Sunday, May 20, 2018

Peruvian Adventure Day 15

Day 15- Depart Cusco, arrive Lake Titikaka .

We left this morning for the airport to fly to Juliaca, the closest airport to Lake Titicaca.  Lake Titicaca lies on the border of Bolivia and Peru on the alteplano, or highlands.  We were picked up at the airport by Abel, a guide from our hotel, Titilaka.  Before we left the airport, Abel checked everyone’s oxygen saturations.  If you were below 80, there was an oxygen tank in the minibus (can’t make this sh#$%* up).  We all passed the test!  Helps having been at altitude for the past 9 days.


Before heading to the hotel (about a 2-hr. drive), Abel wanted to show us the town of Lampa, the “pink city”.  
Stop to see the "Pink City" on the way to our hotel

Lampa gets that name from the pink colored bricks used in the construction of the buildings in town. It is a sleepy little town, but with much history.  

We first visited the the Iglesia Santiago Apóstol. a beautiful building, though showing some signs of wear. 


Lampa Square

Lampa Cathedral


Lampa Cathedral


The church had an interesting ossuary, , made from the bones of around 1,000 people, many arranged in skull-and-crossbones patterns. 

Ossuary
Ossuary

and it had a life sized exact replica of the Pieta donated to it by the Pope.  

The original replica (oxymoron?) was in plaster and was originally intended for the church — until it became obvious that weighing in at more than one ton, it was too heavy And an aluminum (much lighter) replica was made to replace this. The story behind Lampa’s La Pietà is also fascinating. The replica was the dream of a local man who, it turns out, happened to have the perfect connection; a sister who was a nun and worked in the Vatican. In fact, legend has it that Lampa’s version of this famous statute is so perfect that when a vandal damaged the original in St. Peter’s in the 1970s, knocking off one of her arms, the Italian restorers travelled all the way to Lampa to measure the replica before beginning their work in Rome.

 It sits atop the ossuary in the church’s Capella de Santiago, donated by Enrique Torres Belón, one of Lampa’s most famous sons, Engineer and politician, he designed and built the tomb in the mid-20th century so that he could rest in peace, along with his wife, surrounded by the earthly remains of the city’s forebears, bones that were taken from crypts, the catacombs under the city.

Life size aluminum Pieta
Suzie in the catacombs

 It was near lunch time, and the hotel sent huge boxed lunches for each of us.  We relaxed in the sun in the town square and ate our lunch trying not to think of all those bones. 
Lunch in main square of Lampa

After lunch, the city hall was opened for our perusal.  

Lampa City Hall

Outside, there were several murals depicting the history of the area from pre-Incan times through the Spanish invasion into present day. 







Inside were a library donated by Torres Belon, as well as life-sized statues of Belon


and Víctor Humañreda Gallegos, a famous Peruvian impressionist painter, born in Lampa in the 1920’s.  

Courtyard of city hall


There was also an interesting statue donated by Belon of an Ayarachi dancer- part of an ancient funeral procession.

Ayarachi funeral procession dancer

Back into our minibus (with O2 provided) for the 2-hour drive to our hotel, Titilaka.  The drive across the Alteplano was pretty boring, not much in the way of scenery, until we reached Puno, on the southwestern shores of Lake Titicaca.  Puno seemed to be qhite built up with many houses and high-rise hotels.  This is where most people visiting Lake Titicaca stop.  
Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca

But we continued on through rich farmland along the lakeshore,



another 30 or 40 minutes to the tiny village of Titilaka.  We pulled up to an unassuming 3 story structure on the lake.  
Titilaka Resort

When we entered, we found an all but unassuming boutique hotel.  

We were greeted by  a gentleman whom we all agreed looked like Mr. Miyagi (“Karate Kid”) who turned out to be the manager of Titilaka and her sister hotel in Lima (think of Ricardo Montalbam in “Fantasy Island”.  In fact, his name is Ricardo).  

He seemed to always turn up, and was a great storyteller and host.  On arrival, we had delicious muña tea, good for altitude sickness.  Our rooms afforded a stunning view of the lake looking east with the largest bed we’d ever seen. 
After a hot  shower, we met in the bar for Pisco sours trying all their variations including prickly pear Pisco sours, and gooseberry Pisco sours.  We then met with our guide for our stay, Alberth, a native of the :floating reed islands (more about that later).  Before dinner, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset.




Sunset over Lake Titicaca



Dinner was amazing, wide selection and deliciously prepared.  We had alpaca, duck, trout, and tenderloin, all prepared with local flare.  The chocolate and Grand Marnier soufflés, as well as the chocolate mousse and Tiramisu were all big hits for dessert.   I tried the Suspiro Lemeño, a custard and merangue, to compare it with Jeri’s version that we had at our Peruvian dinner before we left.  She nailed it, as usual!

Tomorrow we will spend the day on the lake.

"Do Not Disturb"




























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