Buffet Lunch at the Puno/Cusco Line

Felix took us to a roadside buffet Javier had arranged for us. We had been on the road since early in the morning. The buffet of traditional Peruvian fare was really good. The kids enjoyed the buffet meals because they could eat what they wanted. My favorite dish was the arroz con leche, one of four choices for dessert in addition to ice cream which was pure cream frozen.


This picture is one of many I took of Dad on the phone. The Jeffries and I decided it will make a fun blog.

This llama, tied to the sign that marks the beginning of the route to Cusco, clearly is nearing the time for shearing. He was very peaceful, tame, and seemed to enjoy the attention.

There were other llamas or vicunas on the restaurant grounds, a petting zoo of sorts. The kids had a good time with them.

Emma took this picture of herself with the llamas. She is wearing my hat.

We passed villages like this one, a particularly picturesque village because of the typical mud wall enclosure, thatched roofs, and stone and mortar houses and, of course, the family dog and llama.

This is the year of elections for mayors and city councilmen. Alcade (pronounced al-caw-day) is Spanish for mayor. Many property owners allow the candidates to paint on their houses, walls and roofs. We learned that the candidates tell the owners they will repaint after the elections, but too often those promises are not kept. An interesting side note is that first weekend of October, General Conference weekend, no public meetings are allowed because of the elections. So church members in Peru cannot watch the satellite broadcast in the stake centers.

This is a little chapel in the middle of nowhere but is a community chapel. I wish we could have seen the front of it.

One could get the idea this is the queen llama. She has such attitude. Behind her is the typical market found at every stop along the Inca Road.

So after three days in Puno in Puno, 14,000 above sea level, we are really headed to Cusco which is only 12,000 feet. We arrived in Puno on Monday night, August 9th, after an hour drive from the airport in Juliaca. The air was so thin, we felt heady. We thought we were prepared for the altitude, but we weren't. So this day, Wednesday, everyone felt much better than the day before.

This shot shows the scenery. As brown and barren as this landscape is, the drive was quite scenic.