In the Footsteps of the Incas: From Mountains to Jungle to Ancient Ruins About This Page:

[DrDolphin]

Oh my - what a way to end the installment!! Hurry back soon and tell us more!! PLease??

[Sandra Bostwick]

What a fun TR! Yes, 700 miles is a pretty long distance relationship.

[DouglasE]

Tell me about it Sandra!

My family is from North Jersey. My father is from Patterson and West Patterson. My mom is from Clifton. As a little boy we lived in Belleville and North Arlington. I don't think there are any family members living around there now because I do believe it is a state law that after you turn 65 or so you must migrate down to Florida.

[LLaffinPlace]

I am hanging on to every word and looking forward to the next update to find out about Craig's status!

[PrincessSharon]

I'm late to the party, but glad I found it before I fell very far behind. I admire your planning the whole thing yourself. Not sure I'd be brave enough to do so myself. I hadn't really considered the impact of baggage fees on overhead bins, but it makes sense. Because I so often fly Southwest (where you can check 2 bags for free) I don't have to deal with that. And I can't believe Craig lost the extra hiking boots! Crossing my fingers that you were able to find a solution (or the boots). Also crossing my fingers that you were able to find Craig!

[pamcarey]

This is going to be so interesting! I really enjoyed the Samantha Brown show where she went to Macchu Pichu. That looks like a fascinating place. Can't wait for more. I hope Craig turns up soon!

[DouglasE]

Saturday, October 10, 2009

I roam around the food court area waiting for Craig to show up. I wait and wait. I’m not all that concerned because our plan was to meet each other at the departure gate to Juliaca. Even though the entry to domestic departures is closed at this time, I’m not incredibly worried at this point. Truth be told, I’m just bored. I would really just love to have a conversation with him to pass the time. As I sit reading a book, I glance up and see Craig approaching. We settle down at a table in the food court area and get caught up with things. Prior to my trip, snapfish.com had sent a coupon for a free photo card. I had one made for Craig with pictures of the two of us together with a message that read something like, “Can’t wait for the “Wow”! moments to begin!”. The photo card came out so nice I really didn’t want to part with it. I wanted one too! This was Craig’s first surprise (the good variety) of the trip. I had a few more in store for him at the end, but I’m getting ahead of myself with that.



Craig at Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chavez






It turns out a big reason for Craig’s delay is that he has several friends in Illinois who are Peruvian. One of them, Jackie, had asked him to act as a courier for her. He was meeting someone at the Lima airport and giving him a package. Sounds very “007”, doesn’t it? Relax, it was clothing and items for the home (no bags of cocaine). After the loss of the hiking boots, he called Jackie who then called her friend in Lima who was to receive the aforementioned package. The limeno ends up purchasing a pair of hiking boots. Craig passes Jackie’s package and he gives Craig a brand new pair of hiking boots. Craig was prepared to pay the guy, but he basically gave the boots to Craig as a “thank you”. Now I have my surprise - a wonderful new pair of hiking boots!

Check out my new pair of hiking boots! I love them!



Craig grabs a bite to eat and we talk about all that happened to us over the course of the day for a few hours. Eventually, it becomes time to go to our gate for our Juliaca flight. We pass through security and had a little surprise there. The Lima airport didn’t require us to take off our shoes. Aaah! One less thing to deal with at security. Sweet! The Lima airport is very well signed so we found our departure gate easily.


I have a little rest before our flight to Juliaca. Does my rear look big to you?





Transferring from airplane to airport





We discovered a very important fact. If you are booking internal Peruvian flights do NOT do so through someone in the United States. We had a travel agency in Peru book our internal flights. We purchased one flight from Lima to Juliaca and another flight for later in our trip from Cusco to Lima. Tickets for the two of us for both flights totaled $192. On a lark I went to Orbitz and Expedia to see how much one ticket for Lima to Juliaca would cost, it was $500! Lesson learned!

Our airline was LAN Peru. LAN is a stable airline operating throughout South America. The flight was very similar to those in the United States with the exception that most of the announcements are in Spanish and English. Our flight makes a stop at Arequippa and then continues on to Juliaca.

