After a bit of a nap we headed to the streets to sort out our tour to colca canyon. First up we go to the guy recommended in Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring. He quoted us 680 soles for a 3 day/2 night trip, it seemed a lot so we mentioned it to the hostel guy, he laughed at us and kindly directed us to another agency Peru Schweiz Explorer, where would pay 150 soles, about 56 US$. So nearly ripped off by the shoestring recommendation but saved by our host.
We spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday having fairly lazy days exploring Arequipa, it's a pretty city, with white buildings made of volcanic rock, flanked by stunning views of mountains and volcanoes.
On Monday it was our earliest start yet, a 3.30am pick-up to start our Colca trek. After a long and at times bumpy ride we arrved at our first stop about 7.30 am, a viewing point to spot Condors. Didn't see any here and after 45 minutes headed off in the bus again to reach the start of the trek. We spent around 3-4 hours trekking our way down the Canyon, Lee and I were pretty slow, first time we have encountered real heat so far on the trip (about 30c) and then even slower after I slipped on my arse and onto my elbow. We reached our lunch stop and final destination at about 2pm, a sweet home stay in the village of San Juan du Chuco.
Tuesday we had a lie-in, a 7.30am breakfast and started trekking at 9.30am, just when the sun starts to get hot! We climbed for around an hour to reach the villages of Casnirhua and Malata, and the heat and altitude destroyed me. I was one out of puff lady!
Later our guide Pepe, would tell us how tough life was in these simple villages; such as the school having only one class of six grades, and one doctor and medical centre with very basic facilities. We were also introduced to the cochineal bug/fungus that grows on Cactus and makes the red colour that goes in lipstick! Ladies if you saw it, you might think twice about that dashing shade of rouge.
After the villages it was all down hill, for lunch we would reach the Oasis' a collection off simple bungalow lodgings and swimming pools nestled in the hills, paradise after a few hours trekking in the heat.
After all that relaxing on Wednesday morning you could say we got lazy or you could say we were supporting local enterprise, instead of a 3 hour trek out of the canyon we took a mule ride up. The mules were amazing, we were reassured they could carry double our weight. They seemed to plod along happily enough, mine was quite keen and kept trying to overtake the one in front. They also stopped to assess any tricky ground before making a go for it.
After an 1 1/2 hours on the mules we breakfasted in Cabancode before visiting a few more traditional villages then some hot spring swimming pools before lunch. We rounded off our trip with a few more viewpoints to see terraces (where the people still farm the way the Incas did), Volcanoes, and lunch in Chivay before the long drive back.
I finally saw a Condor from the bus along the way.
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