Colca Canyon

Yesterday we returned to Arequipa following a 3 day trek in the Cañon del Colca. It was pretty amazing stuff. The trek started with a 6.30am pickup from our hostel to take a 6 hour bus (arrrgh) to Cabanaconde, a small town where our guide lives. It was a good number of people - 2 Irish, 2 Czechs and us (and our Peruvian guide, Remi, of course). After a quick lunch at Remi´s house consisting of apacas (llama type creatures) and (more) rice, we headed off on the trek. Dylan had the good luck of getting runny bum syndrome the night before we went on the trek so he was a happy little camper (thanks Immodium, yet again). It was about time really - he had been eating whatever he wanted while I had been looking on in envy. Revenge is mine :0) So on we trekked downhill 1000 metres, 8 kilometres zig-zagging (oh the knees) to a very small village the name of which I now can´t remember. There is no electricity so those head torches came in handy (ta London crew). The canyon is quite stunning and a mixture of landscape. Very dry and dusty but lots of vegetation in parts. Some great cactus action going on. We also got to see a few condors (for which the canyon is known, and no Gav, we couldn't catch one for you). We stayed the night in these little bamboo huts next to the chicken coop and the proud cockerel letting us know as each hour passed from 4am (bastard).

 

Then it was up at 7am for brekkie and a 4 hour trek with a bit of up and down hill. We got to the next overnight spot called Sangalle (or, the Oasis). The Oasis for the afternoon involved swimming in the pool there (natural one) and generally chilling out. Remi cooked us a big carbo dinner of pasta which he encouraged us all to eat in its entirety (it was a bloody big serve) - was he trying to tell us something?? Yes. The wakeup call came at 2.15am giving us 15 minutes to get organised as we started a very steep uphill 3 hour slog at 2.30am. I did question a number of times the sense of doing this at such a time but was most relieved after a while that I was not walking in the sun. Surely a 4am start would've done the same? But who am I to argue? Thanks again for those head torches London crew - we were the guiding lights up that mountain for our group, literally.

 

We got to the top just as the sun rose, which was gorgeous. We walked on to Remi´s house again, this time for a well earned breakfast. Remi deserves a special mention. He is a lovely guy and despite his limited English, he managed to tell us a few of his previous experiences over dinner the second night. He is a funny man. For example, there is the one about the Norwegians, one of whom had vertigo and only told Remi when they were halfway down the mountain on the first day. She wanted to go on though so convinced Remi that if he tied himself to her the whole way and virtually carried her, she´d get through. This led to all sorts of complications when she needed a wee. However, by the time they got to the top of the mountain on the 3rd day, her vertigo was cured. Then there was the one about the 2 overweight Scots who took at least twice the normal time to get down, and at the bottom whilst drinking copious amounts of beer and smoking all the time, contemplating their formidable ascent asked Remi if they could hire donkeys. Remi told them that not even 3 donkeys would manage their 110 kilos each. They would have to do it themselves. Remi set off ahead and 10 minutes up, fell asleep waiting for them. It took the scots 14 hours to get up the mountain (we did it in 3 hours, and that was going quite slow). So, from Remi´s house we said adios and got on a very crowded bus to Chivay for some hot springs to help those very sore muscles (well, mine didn't feel too bad but Dylan could barely walk). When I say crowded, I mean it. The tube at rush hour has nothing on this. We had people on the roof (not us thankfully), 2 lambs in there somewhere, and inside it seemed like there were 100 people on quite a small bus. Thankfully, most got off at Cruz del Condor which they say is the best place to spot condors. As we had seen some already, we kept going to Chivay and spent some time in the hot springs (well I spent about 1 minute as the pool was nearly 40 degrees). Then it was a 4 hour bus back to Arequipa. We went to bed about 8pm.

