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Monday night we had dinner out with our new friends Rob and Dave. We went to a cute place in the centre, called "On the Terrace". We had to walk up a million stairs to reach the top but the restaurant was way up high, overlooking the plaza. Gorgeous view! We also got free Pisco Sours (National drink made of grape brandy and something else???) as well as poncho blankets to keep us warm! Dinner was nice as we enjoyed the company of our new friends once again. I also got to try alpaca meat, as Dave ordered it. It tastekind of like a mild steak. Although, I was not brave enough to try the guinea pig that Robb ordered! It was looking at me and I felt uncomfortable. After dinner we said goodbye to our new friends and head to bed.
We woke up Tuesday morning and were picked up by the Colca Trek company in a 20 seater van, picked up a few more people and then were off on our way to the Colca Canyon.
Unfortunately Sarah had been shivering with a fever all night and still wasn't feeling well. We're unsure of if this was
due to altitude sickness, a cold, a flu, or a combination of everything. Unfortunately her fever, shivers, upset stomach, and dizziness continued throughout our entire trip and she's still feeling off. She's taking lots of meds to see which one will work 😞
The drive to the town where we would spend the night (called Chivay) was about a 3.5 hour drive but we stopped at multiple places along the way. There were some BEAUTIFUL lookout points. We saw the cousins of alpacas called vicunas, and LOTS of alpacas. SUCH cute animals.
Our tour guide's name was Wilson and he made us all go around and introduce ourselves and where we were from. There were Peruvians, Mexicans, a Spaniard, Portuguese, 2 French Canadians who are studying in Lima, and a few Americans. Good group of people.
We arrived in Chivay and went to a buffet restaurant for lunch. There was a lot of food for cheap, so I tried almost everything (with suggestions from the Peruvians) like Chinese fried rice with alpaca meat, a weird fruit called Granadiana (?), deep fried plantain (very different than the fried plantain in Honduras), Quecha soup (main with some sort of
Rob and His Cuy
Yes, that's guinea pig! No, I did not try this. a grain), a very cool fried desert with honey (which I forget the name of) and a sweet pudding that tasted like chai. The Peruvians were impressed with mine and Kristin's (an American woman) attitude and willingness to try everything.
After lunch we checked into the hostel (which was pretty nice considering the cheap price of the tour) and then had a bit of free time before heading to the hot springs. Sarah rested during the hot springs but I went with some of the others. The springs were nice - a giant pool with hot sulphur water pooring in to warm it. It's been SOOOOO cold at this higher altitude so it was definitely nice to warm the body to the core!
After the springs was dinner. Sarah was able to join us and we all went to a local pizzaria to enjoy the food and some local music and traditional dancing. Because of the big lunch, I only ordered a soup but it was warm and delicious as well. The entertainment was good too. They got all of us up and dancing and involved as well. An enjoyable evening.
This morning we woke up at
Dave and His Alpaca
Yes, I did try this. 5am, had free breakfast (bread, jam, coffee or coca tea - supposed to help with altitude) and then were off in our bus to the "Cruz del Condor" site, where a bunch of condors float in the canyon, looking for breakfast. Again, we made stops along the way to lookout at the view. AMAZING. Great big rocky mountains and the beautiful canyon. Some of the mountains and volcanos have been tall enough that they have snow at the top. It's beautiful (and cold!)
When we arrived at the lookout, we hiked for about 45 minutes. Luckily Sarah was able to do this part with us. It's so weird hiking at such high altitude. Something that normally wouldn't be too strenuous leaves you feeling completely out of breath.
We were lucky to see plenty of condors. To be honest, I think they look like vultures and are kind of ugly. haha. They were cool flying past us though. There were probably about 10 in total.
After that it was back to Chivay for lunch. Sarah and I found a pizzaria and I was able to get a soup, personal pizza, and drink for only S12 (about $4!). Cream
New Friends
Sporting our ponchos from the restaurant! of Asparagus soup - YUM!
After lunch we met up in the plaza and were heading back to Arequipa. We only stopped once for a bathroom break and made GREAT time. Sarah and I checked back into our same hostel (Casona del Jerusalen) and the owner is letting me borrow his laptop to write this!
Sarah and I are gonna take warm showers and relax for the night. I'm not too hungry after my big lunch and she's still not feeling well so we'll take hot showers, get under our very cozy wool blankets, watch some TV and head to bed.
Tomorrow we head out to Puno. Apparently Puno is even colder than Colca was so we're slightly nervous. We're gonna look for a hostel with heaters though, as it apparently gets well below freezing. I'm gonna have to buy some alpaca mittens!
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kari
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chicha
You need to try chicha. It's different in nearly every South American country... in Chile it is a very young wine. In Peru it is a beer made from nuts. Try it