Colca Canyon

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Hi everyone. So my last adventure is nearly over. I´ve just got back form the Colca Canyon and it was amazing. I got picked up from my hotel in Arequipa (which randomly is the same one that I stayed in last time I was here) and started the drive to the canyon. The trip got off to a bad start when we had to wait two hours for some other tourists, two of which never actually turned up. I was also on a bus with all Puruvians and one Chilean, so I felt kinda out of place. But when we stopped at our first stopping place, a small cafe where we were told to drink coca tea (yuck!) the tour guide said she would try to switch me onto another bus so I felt a bit better. Next we stopped at the highest part of the journey (the purpose of the Coca tea as it helps with altitude sickness) , which was at nearly 5000 meters above sea level, thats about 16,000 feet! From here we could see three mountains, one of which was where they discovered ´Juanita the ice princess´, the body of a young girl which they believe had been sacrificed to the Gods and who was amazingly preserved amongst the snow on top of the mountain. Hopefully tomorrow I´m going to go to the museum where ´Juanita´is kept and see her for myself, which will be very interesting.
After stopping here for a few minutes for photos we continued our journey to Chivay, the biggest town in Colca Valley where we would have lunch and spend the rest of the day and night. After a mediocre buffet lunch, I was introduced to Jesus, my new tour guide who took me to my hotel. I didn´t meet my new group until a couple of hours later when I was picked up from the hotel and taken to the nearby hot springs, but there was a Japanese girl, a Peruvian, a German, a Swedish couple, an American and three Spanish people and they were all very nice. I felt much more at home amongst the other English-speakers!
The hot springs were amazing, they looked like normal swimming pools but they were filled with naturally hot water, and I´m talking really hot like a bath! It was so nice! With one of the girls in my group, the Japanbese girl called Chihara, and an English guy I had met the day before (on the bus from the airport to my hotel) and had coincidentally ended up at the same place as, I spent a very relxaing hour and a half! After a quick shower back at my hotel, it was off again to dinner and some very entertaining ´folkloric´music and dancing. The musicians were really good and played traditional Peruvian instruments such as small guitars, pan pipes and a big drum! The dancers were a young girl and boy who did traditional dances from that area. The most entertaining part of the evening was when they got members of the audience up to dance. There was one couple who were absolutely hilarious, I think they were from a Spanish country although I´m not sure which one, but they really got into it. It was very fun to watch. And yes although I did refuse once, I did get up to dance eventually, and was exhausted after we´d danced round the room a few times ina big line. But it was fun!
This morning we were pìcked up at 6.00 and went first of all to another small village where we saw more traditional dancing plus some of the beautiful architecture that you see so much of here. After that it was off to the Condor Crossing viewpoint where we were able to see both adolescent and adult condors fairrly close. At first the condors were flying quite a distance away from us and we thought we were going to be disappointed, however eventually we saw two young and one adult condor flying very close to us. They were amazing to see, so graceful and I managed to get some good photos!
That was the main part of the trip and after that we travelled back to Arequipa stopping at a few viewpoints along the way. At one of the viewpoints you could see the start of the Canyon and much of the canyon itself. It is huge and I wish that the photos I took would do it justice. The Canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US but it still has people living and farming in the valley below it. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, with agricultural terraces remaining from Inca times, the Colca river running through it and broght blue lagoons. Beautiful!
After that it really was back to Arequipa and I arrived back to my hotel at about 4.30 this afternoon. Its been another brilliant trip and I´m so sad that my travels are coming to an end. Tomorrow I´m off to Lima for my last two days (staying in an amazing-looking 5* hotel!) and then I come home on monday. I can´t believe that the time has gone so quickyl but feel so lucky to have been able to see so many amazing things. Now I am off to enjoy a last dinner in the beautiful city of Arequipa and get ready to say goodbye to this amazing country!

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