. . . LAND ROVER OVERLAND EXPEDITION

Having seen the islands on a previous trip, I stayed in the hotel and worked on journals. Taking a break from the computer I wandered down Puno's three-block gringo alley. A pedestrian street packed with restaurants, internet cafes, tour agencies, and shops. Many Indian women sit in the side alleys selling food and souvenirs. I passed this little woman on her way to sell peanuts and snapped a quick picture.

We were very fortunate in Puno to arrive at the same time at the Candelmas fiesta. Thousands of people thronged the Plaza de Armas (main square) for the procession of the Virgin, marching bands, and other entertainment. We saw gauchos (cowboys), regional marching groups that had bussed in from all over the country, and everywhere there were families clutching a picture of the Virgin de la Candelaria (Virgin Mary with candles).  

It was raining on Saturday and we expected that to put a damper on the celebrations. But in the early afternoon the sky cleared and immediately men with flowers began creating large murals on the parade route. 

Less than an hour later a massive parade had formed up following a shoulder carried statue of the Virgin, and they tramped toward the cathedral directly on top of the carefully crafted flower murals. There were at least a dozens stops in the procession as it inched toward the cathedral. Incense was offered, prayers made, flower petals poured onto the figure from the second storey of a bank building overlooking the parade route. And everywhere crowds of people looking on.

Oh, Pisco is also renowned as the home of the white grape brandy that is used to make the infamous Pisco Sour. Cheers.

Though we were hoping to transit Lima and catch a same day flight to Ecuador, it was not to be. We were forced to spend a night in the capitol. This is not a particularly pleasant prospect. Lima is a big, dirty city of over two million inhabitants. Both Sally and I had been forced to spend time there previously, but we were pleasantly surprised this time when we took a cab out to the suburb of Miraflores. I gotta tell you, the government is getting their act together on street cleaning and beautification in the downtown part of Lima, and Miraflores (which was always pretty decent) is darn swanky. We strolled through clean, well-lit parks, past a string of high class restaurants, and stuffed ourselves at a KFC. Can't get enough of that original recipe. In fact, after a movie, drinks at one restaurant, capirinias at a second, and a Romeo y Juliet cigar from a corner smoke shop - Miraflores seemed like a heckova good stopover. 

As Sally said, you travel to many places and get used to the local perception of 'clean'. Most South American countries stop well short of our first-world definition of decent. But every once in awhile, you get to a hotel and walk into a bathroom with shiny clean ceramic tile, fresh toilet paper, and no noticeable odour - and it hits you how much you have been putting up with. It sounds funny to say, but at the sight of the spotless bathroom in our Miraflores hotel, we both flopped down on our beds and let out a sigh of contentment. Maybe we were on the gringo trail, but sometimes a 3-piece KFC meal combo and a functional flushing toilet is cultural perfection.