Lima Supermarkets

Ever wonder what the supermarkets are like in Lima?  Well they are just as clean and large as their North American counterparts.  The three largest supermarket chains that Misterpiggy visited were Plaza Vea, Wong's and Metro (no relation to the same named chain in Canada).  The supermarkets could also be found in some of the smaller cities as well, sometimes right across the street from the big open air markets known as Mercados.

Hiking in Sacred Valley

Alex the tour guide arrived just as Misterpiggy finished enjoying his hotel breakfast buffet.  By 8:30 am, the chartered van sped along the dusty road towards the ollantaytambo town, but turned off the main
road after about 30 mins into the area called Pachar, not far from the Urubamba train station.

misterpiggy trekked for about an hour and a half along a flat trail running parallel to the train
tracks and the urabamba river.  along the way, he saw giant cactus plants, artichoke plants and met dogs of various sizes, chickens, pigs, cows, dragonflies and hummingbirds. misterpiggy learned that horses, pigs and cows had been brought to south america by the spanish conquerors as the only animals present during inca times were llamas and alpacas.

Soon he came upon, Choqana, which held a small fortress ruin, which Alex the guide called a wind
gate. indeed, as you turned the corner, it became very windy.

Looking up, one could see a rock formation that looked like a giant condor perched on the mountain top.

After a quick box lunch provided by Alex, the trail ascended along a ridge on the mountain side and soon misterpiggy could see the valley floor, a ridge of terraces and a wall of mountains.  as he trekked he could make out the town below, the train station and the Inka fortress ruins. looking back along the path, misterpiggy had some very spectacular views.

Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca

On this excursion, Misterpiggy spent the night with a host family on the island of Amantani.  Getting to the island was a leisurely three hour boat ride.  The boat had enclosed comfortable seating for about 50 people, but if one wanted could go on the roof to drink in the views of expansive sky and water.

Misterpiggy was assigned his host on disembarkation from the boat.  Her name was Senora Julia (pronounced hoo-lia) and communicated with her via gestures as her English was as non-existent as misterpiggy's Spanish.  misterpiggy learned from she lived alone in a house while her husband and children worked back in the city of Puno.

Misterpiggy laboured to keep up, following her as she easily ascended up the winding dirt paths on ancient terraces to her tiny home high atop the island. Her home consisted of three buildings and surrounding yards for farming.

The main building held the sleeping rooms, one for her and one for guests.  in the guest room, there was a light bulb hanging from the ceiling, a small table and three beds made of straw or reeds.  the pillows were also made of straw.  linens and blankets had a musty odour, as if unused for a long time.

the second building was the eating room a kitchen no bigger than a large closet.  her eating area had a large uneven table and benches around it.  a small barren shelf held a few cooking condiments and a handful of small vegetables. the floors were dirt. The final building looked like she was adding a new addition to the house, possibly from her earnings as a host for tourists.

running water came from a single spout in her yard, which Senora Julia used for cleaning and cooking.  on the other side of the new addition was a room with a tank-less toilet, which you had a bucket of water outside.  if the bucket was empty you carried it back to the spout and filled it with water.  then you lugged it back and scooped water from it into the toilet to flush the waste.

there was only enough electricity to run a light bulb in a room.  if wanted to turn on a light in the bedroom, the kitchen light had to be turned off and vice versa.  during the evening, Senora Julia would cook and clean only by the light of a flashlight she wore on her head.

senora julia tried to keep misterpiggy well fed from her near empty food shelf.  she offered large bowls of quinoa soup each meal, and various raw vegetables, mostly potatoes which tasted surprisngly good.  oh and some delicious salty cheese which complemented the taste of the potatoes.  Unlike some of the other homes nestled into the hillside, she didn't keep any livestock like chickens, sheep or cows, hence her mostly vegetarian meals.

at night, it was freezing and without heat, misterpiggy only had the 3 blankets which could not stop his shivering all night.  he could feel the cold air seeping in from the uncaulked window and door.  unable to sleep, he went out into the pitch black and looked up at the night sky luminated by a full moon and stare at the stars in awe, waiting for the frigid night to pass.

More Arequipa

Here are some pictures from Misterpiggy's tour of the landmarks around Arequipa, including the main Cathedral and  Carmen Alto.