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Published: October 30th 2010
Our first day in Arequipa we set about trying to book a tour of the Colca Canyon for the next day. We managed to find a cheap tour for 1 night that left the next day. Being tight as we are we opted for the budget accomodation option so were crossing our fingers it woiuld be ok. Tour booked we spent the day taking in Arequipa which we were pleasantly surprised by. Reading that it was Peru´s second largest city we both had visions of another Lima. However, it is much smaller, a lot prettier and less manic.
The next mornign we got up and prepared for our Colca trip. We were collected by our guide and boarded the minibus. As we went round collecting the other people on our tour it became apparent that this would not be like any other backpacker tour we´d done before. the main difference being that we were the only backpackers. Our group consisted of 4 Peruvians, a French girl and Spanish guy who were on their honeymoon, a couple who worked in finance from NY( clearly not on a budget) and a very annoying couple of American sisters. If there had been a
group prize for talking the most nonsense then they would have won it hands down.
Having collected everyone we set off on our trip. We drove to a village in the middle of canyon country called Chivay stopping at several spots on the way to visit strategically placed stalls selling local handicrafts. When we arrived in Chivay we went for lunch which was followed by some locals playing guitars and panpipes very badly on a mini stage in the restuarant. They then of course came round looking for tips and selling their ´bestselling´cd which of course the Americans had to buy two of!
After lunch our guide took us for a walk to some ruins and then to the local hot springs. We spent a few hours there before going to our hotels to relax before dinner. Having opted for the budget option we were not holding our much hope for our hotel but it turned out to be really nice and probably one of the best we´ve stayed in.
That night we were all herded to a local restuarant for dinner and a dance and music show. To say that we were dreading this is puting
it mildly. During dinner the band played and some local kids did a traditional dance before trying to get us up to join them. We stayed a polite amount of time and then made our excuses.
The next day we were both looking forward to seeing the canyon. When we signed up for the tour we didn´t realise how much herding there would be and stopping en route. We only really wanted to see the canyon. We got up at 5pm and after 3 hous driving finally got to the canyon along with about 200 other tourists. Not quite what we expected but the canyon was impressive and we did see several condors flying overhead. This is not always guarenteed so it was good that we saw so many. After a few hours at the canyon we took the long drive back to Arequipa wheere we got on a night bus to Lima.
When we got to Lima we were glad to find that we could get a bus straight back out to Huaraz and didn´t have to wait on another night bus. We arrived in Huaraz about 9pm so went staright to a hostel and then to
bed. Night buses really make you appreciate a bed.
The next morning we spent the day in Huaraz which is lovelyas it is surrounded by snow capped mountains. Tom had wanted to do a day trek from Huaraz that had been recommended by several people but unfortunately he wasn´t able to do it. So, we spent the two days we were there relaxing. The next night we took a night bus to Trujillo hoping to connect straight to Mancora.
Unfortunately the buses to Mancora from Tujillo only go at night so we had a whole day waiting in Trujillo which has nothing going on. Had we not found the very nice micro brewery pubto spend the day in I don´t know what we would have done. So, nicely tipsy at 10.30pm we boarded our bus to Mancora.
The journey to mancora is possibly the worst we´ve had. Instead of getting a bus with the compamy we´d booked we were again bumped onto another company that offered an economy service. Basically it stopped everywhere on the way making it very difficult to sleep. We were extremely happy finally get off the bus in Mancora and see the sun
shining.
Mancora is a surf town in the north of Peru so we were really looking forward to spending time on the beach enjoying the sunshine and not being at altitude. The hostel we´d booked is set on the hill above town so the views are amazing. Once we´d checked in we quickly grabbed our towels and hit the beach.
So, for the past few days we´ve been lazing around on the beach watching the kitesurfing ( which we´ve vowed to take up when we return home) and eating some good seafood. Tomorrow we head to Ecuador.
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Pen and Cam
non-member comment
You guys are really having some adventures...maybe an alpaca would be safer and more reliable than some of the buses you've been frequenting!....choose one with muscley legs to carry Tom's camera equipment. xoxo