Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

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Ola,

We arrived in Arequipa, southern Peru, to a beautiful sunrise.

After getting off the bus, we booked our transport to our next destination and the cabbed into the city to our hostel called Hostel Sol de Oro.

We had some food and then headed into the old town. Once again, the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site but, unlike Quito, Arequipa deserves its title. Most of the buildings in the old town are at least 300 years old and they are built of sillar, which is a white volcanic rock that glistens in the sunlight.

Our first stop in town was the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. It is a huge convent with many beautiful courtyards, buildings and passageways. We were both pleasantly surprised with it and spent almost two and a half hours there!

After that, we wandered around town for a bit before heading out for dinner. We decided to splurge a little bit on a meal, seeing as how we hadn't in the previous three weeks that we have been travelling for. We settled on a restaurant named Zig Zag, that Lonely Planet had recommended. It labled itself as Andean/Alpine fusion. It was beyond our expectations!!! For our starter, we shared a plate that consisted of local cheeses, sausage, potatoes, corn and squash. For our mains, Val had roast alpaca with a quinoa and cheese dish and Peter had quinoa and potato gnocchi with the best pesto sauce he had ever tasted! Desert consisted of triple chocolate mousse and meringue and peach ice cream. Top it all off with coca tea in some of the most unique mugs in existence and we had one of the most sensational dinner that either Peter or Val had ever we. Unfortunately, word's can't possibly do the food justice. We both thoroughly recommend that if any visits Arequipa, they should splurge for the food at Zig Zag.

We had to wake up early the next day because we had booked a trip to the Colca Canyon which, at 4160 metres deep, is the deepest canyon in the world. Take that so-called'"Grand Canyon". We were driven up into the Altiplano and into a nature reserve where we saw many vicuñas, alpacas and llamas. En route, we learned that the mountains in the area named Misma are where the headwaters for the Amazon River are. We also went over a pass that was 4190 metres, thus being the highest point that either Val or Peter had ever been to. The descent into the town of Chivay was epic. It hugged the edge of the cliffs and switchbacked and zigzagged down the 1300metre descent into town. Peter wants to send the road into Top Gear and see if they think that it is one of the world's best driving roads. The town of Chivay was quite small but very pretty with a nice central square, beautiful stone bridge and some Inca lookout towers.

We woke up at the crack of dawn the next day because we had to head further into the canyon. We went along the edge of the canyon, looking at old canal systems and Inca terraced farming systems that are still in use today. We arrived at our destination Cruz del Condor where we hoped to see Andean Condors gliding on the morning thermals. The condors are the largest predatory birds in the world sporting wingspans that are double the size of Peter! We were hoping to see one or two, but we ended up seeing nine! There were juveniles, males and females so we got the whole mix. The glided right over our heads, no more than twenty feet above us. When a bird that size casts its shadow over you, it is a little bit worrying! It was amazing to see the majestic birds in flight, especially in such close quarters. Our guide was even taken aback and was snapping photos with us as she had never seen more than five at one time there! Afterwards, we returned to Arequipa to relax after a very satisfying but long trip to the Colca Canyon.

The next day, we had a leisurely breakfast on the terrace where we enjoyed the view of Arequipa. Or at least what we could see of the city. The air quality isn't the best here, largely due to how much dust is in the air as the area is quite dry. We went to see Juanita, who was a young girl that was sacrificed by the Inca 500 years ago on top of a 6000 metre high mountain near Arequipa. Her remains were very well-preserved by the ice and her skin looks somewhat leathery. Her hands in particular are in excellent condition, so much so that one could still see the wrinkles on her fingers. Afterwards, we went to the cathedral, which faces on to the Plaza de Armas. Unlike most other cathedrals, its main doors are on the side of the building, not the end of it. Peter had never seen it like that before and val had only ever seen it one other time.

They then went to their favourite, read only, little Turkish place in town for some doner kebab before hopping on a night bus that is supposed to take them to Cusco, but says both Lima and Cusco on the ticket so it could prove an interesting night.

Well, it was an interesting night. The company that we had booked tickets with, Enlaces, wasn't running buses that night because there might be some protesters blocking the road. Cruz del Sur only had one seat left so that wouldn't work either. Fortunatly, Cial had space so we booked with them. We got on the bus and had to deal with a whiny child once more. All Peruvian children seem to be whiny.

The journey was ok for the most part, except the guy in front of Peter reclined all the way back so Peter had no leg room at all. When we say the journey was ok, we mean until 4am. At that time, the bus came to a stop. It stayed stopped for an hour, moved 100 metres further down the road and then stopped again. The protesters were back and blocking the road once again. With scant instruction, everyone's luggage was unloaded off the bus and the we had to walk a kilometre or two with our bags, passed the scattered rocks, burning tires and angry Peruvians in the hope that a Cial bus would be on the otherside. Fortunatly, one was waiting for us so we were able to load on to the bus without any issue. We arrived in Cusco, a couple of hours later than anticipated, but we were relieved to be there.

Bye for now,

Valerie and Peter

Things we learned in Arequipa:
-Jerry the coot is following us Kif. He showed up en route to Chivay. Be warned.
-Guinea Pig has very tough skin and very little meat and isn't very appetizing when one can still see the little curled foot attched to the piece that one is about to bite into.
-Peter can start to appreciate some people's fear of birds when the shadow if a Andean Condor with a 3.5 metre wingspan is directly over him.

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