Blogs from Arequipa, Peru, South America - page 118

Colca canyon is the 2nd deepest canyon in the world at 3,400m at its deepest(the 1st is cotahuasi canyon which is also in southern peru). its about a 5 hour busride from arequipa. we went to a small pueblo named cabanaconde to begin the trek. our original plan was to go it alone and camp wherever we found a suitable spot. however, once we arrived in the town and sat down for some almuerzo, our waitress told us that it really wasnt{ advisable to hike alone as the trails are not well marked and going with a local guide will actually save you money as he or she could help negotiate prices in the tiny campos within the colca canyon. she then told us that she herself was a guide and would be happy to take ... read more

Flight: Arequipa to Juliaca, LanPeru 131 (320) Hotel: Sonesta Posada del Inca Lake Titicaca (Puno, Peru) $65 We had all mornining free before our afternoon flight to Puno. We decided to visit the Santa Catalina convent in Arequipa; this was totally closed off to outsiders until the late 1970's! It's a truly magical place, very photogenic with red, white, and blue colored walls, and flowers and citrus trees everywhere. Different parts of the convent are designed to look like regions in Spain. Take lots and lots of film or memory cards with you! Afterwards, we decided to visit the Juanita mummy that was discovered on the top of a nearby mountain a few years ago. She is only on display for parts of the year, and today was the last day that she would be on ... read more

Bus: Arequipa to Chivay Hotel: Pozo del Cielo, Colca Canyon (Chivay, Peru) The Colca Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world; over 3000m from the peaks to the valley floor below. Until recently it was thought to be the deepest, but that title now belongs to another nearby canyon. The main town of Chivay was a 5+ hr bus ride from Arequipa over a 14,000 ft pass, only partially paved. We stopped at a store on the edge of Arequipa to buy coca leaves; the locals chew these with lye to help stave off the effects of altitude sickness. We definitely started feeling the effects of altitude here, I ended up with a splitting headache. The coca leaves didn't help at all; in fact I've never tasted anything quite so nasty in my ... read more

Just had to add this to the Arequipa blog...went to the url=http://www.llamatravel.com/guide/sitesection.cfm?sectionid=220®ion=Arequipa&site=45&country=PeruMuseo Santuarios Andinos and saw a frozen mummy, human sacrifice! Wow! Apparently, she is the best preserved mummy / human remains found...because she was sacrificed at the top of a volcano in the Andes that was only accessible to the Incas because a nearby volcano was erupting, which melted the ice off the top of this neighbooring volcano...the height is something amazing, somewhere around 15,000 ft...imagine climbing that with sandals and no climbing equipment!?! So, the neigbooring volcano stops erupting, and the ice and snow comes back, perfectly preserving the young Inka girl...who they call Juanita because the man who found her in the 90's on a climbing expedition's first name is John...and she is young, and bl... read more

Before we headed off from Aus, both Lundy and I were expecting to find Peru as you see it in the photos. Kind of along the lines of Incan descendents wearing lots of colourful clothing, seeing some high mountains, and of course loads of Colombian architecture. Thus far we had seen very little, until we got to Arequipa. This place could very easily be uprooted and stuck somewhere in southern Europe without seeming out of place. The overnight bus trip was long, about 9hrs all up. We arrived to a crisp morning and headed over to the hostel, definately the best that we have stayed in yet. Luckily, even though it was 8am, we could go straight into the room and have a much wanted and much needed shower. Once we had ourselves organised, we headed ... read more