What a special trip!

We left Puno around 1 pm, and I have to admit, I was quite relieved to know I was heading for some lower altitude, which meant, less cold weather .I am ok with wearing sweaters and gloves, but I will never get used to houses that are not heated, not even a minimum! So, after three weeks in the cold, lets head for some more nice temperatures.
I had booked the bus the day before, so I could choose my seat: first row, upper level, with a big window in front of me! Panoramic view!
Arequipa is at 2300m, so I thought we would slowly descent. Nope. For five hours, we slowly climbed! 
The first hour was an nice ride in the country side, land that was cultivated, farms, and herds of sheep and lamas. The hills around looked like if they were covered with velvet, hiding the sharp edges and making it look so smooth. Closer I saw that it was because some grass, like we have at the coast in sand dunes, was growing there .
In Juliaca, like in most less important cities, you have the main street in concrete, but most of the side streets are in dirt. Since it is rainy season, the side streets are full of holes and puddles, while the main street is covered with mud. It gives a real desolate aspect! But then suddenly, one part of the street has brand new sidewalks, with benches here and there and pieces of grass… for about one kilometre . Then it stops and becomes depressing again. 
Some cars, but mostly moto-taxis, a motorbike with a roofed trailer where two people can sit. Or same principle but with a trailer to carry stuff. Sometimes it is not a motorbike but a regular bike, like a rickshaw. All kind of vendors on the street, I saw this woman with on her little trailer, a bottle of propane gas, a little stove, a pan and whatever she prepared in it to sell. A friend passed by and gave her a large bag of the local pop corn, which are so big, since the corn here is bigger than chick peas!
After Juliana, we were getting higher, and driving through what I could call a Pampa. One large plateau, really large, only very far away I saw “hills" which of course were the tops of high mountains. Very desolate. Farms built with these sun dried dirt or manure bricks. More lama herds. Sometimes far away people busy working in the land.
We climbed, went over a pass at 4413m, and around the corner, a lovely lake, inclosed by hills, and a little in the mist . Oups no, it is just the windows of the bus that get damp, because outside it is getting so cold ;-)
We continued climbing, and passed 4528m. Another plateau. A village, quite depressing, concrete barracks, no chimney nowhere. I had no idea how they heated the house, if ever the did. How can people live like that!
Now I really could not see anything anymore because the windows of the bus were completely damp. It was getting darker, 18hr. So I took a little nap. 
I woke up because we stopped. A long traffic jam! Apparently an accident further on the road. After one hour moving very slowly, finally, we saw this policeman making us leave the road and take a dirt way to cut off the curve where the accident was (and that I did not see). I really did not feel at ease, this two stories bus didn't feel very stable, it swinged a lot, but the driver did a great job, and I really admired him when he managed to get back on the actual road, which was not large! 
From then on we started to descent, and after one hour arrived in Arequipa, around 9 pm. 
I took a taxi, reached my hostel, and fell asleep, enjoying to be able to sleep without wearing a woollen sweater and big socks ;-)