heading off and upward to highest point of the trip.
The bus pulled off the road after about an hour at a rock wall that blistered off the main road. From the vantage we were surrounded by a suite of volcanoes – all young looking and covered in what I thought looked to be scoria; small light pumice stones. At this point, at the top of Andes, for us anyway, there were thousands of short rock cairns in every direction, holding secret forever the prayers, hopes and wishes of their constructors. Before we got out of the bus Maritza advised us not run because of the altitude. Run? Wow, I was having trouble just standing. My body felt heavy and weighted down by an intense gravity I had never experienced. Moving felt like swimming through viscous gravy.
The stop at the top had the added highlight of public conveniences
and I walked with intent across the road to make use of the opportunity. The toilets were short domed huts of dry stone, with a low opening that caused you to stoop to get in. The wooden door didn’t close and the toilet was a hole cut into some timber boards spanning a deep long drop. I put aside any modesty and after using the toilet, struggled to regain my feet when I stood up. I imagined for a moment the catastrophe that would unfold if one were to fall in the hole.
Back at the viewpoint we took photos of each other and I built a mini cairn from tiny pebbles wishing health and happiness for friends and family and for myself. Later in the bus on the way down to Chivay, Kai took charcoal tablets to try to stem what ailed him, I’m not sure if he was treating the altitude sickness but he dutifully chewed the charcoal tablets and looked hilarious with black teeth and gums smiling like a lunatic. Everyone laughed.
We had all bought coca leaves in Arequipa on the recommendation of Maritza and I started chewing a few into a wad to stow in my cheek. The taste was bitter and slightly grassy but the effect was brilliant. The remedy eased my headache and from then on I was a convert. Patrick and Anne and Hayley all bought coca candy – small green boiled coca lollies individually wrapped that I found out later actually worked as well.
We wound down into the Colca Valley and to Chivay where we ate a tourist smorgasboard lunch in a hall with half a dozen other tour groups – most much larger than ours. The food was delicious and plentiful. Then went back to hotel for the afternoon. The room Hayley I shared was hardly larger than our two single beds on an inside facing courtyard with a tiny bathroom to match. Hayley flopped on her bed declaring that she needed to rest. Still very much buzzing from my morning coffee I opted for a walk out of the musty room and headed for the local market.
