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Published: January 12th 2006
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Visiting Colca Valley
The Colca Valley is located about 180 km north of Arequipa, the city where we have spent the last few days here in Peru. As Helene was doing a Spanish course and Astrid was lying flat out with what probably was food poisoning, only Aashild and myself went there on a two-day trip.
Day One Getting up early we caught a local bus to a town called Yanque, which lies at the east end of the valley. The trip took about 3 hours, parts of it very bumpy, and at its peak height, we were 4800 metres above sea level! Running east to west, the valley slowly narrows and turns into the Colca Canyon, which is the world's second deepest canyon at about 3500 metres, only beat by the nearby canyon Cotahuasi by about 160 metres. Colca Canyon originates as a huge geological rift in South Peru's western cordillera between the massive volcanoes of Nevado Ampato (6,325 metres, to the north, and the place where Juanita, the Inca princess was found as mentioned in the
previous journal entry) and Nevado Coropuna (6, 450 metres to the south).
In Yanque, we were met by a local woman with
Group lunch
Where we stayed overnight in Yanque. whom we stayed overnight. Situated close to the town plaza and church, her house consisted of three guest rooms and living area for the woman and her three kids. We drank coca tea, which the Inca have drunk for centuries in the belief that it aids against altitude sickness. Its taste is quite anonymous but similar to green tea. After seeing the local museum, which contained three rooms artefacts, and the
Galeria, a single 3x3 squaremetre room with some crafts, we had a nice three course vegetarian lunch made from local vegetables such as potatoes and a root that I believe may be called
maca root.
After lunch we went on a fantastic three-hour walk. Perhaps most notable about the entire region surround the Colca Valley are the impressive agricultural terraces, or
andenes (I assume that's how the Andes got their name), that are necessary to prevent erosion and allow controlled irrigation. Vegetables grown on the terraces are potatoes, beans, and onions, as well as the main one, namely maize. Passing lots of these terraces, I noted how there were aqueducts everywhere, allowing for controlled water dispersion.
Walking around in 3600 metres altitude can be quite a challenge.
Pressurized biscuits
At the 3600 metres, the packet of biscuits was all swollen because the air inside had expanded as a result of lower pressure. Even just a lean hill is enough to leave you without a breath and your legs filled with lactic acid! And this trip contained much more than easy ascents; at one stage we were close to actual climbing, nearly making one of our fellow travellers faint. However, it was worth the reward when we reached the top of an ancient Inca village with llamas walking around and greeting us on our arrival. The village has been thoroughly examined by archeologists and anthropologists previously but we still found pieces of broken pottery on the ground. According to our guide, these pieces are guaranteed to be at least 500 years old but probably more, making them the only souvenirs I am bringing home.
After eating some bananas, we descended from the village to some hot springs. Being in a volcanic area with regular earthquakes, there are lots of hot springs around, most of them made into commercial baths. We took some photos of the picturesque surrounding before quickly leaving the 5 degrees air temperature for 35 degrees mineral-filled hot water. At one side of the pool, the hot spring water entered continuously with a scolding temperature, probably around 45 degrees!
Host family
The cute kids of our hostess and our guide, to the right. Having a bit of the same stomach problems as Astrid, who stayed "home" at the hostel in Arequipa, I was probably quite dehydrated, and in combination with the physical stress from walking in such altitude, I had a pumping headache for most of the day. Still, it was a great experience rounded off by a nice candle-lit dinner in front of the fire, with the cold wind howling outside.
Day Two Getting up at 4.40 am, we dressed up in our finest woolen undies and sweater and winter jacket to accomodate the cold, and caught the bus further west into the valley. We walked along the rim of the valley, that now resembled much more of a canyon, with the mountain walls falling steep down towards the Colca river some 1300 metres below. It was amazing to see small houses impossibly clinging to the steep sides with narrow paths zigzagging up and down. To see people living like this with small spots for growing vegetables immediately gave associations to the people living in some of the most uninhabitable areas back home in Norway, specifically in the Geiranger fjord!
We passed viewpoints after viewpoints, photographing the canyon from any
possible angle, before we finally reached our destination, Cruz del Condor. At this viewpoint, the world's biggest bird, the condor, can be seen. With a wingspan of 3.5 metres, it is too heavy to lift off on flat ground, thus forcing it to live on cliffs where it can jump off like a paraglider. At the Condor Cross we had lunch while waiting for the condors to appear but they didn't. We then had the choice of returning to see a market in the town of Chivay, or stay for one more hour. Luckily, our group decided to stay, and then the condors appeared. Cleverly circling back and forth and taking advantage of streams of warm air, the condors managed to gain altitude almost without flapping their wings. With a 3,500 metre deep canyon and a blue sky set as the background, this was truly a majestic view. We praised our decision of staying and enjoyed nature's screenplay before climbing the final 100 metres up to the Condor Cross itself. Around it were lots of locals trying to sell their alpaca clothes or crafts. We only bought some chocolate and coca sweets, the typical souvenir candy found anywhere in the
Andes. Unlike Malawi and Tanzania, where people demanded money if you asked permission to take a photo, the locals willingly let us capture them and their amazing traditional home-made clothes with intricate broderies standing on the edge of the canyon. Finally, the bus arrived, and we went back to Arequipa.
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David Geer
non-member comment
that would have been cool to see the condors. Thanks for the undates