Not far from Arequipa, as is natural in a volcanic region, are springs of great reputation. One situated about a league from the city produces an excellent table water, called the Agua de Jesus or de Misti, highly recommended for general use, good also for several ailments. It is a pleasant ride with a fine prospect all along the way, and with opportunity at the end for a bath in a clear, effervescent pool, where the water, charged with carbonic acid gas, rising from the gravel floor, seems to have a highly exhilarating effect.
In the opposite direction, 15 miles from Arequipa near the railway leading to Puno, are the Baths of Yura, a watering place of growing fame, with baths of sulphur and of iron. These may be enjoyed free of charge, as the Government has erected suitable buildings over the various springs; though in order to profit by them, unless camping out, one must pay a moderate board at one of the neighboring hotels. The Gran Hotel de las Termas, in a pretty garden, supplies comfortable quarters and food (bathing suits, etc.), at S. 2.50 a day. The waters are said to cure stomach troubles, skin diseases, rheumatism, etc.
CHAPTER XII
THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY—CUZCO
A tri-weekly train is now scheduled from Arequipa up over the mountains, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; the Wednesday only connects with an express to Cuzco. These trains, are provided with buffet chair cars, which make the long journey less wearisome. Persons who have suffered slight inconvenience on the trip to Oroya need not fear a repetition of unpleasant symptoms on this journey, the stay of a few days at Arequipa making the change in atmospheric pressure more gradual; also a second experience is generally less trying, and the top of the southern pass, 14,666 feet, is 1000 feet lower than that on the Central Railroad.
The scenery between Arequipa and Juliaca presents far less of grandeur than is witnessed on the Oroya road, though for a time it should keep the attention. The white city with the deep green of the Chili Valley, and graceful Misti with its more rugged sisters on either hand, for a half hour form a delightful picture, as the track winds along down, and later begins to climb around the other end of Chachani. The dry and channeled slopes of this mountain, the desert of volcanic sand and lava rock for a while may interest, but there is a good deal of sameness to the view, somewhat enlivened by two distant splendid snowclad massifs, Amfato and Coropuna.
The Baths of Yura, an hour from Arequipa, are invisible from its station: a glimpse of the green cañon may be had later. Presently Chachani and Misti are seen from the rear, appearing considerably lower from the increased elevation. On the Pampa de Arrieros, a bleak, grass-covered plateau, the highest point of the divide is passed at Crucero Alto. Beyond is the breakfast station, Lagunillas, near which among the graceful rounded hills are two romantic lakes, Saracocha, and Cachipascana, one on each side of the track. In spite of these and the lines of beauty in the contour of the hills, the plateau is rather dreary: to live happily at any of these stations, one must needs be a true lover of solitude. With good fortune one may descry in the distance a few vicuñas, cousin to the llama, but with much finer wool, often called fur, of a tawny shade, as light in weight as chinchilla; perhaps a drove of the almost equally rare alpacas; the former in a wild state, the latter under care and cultivation.
Juliaca, the junction, is a busy place, always thronged with Indians and a scattering of white people. From here to Puno the train is generally crowded; but if on the way to Cuzco, you will not mind, as this is the junction where the roads divide. Probably you must descend here to spend the night. Passing through the station on the right of the track, you will find a plaza, on the left side of which is a hotel providing clean beds and enough to eat, with no display of elegance. The next morning at 9.15 you may set out for Cuzco, if Thursday arriving there at 7.40 p.m. If Tuesday or Saturday it will be necessary to spend a night at Sicuani, the journey by slow train consuming two days.
At Juliaca are many men and women, venders of a great variety of foods and of merchandise. Many others will be seen at the stations on the road to Cuzco, women wearing odd stiff hats, flat as the proverbial pancake, short skirts, and shawls, men with short trousers and ponchos. Pottery in curious shapes, jars, water bottles, and ornaments may be purchased, match safes, tooth-pick holders, etc. The Indians are industrious, generally occupied with spinning, even while walking and carrying on the back heavy burdens.
Tirapata, where there may be a pause of twenty minutes for breakfast, is a place of considerable importance, headquarters for the Inca Mining and Rubber Companies, where their wagon road begins towards the Santo Domingo gold mines, their mining property at an altitude of 7000 feet, and their rubber lands beyond. Eight thousand acres of land were presented by the Government to this company for every mile of road opened to traffic; and one was made across the plateau northeasterly, as far as the mountains. Over the Aricoma Pass, 16,500 feet, and down the steep slopes through ravines and gorges on the other side, a trail for mules is still the only pathway. Recently a concession has been granted to the Peruvian Corporation to build a railroad from Tirapata or from Urcos to navigation on the Madre de Dios, not to really deep water, but to a point accessible to boats of two feet draught, perhaps at Tahuantinsuyo. This is likely to be the third or fourth important route across Peru from the Pacific to navigation on a tributary of the Amazon.