Day 5 Arequipa to Colca Canyon

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Got to Arequipa early in the morning, I think most people felt a bit ropey with the long journey and the added high altitude. Got to our hotel thankfully but more single beds which seems to be the only option in Peru (don’t know how Peruvians have babies!).

Arequipa is a beautiful city made up of buildings constructed of white stone which made everything look new and clean. We had a little walk around and a few of us when to a museum where they have the remains of a young Inca princess who was buried in the mountains years ago. She was found in almost perfect condition with some of her internal organs in tact because of the ice! It was very interesting. We then went back to the hotel for a quick 'siesta'.

When we got up we all met up in the lobby of the hotel and went for some dinner just down the road. We found a nice restaurant and a very interesting menu. Myself, Karl and Sam decided to be brave and order a local delicacy - Cuy, which in local language means Guinea Pig. A shaved deep fried guinea pig with head, legs and all arrived on the plate! It looked like it a car drove over the centre of it and the chef scooped it up and threw it in the fryer. It's not that it tasted bad - there was just no meat to taste! Karl was so frustrated he even ate the eyes to get some meat!!!! Karen on the other hand went for the next best local delicacy, rocoto rellano, which was a hot bell pepper stuffed with spicy beef; unlike the Guy it was delicious.

That night a few of us went down to the town square where there was a roof bar that gave you ponchos to wear while you had a few drinks - very cosy 😊 Later that night we went back to the hotel, where they had a lovely balcony so we opened a couple of bottles of rum. Apologies to Paul and Louise for waking them up - next time we will all just play guitar!! (private joke!)

I really wish we could have spent more time in Arequipa because it was such a beautiful city but we had to hit the road again in the morning to see the rest of beautiful Peru.

The following morning after breakfast we jumped on a bus and headed off to Colca Canyon. We met our new local guide Leo, really nice man, and headed off. Was a long enough drive - about 5 or 6 hours and at one point we reached 4900 metres. Your body feels really weird at this height and it is really hard to get a decent breath. The drive up was spectacular with some sights that would make your eyes water.

Near our hotel we stopped in a village called Chivay for a buffet lunch. Chivay was lovely with a beautiful square, equipped with a local screaming drunk 😉 a town square wouldn’t be the same without one. After lunch we drove on for about 20 minutes to the hotel. The hotel was fantastic; the views were amazing and our first double bed - Yahoo!!!!! That night we drove down to the local hot water springs (soooo relaxing) and swam around sipping on some pisco sours for a few hours - it was just what the doctor ordered.
We then headed back to the hotel for some dinner and a game of poker, our first of many (Manny won by the way), and then of to bed early for our 5 o’clock wake up call. Yes 5 o’clock, it wasn’t a type-o, can’t wait!

-- By Paul

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Photos

Guinea Pig Anyone?
Tasted kind of fatty, stringy and looked a bit like road kill ;-)

Karl's Guinea Pig!
The poor thing looks ready to attack someone!