 

Today Dylan feels a bit better although is still having trouble walking and has to go down curbs sideways. Dylan here: can I just say that the reason my legs hurt so much isn`t the fact that I had a dodgy stomach, although I did. The trek really was something hard. We had no idea it would be as much of a slog as it turned out to be, thinking that it would be a good training exercise for the Inca trail. At least we didn't cry like some on the trail though, some even hired donkeys to take them back, well one anyway. I'm really glad we did it now, and I'm sure in a day or so we will be ready to tackle the Inca trail in record time! Back to Kat: We were going to go rafting this morning but bailed out of that yesterday given Dylan´s untrustworthy stomach, our exhaustedness (is that a word?) and Dylan´s inability to walk properly. We´ll do the rafting bit somewhere else when all body parts are in working order again. Top marks to Dylan though for soldiering through the trek with a dodgy belly. He didn't complain at all, much... We´re off to Cusco tomorrow. We do the Inca Trail from there (not for a few days though - gotta rest those legs). We hope our trek in the Colca Canyon has given our unfit bodies some preparation for it. 

Kat - edited by Dylan

 

Nasca to Arequipa

Ah ha, I´ve finally been allowed to update the blog. I won´t talk in third person due to recent complaints. As Dylan said, we were going to see the Nasca Lines. That meant a rude 7am start and a taxi to the airport where we (with a Dutch couple and a token septic) were shown a very old video about the Nasca Lines. Despite the presenter´s flares and bad hair do, it was really helpful to get some info on the various "theories" about why the Lines are there. Then we went up in a Cesna - it was soooo cool. We had this hilarious pilot who would yell far too loudly each time we were coming up to one of the "figures" on the ground so we had time to look out the window. Then he´d bank the other way so the other side could see. It was excellent fun and no, Dylan was not allowed to drive or land, nor did he get sick which was a bonus as I was sitting next to him.

The Lines are amazing - huge figures of all sorts, monkey, spider, whale, little alien looking thing. They´d also made these extremely long straight lines that went on for miles. How the people made them and why is mind boggling. I´ve read some bad press on it from other tourists but I enjoyed the whole experience.

As part of the "tour" we then went to the old cemetary where we got to see very well preserved Nasca mummies. The cemetary was out in the middle of the desert and we were driven out there in a Dodge Coronet. It felt a little like being in Mad Max as our guide drove like a bat out of hell through the sand (whatever that means, it´s hard to describe) which once used to, was cool fun. Then it was off to a mine where an ex-miner who would have been at home on stage in the West End entertained us while telling us how they mined certain things etc. He then picked up a guitar and sang "I Did it My Way" to us. We then had a long afternoon in Nasca passing time as our bus to Arequipa didn't leave until 11pm. All I´ll say about the 9 hour bus ride is that it was shite. Upon arrival in Arequipa we found ourselves a lovely hostel. I also discovered that my calves, ankles and feet had swollen to elephant man proportions (nice). So after small panic about the likelihood of DVT, a quick text to my family doctor (thanks Owen and Mum) calmed the nerves although I now know that apparently I have bad circulation. You learn something new every day. The nice lady at the hostel made us a yummy breakfast and then we went to sleep. Arequipa is a very pretty place. Nasca and Pisco are very dusty whereas Arequipa is in a fertile valley so you don´t feel like you´ve been rolling around in the dirt all the time. Our first introduction to the main square was Santa Claus directing traffic and selling chocolate. So we watched him for a while as we ate some lunch. Last night the main square was all set up for something to happen but nothing did for hours. We know, as we sat there waiting. I lie, something did happen. A man dressed in a dress with fake boobs and bum (in giganic proportions, you can imagine) came up to us trying to sell something then lifted up his dress to reveal an enormous (fake, thankfully) penis which he waved in my face. This of course was hilarious, to him at least. Later we discovered that the main event was some sort of beauty contest. Glad we waited for that one. We then decided that the next day (today) we´d do nothing, and that´s what we´re doing, sort of. Soon we´ll go and check out some of the tours you can do around here. I want to go to the Colca Canyon to see the condors and do a bit of a hike through there. I know Dylan is keen on the white water rafting so we´ll see what we can find.

 

As for ailments, my antibiotics blasted the bastard bug that infested me so I feel much better. We both have clogged sinus´s, my legs aren´t swollen anymore, we both feel a bit vague. I´m looking at this first 10 days of the holiday as an adjustment period where parts of me breakdown and rebuild. I´m now not allowed to get sick ever again! That´s it for now. Next update soon. Kat