Day 14

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Oh wow i'm tired.
We woke up this morning at 1:20 AM to catch a bus at 2 AM for a Colca Canyon tour. It was one of the most beautiful places that i've ever seen. It's the disputed 1st or 2nd deepest canyon in the world, depending on who you talk to, but I think that there's proof of it being 2nd. Our first stop was the highest point on the canyon which overlooked a spectacular view of all the surrounding mountains and volcanoes. We were told to bring a "good jacket" and had read that the canyon gets very warm during the day, so when i stepped out in a relatively light sweatshirt in below freezing temperatures i was in for quite a shock. Yeah, that didn't last very long. We quickly moved on into the little villages deep within the mouth of the canyon. We snapped some touristy pictures with alpacas dressed up and a beautiful owl and moved on. There were many viewpoints that we stopped at and snapped photos. Thankfully it warmed up very quickly and was comfortable within an hour or so. We ate what seems to be the standard breakfast in Peru, bread and tea. Everywhere we've been this is what has been served. Unfortunately, it isn't very filling but the real cocoa tea is wonderful. We went to the Condor Cross, which is a large viewing platform high in the canyon that Condors are said to frequent. We were told not to get our hopes up too high, as it's mating season and the Andean Condors are tending their nests. We waited and waited. The view was breathtaking nonetheless and the platforms were perched dangerously close to sheer cliffs. After about an hour and a half the gigantic condor came soaring out of the mouth of the canyon. It's amazing to see a creature of such impressive size soar weightlessly overhead, and the combined experience of seeing the Condors within this massive canyon is simply amazing. I certainly recommend taking a trip here if you're ever in Arequipa looking for things to do. We ate an interesting lunch at the largest of the small towns within the canyon named Chivay. It was a buffet style meal with many choices to sample traditional cuisine of the canyon. They had everything from Alpaca meat stew to pieces of roasted Cuy (Guinea Pig). I came here saying that I was going to try the guinea pig, but they cook it whole and the little creatures paws are often twisted in grotesque frightening positions. I just couldn't stomach it. I did try the Alpaca though, and today was my second sample of it. Neither alpaca dishes have i really liked. The alpaca meat is very tough and simply doesn't seem to have the flavor of beef. Most of the food was OK, using basic ingredients such as potato and corn. It wasn't really very good flavor-wise, but it seems that that has been my impression of all the food in Peru so far. On our descent from the canyon top we saw many large herds of Alpaca and came across one single little Vicuna standing in the road. That was basically our Colca trip. Despite the early hours that i cringed at in the beginning, it worked out very well, Arriving at the highest frozen viewpoint as the sun was scaling the mountains into the early morning sky. This is truly one of the worlds' most beautiful places, and to think that i had hardly ever heard of it!
I will be posting many many photos onto my flickr account. Feel free to check them out here!

We've been in Arequipa for several days and I've had an amazing impression of this city thus far. I wish that i had a few more days to explore the most amazing and impressive churches that i've ever seen. These buildings have been here since the 1600s! The architecture is amazingly intricate. The buildings are made of this beautiful white volcanic stone that gives Arequipa the nickname of "The White City". It seems like everywhere you turn there are intricately carved ancient plazas tucked back in forgotten alleys which now house small shops selling Alpaca wares. I love the Plaza de Armas. The monumental church that consumes an entire block of the Plaza is quite an impressive sight. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to go inside but i wish we had. I had a great time feeding the Plaza pigeons which are very very fat. There are vendors selling pigeon food for half of 1 Nuevo Sol (3 Nuevo Sol = 1 dollar). I bought 3 bags for US .50c and had a ball feeding the rotund little feathered inhabitants out of my hand. It seems live everywhere in Peru there are bicycle ice-cream sellers, so it was a fun day strolling the plaza eating ice-cream, feeding pigeons, and exploring the ancient architecture. I have to laugh at the number of signs that i've seen directing tourists to "tourist restaurants" and "tourist hotels". Often that is the only name of many establishments. We tried one of these "tourist restaurants" which had a spectacular view of the Plaza but a not so spectacular Alpaca steak and spaghetti. We were looking for a pizza restaurant last night, and wandered into "La Cena" restaurant. It wasn't pizza, in fact it wasn't much more than a room with a little brick box in the corner that was supposed to be a kitchen. I ordered the "menu", which is often a set meal that changes daily, and got a bowl of soup, rice, chicken, salad, and french fries. This was probably the best meal that i've had since being in Peru and the total came out to .70 US cents after adding 2 sodas to the meal. I had to have him repeat the total a few times, thinking I misheard him but it was true and I am highly satisfied and impressed. Lesson learned: the best place to eat is with the locals.
We depart for Puno tomorrow by bus. I'll have some more pictures up on Flickr soon and hopefully more tales of our adventures as they unwind!

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