The South American Altiplano - LAN Airlines 2609/2115 Economy Class (SFO → LIM → JUL) - continued

This was a typical all-economy domestic flight on LAN. The great thing about some international airlines, however, is that even on short flights like these, decent service can be expected. Flight attendants came around handing out snack boxes containing crackers and candy and offering a full beverage service. After cruising for less than an hour, we quickly descended into Arequipa. Turnaround was super quick, with a large majority of the passengers deplaning, and a small group boarding afterwards. In just 35 minutes, we were on our way to Juliaca.


Snack box


View outside Arequipa airport

LAN Airlines 2115
Airbus A319
Arequipa (AQP) - Juliaca (JUL)
Saturday March 23, 2013
Departure: 7:00 AM (scheduled) / 7:06 AM (actual)
Arrival: 7:50 AM (scheduled) / 7:50 AM (actual)
Duration: 0h 50m (scheduled) / 0h 44m (actual)
Seat: 5A → 6A (Economy)

I think this was maybe one of the shortest flights I'd ever taken on a jet aircraft. Gate to gate in less than 45 minutes. Service was kept to a bare minimum since there was no time anyways. Upon landing, we got our first taste of the high-altitude environment. Just walking from the plane to the terminal made me a little out of breath, but going from sea level to 12,500 feet within three hours will do that to you. Over the next week or so, we slowly ascended to a maximum of about 16,000 feet in the middle of the Bolivian Altiplano.




Juliaca airport



The sun was blinding and very intense at this altitude, even around 7:00 am. Sunscreen and sunglasses are definitely recommended. At the baggage carousel, there were a group of locals playing their native instruments for donations, which made for a very unique welcome to the Lake Titicaca region. After locating our backpacks, we were greeted at the airport exit by our hotel driver. From there, we began our 45-minute car ride to Puno.