Puno, Arequipa, Camaná and Ica with little to say

I've been told by someone pretty smart that I'm an emotional traveller - not that this would've come as a shock to me. What he means that I LOVE the place and everything about it if I'm feeling good and HATE it if I'm feeling blue or unwell. Could be true. But what does it mean if I don't feel anything?

The last towns we've been to, Puno, Arequipa, Camaná and Ica, haven't been too bad but not too impressive either. I don't even quite know what to write about them.
So congrats - you'll get another picture entry!

This is where the desert meets the snow covered mountains between Bolivia and Peru before arriving to Puno on the shore of the lake Titicaca.



The bus ride from Puno to Arequipa (15 soles, 4€) was supposed to take five hours but took in fact seven. After seeing only cactuses and rocks, + a few vicuñas, arriving to Arequipa with its lava formed looking surroundings was pretty cool.




Arequipa has some great parks, for example El jardín de la ciudad with monkeys and all – don't miss them! Miradores, the view places, on the other hand are not that impressive, and the Peruvian independence day on the 28th passed surprisingly enough without any special celebrations.








The ride from Arequipa to Camaná (15 soles, 4€, 4 hours) left 45 minutes later than promised and stopped to get more passengers at the economy terminal (same trip cheaper?) right next door. On the way I got to see real desert with several oasis for the first time; endless seeming piles of sand with surprising green spots every few kilometres. It's shocking what a bit of water (and watering systems) can do to a sand box.






If you see a fruit you've never seen before, you need to buy it and learn how to eat it. Granadillo fruit were definitely worth a try.




The bus from Camaná to Pisco (35 soles, 9€, 12 hours) arrived more than half an hour late and took double as long as we had been told at the Flores company terminal, so we got off at Ica instead after 10 hours. On the way, we saw the strangest landscapes: desert with only sand or rocks on one side of the bus and with the sea shore on the other.




Getting off at Ica was not planned but turned out to be a good thing. The next day we took a taxi (4 soles, 1€) to the neighboring village of Huacachina and tried some sand boarding (read:climbing on top of a sand mountain and falling on our bums about 20 times on the way down) there. It was fun but we were done after less than an hour (board rent 5 soles). Maybe we'll try snow the next time...




Ask questions if you want to know more.
Next entry will have some cool pics - poor man's Galapagos are pretty amazing you('ll) see...

Accommodation tips for those of you travelling in these parts:

Puno
*Puno Terra Hotel, one of the nicest places we've stayed in Latin America, bargained ensuite double down to 60 soles (16€)

Arequipa
*La posada del Virrey, okay, ensuite double for bout 50 soles (14€)
*Amazing Home Backpackers, nice with the best breakfast pancakes ever, double for 60 soles (16€)
Camaná
*Hotel Premium(?), nice, follow the signs from the bus station, ensuite double for 50 soles (14€)
Ica
*Hotel Huacachina, fine, nearly opposite to Flores bus terminal, ensuite double for 50 soles (14€)