Blogs from Chivay, Arequipa, Peru, South America - page 2

Well, we finally got beaten by big rocks and water as we tried to negotiate the Colca Canyon loop. We could have built a bridge, as we did in a previous Rocky Road Adventure, but it would have taken all day !! The fact that there has been so much rain and snow over the past few weeks, we were lucky to have got as far as we did. We headed off to Arequipa with our sun roofs wide open, enjoying the sunshine, as we climbed the mountain we could see big dark threatning clouds building in front of us, we stopped and secured that, lucky we did as within twenty minutes and as we got to the top of the mountain at 4840 meters we were driving through a snow storm. As we descended we ... read more

Dust, Snow, Sleet and Slush in one day We left Cusco in absolutely beautiful mountain weather, retracing the road back down to Sicuani, where we refueled and headed off into the mountains and a 4885 meter pass on our way to Chivay, and the Colca Canyon. This road, traditionally has had it’s challenges and today was going to prove to be no exception. As we headed up towards Yauri, with great views looking down on Lago Descanso, which is higher than Lake Titicaca. This section of dusty road is under major reconstruction, so we had many delays waiting for huge machinery and trucks that were moving tons of rocks around. As we gained altitude, we found ourselves above the low cloud and the temperatures began to drop accordingly. Reaching the mining town of Tintaya and negotiating ... read more

Day 5: After nearly 10 hours on an overnight bus, well, feeling rather restless.... but may i say, if i was ever to travel by overnight bus, this is the daddy of all overnight busses. Not only is it twice the size of a normal coach, it has a stewardess that serves food and drinks at the beginning of the trip. Me and Pham lucked out as we got the equivalent of the emergency exit seats on this bus so there was pleny of leg room!! We arrive Arequipa about 6am, at which point this is the highest we have been at 2800 meters above sea level... not really feeling that different, so no signs of attitude sickness yet... The day is a free day to wander the city and see the sights, the square and ... read more

October 31, 2009 - Sibayo, Peru Still affected by altitude sickness, I took some Nurofen Plus at about 10:45pm last night to help me sleep - it did the trick! I woke at about 5:30am to the not to distant sound of a voice over a loud speaker, presumably from the town square only 50 metres away. We later find out that the use of the town´s PA system is for news broadcasts and to advertise work where labour is required - this town is also rebuilding from an earthquake and most of the town is pretty ´new. After eating some of my brakfast - rice, tomato, fried chips and steak - we are ready to farewell the family and thank them for their hospitality before once more going on the mini-bus for our next destination ... read more

At last a hot bath :-))) Chivay has a hot springs where we soaked away the afternoon, fantastic, but maybe too much of a good thing, felt sick all evening :-( Tomorrow it's back to Arequipa to catch a bus to Cuzco. It's a bummer having to go back the way we came and it's made worse because the road to Cuzco comes back this way again - almost as far as where we are before heading in a different direction !!! but there is no way to avoid going down and back as the only buses from here go to Arequipa :-((( but can't be helped. ... read more