Wow Moment! My first Wow Moment of the trip was as we approach Arequippa looking out of the window of the airplane I see the most incredible views of Canyon de Coca and the volcano Mt. Misti. It was amazing! My immediate reaction is that I must return to Peru to go hiking through Canyon Colca. It is deeper than the Grand Canyon and shadowed by snow-capped peaks.

When we land I experience a travel first. I had never been on a flight where they wheel out one of those ladders to meet the plane on the tarmac. Juliaca’s airport is tiny. Its airport is basically one big room. As we wait for our luggage to appear on the carousel we are serenaded by a Peruvian music group including pan pipes. What a great introduction to Peru!

Being serenaded at the airport



Juliaca's airport



Just outside the airport building we hop on board a collectivo. A collectivo is like a mini van or mini bus that departs once it is filled with customers for its destination. Basically anyone flying into Juliaca is bound for Puno. It took no time at all for our collectivo to fill up with passengers. There were about 15 of us. I think there were only one other pair of Gringos. We negotiated our price before getting into the vehicle. The trip is 30 nuevo oles. The current exchange rate is 2.8 nuevo soles to one dollar. So roughly this trip is $10. It was immediately clear to me that I am in a developing nation as we motor our way through Juliaca. Juliaca is dirty, dusty, and the buildings seem to be cobbled together with whatever materials that happen to be handy. As we emerge from Juliaca the scenes change from urban to agricultural. Livestock and agriculture are very prevalent here. We see llama and sheep from the windows of our collectivo. The road to Puno is very dirty and dusty. As we approach Puno the dirt road becomes very winding and curving. Our collectivo driver shouts out for drop off locations. Our Spanish sucks! I had a little notebook and I quickly print out our Puno destination. At the first stop I have Craig show the driver my note with the name and address of our bed and breakfast. We travel a circuitous route through Puno dropping off people here and there. We start to get quite stressed because we don’t know if the driver really knows where he’s supposed to drop us off. How will we get to Inka’s Rest Bed and Breakfast!?! We are hungry, had little or no sleep, and are a bit stressed out with this business. Is my headache due to stress or the onset of soroche (altitude sickness).

The grittiness of Juliaca



Aboard our collectivo



A peak out my collectivo window: my first look at Lake Titicaca and Puno



NEXT: Will we make it to Inka’s Rest? A lesson in soroche.

[ccmom]

Really enjoying this so far. I think it's funny that you're in an airport in Peru and in the background is a Papa John's. Juliaca looks much more authentic. Hope you made it to your bed and breakfast!

[chezp]

What a wonderful update - it's so great to start seeing shots of the country and I'm so glad you got some new boots!

[Colexis Mom]

Great update Douglas! Glad Craig showed up and you got some new boots! Love the pictures!

[lauriep]

Glad you and Craig found each other at the airport and you got new boots! Uh, oh... I hope you aren't going to have a problem with the altitude!

[Mickey Mama]

I am really enjoying your trip report! I'm glad you got new hiking boots. I can't imagine hiking in casual shoes! Can't wait to read more!

[goofysdtr]

Glad to see you got some new boots. Whew!

Hoping that your bus driver hasn't forgotten you & that your headache goes away soon!

[DouglasE]

ccmom, chezp, Colexi's Mom, Lauriep, Mickey Mama, goofystdr: Thank you for all your kind words. As you will discover as I describe what I went through, there is no way on this green earth that I would have been able to do what I did in anything but a good pair of hiking boots. That was one crisis that I am so grateful got resolved easily.

[LLaffinPlace]

Originally Posted by DouglasE

ccmom, chezp, Colexi's Mom, Lauriep, Mickey Mama, goofystdr: Thank you for all your kind words. As you will discover as I describe what I went through, there is no way on this green earth that I would have been able to do what I did in anything but a good pair of hiking boots. That was one crisis that I am so grateful got resolved easily.

I was also glad to read that not only did you and Craig meet up nicely, your hiking boot problem was taken care of without a lot of trouble.

Thanks for the pictures and the descriptions.

And, wow! You have such a talent for ending an episode that makes me anxious for the next installment!