Arequipa, Peru

Despite the disruption just after the border, which apparently has been happening here for years, we finally made it across into Peru!  We were sad to leave Bolivia, it had been so much fun and a great experience, but we were looking forward now to new experiences and doing the Inca trail at Macchu Piccu in a weeks time!!!

Arequipa is a huge town, bigger than I had expected.  We arrived at about 4am so went straight to bed to catch up on some sleep before heading off to book a tour and the bus to Cuzco, and then explore the town.  It is surrounded by snow capped mountains and volcanos from nearly all sides, the views are really breathtaking, along with all the colonial buildings scattered around, cobbled streets and the fast running river gushing through.  We booked to do the 2 day 1 night Colca Canyon tour for the day after tomorrow as we needed a full nights sleep first and it was a 3am start!!  Colca Canyon is the 2nd deepest in the world.  The deepest is a little bit further from here.  Grand Canyon which I thought was the deepest is actually the 3rd I think!  I am sure our guide said this was 3250 metres and Grand Canyon was 2500 metres or thereabouts.

After a day spent shopping for new clothes for me as a pre birthday treat, as I was fed up of having nothing nice to wear in the evenings, we got to bed early ready to rise at 2.30am to start our trek.  This was also our training for Macchu Piccu next week as we had not really done anything in the way of exercise for ages and wanted to get a bit fit.  We would not be disappointed!

We left the hostel at about 3.15am as people were arriving back drunk and covered in fluoro paint from their night out on the town.  Marcello was our guide and he gave us a quick briefing before we got on the minibus, then we all tried to get some sleep on the 3 hour journey to our first destination, breakfast!!!  After some hot tea with bread and jam we boarded the bus for some more sleep for another hour or so until we reached the site where we were viewing the condors.  We were so lucky to see some pretty close up sitting on the edge of the ravine.  Then a pair were swooping above circling on the air streams.  They were so huge and beautiful.  We stayed for about half and hour just watching them, so graceful swirling above us with the views of the canyon and mountains all around as a backdrop to set the scene, it was truly spectacular!

Starting point!!

Colca Canyon!

Eventually we dragged ourselves away ready to begin our decent into the canyon.  There was 9 of us in our group and Marcello our guide.  A german couple, a dutch couple, 3 australians, and me and Nicola.  It took 3 hours to get to the place where we would stop for lunch.  The track we were following down was quite slippery and uneven as there was lots of loose stones to contend with, and it was really steep in many places.  After 3 hours it was taking a toll on our calves and knees and we were grateful for the break.  The views coming down were awesome though, a deep ravine cutting into the surrounding mountains with many waterfalls cascading down into a fast flowing river running through it.  Many different types of cactus and flowers were growing all around colouring the pathways purple, pink and yellow.  After a lunch of alpaca meat cooked with onion and chips, lomo saltado as it is locally known, we carried on the rest of the way for another 3 hours or so until we reached our destination which was an oasis at the bottom of the canyon, near the river, we crossed the bridge and made our way to the pool and awaiting hammocks where I just chilled out for a while as it was not quite warm enough now for a swim, although that did not stop others from taking a dip!  As we waited for dinner, we found a pack of uno cards and had a few games while joined by other groups also doing the tour.  We got talking to the ozzies mostly, and 2 of them were heading to Columbia around the same time as us so we planned to meet up with Paul and Amanda if we could, to party for my birthday!  Dinner consisted of spaghetti Napolitana and soup, and by the time we had finished, although it was only about 7pm, I was ready for bed and so was Amanda so we bid everyone goodnight and headed off.

The beep to the alarm woke us from our heavy slumber at 4.45am.  We dragged ourselves out of bed to be greeted by the clearest night sky, with millions of stars hovering above.  Fifteen minutes later we were all ready to go with the exception of one missing person.  Trisna, one of the ozzie girls was not with us.  Marcello went to look for her as we waited patiently, keen to just get on now.  Another fifteen minutes went by and she was nowhere to be seen.  Her bed had not been slept in and she had been with some of the other guys from another group, who were all drinking heavily the night before.  Finally she rocked up, not really seeming that sorry for keeping us all waiting for about a half hour!!!  There was a bit of tension, but we saved our energy for the 3 hour climb up the canyon!

Our little oasis at the bottom, with the zigzag path we will take on the climb up!

As we all trudged our way up the hill in the dark, I did wonder to myself why I put myself through these things!!  Soon the dawn broke and before we knew it we were quite a way up already.  I asked Marcello how much longer as it did not look so far.  He advised me it was!  At east another 2 hours!!!  The whole way was up a steep incline and I just tried to get in a rhythm and enjoy the views.  Eventually after 3 hours of gruelling pain and struggle we were at the top!  Looking down I could not believe I had walked down and up this canyon.  I was so relieved and did feel a sense of achievement!  Although I did actually enjoy the trek as the views were spectacular, it had been hard going and my legs were relieved it was over!  I was now looking forward to some breakfast.  We walked another 20 minutes to a small town where the restaurant was and all enjoyed some well deserved tea, eggs and bread.

On the way back to Arequipa we stopped off at a few viewpoints and local towns and then soaked our aching muscles in the hot springs for an hour.  Before we knew it we were back in town and ready for a shower and dinner.  Amanda came over to the hostel and joined us, and afterwards, exhausted and ready fro bed, we said our goodbyes and hoped to meet up again soon on our travels.

Alpaca at the National Park!

On our last day in Arequipa we did not rise from our beds until about 12pm, got packed, had a last wander around the town and then caught the night bus at 8pm to Cuzco to arrive the following morning.