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Published: September 13th 2010
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Arriving after an absolutely freezing bus ride we first went about sorting out a bus for Manuela. This would be the morning that Manuela was parting ways with the group and heading back to Chile. So after sorting out a bus for her to the border town of Tacna we grabbed a cab with our new English mates from the trek and headed for our hostels. We had decided to stay in what they would refer to as a poshtel. Basically a hostel with a bar and wifi. We're not exactly talking hotel standard here but the boys are on a tight budget so went to one of the cheapest places they could find. They got out first as the cabby actually knew where their hostel was. After figuring out that the cabby was bullshitting us about knowing where our hostel was we headed to a place for breakfast that had wifi so we could google the address. Also we were fortunate that the breakfast was acutally very good. After breakfast we wandered toward our hostel bumping into Harry and Marc on the way. After explaining to them about what had happened we made our way to our hostel to drop
off our things and check in.
We arranged to meet the guys later in the main square. This gave us time to sort a few things out first. So after having a walk around town and talking to a few tour agencies for a tour of the Colca canyon we made our way to the main square. It has to be said that Arequipa is very different from the rest of Peru. It is a very pretty almost European city. In fact the locals even make their own passport as they feel that different from the rest of Peru. We were a bit early for the meeting but ran into the boys anyway. We told them about the tour and all agreed it sounded good and headed to book it. Harry and Marc needed to grab some money so we waited for a while till they came back. Here Harry would also buy a present for Manuela. He got her a towell as she had left hers in Cusco. But this being us of course it had to be more personal. So written on the towell was a lovely message. "Think of us everytime you rub your hot, wet,
naked body" a very appropriate gift indeed. So with the tour booked and gift given it was time to farewell Manuela. So we decided even though it was only 10AM we would have to grab one last beer. So after the last beer and we grabbed a taxi back to the bus station to drop off Manuela. Once we all said our farewells and saw Manuela safely off Clinton and I grabbed some bus tickets to Lima for after the tour and headed back into town. We had agreed to meet Marc and Harry at a church/museum in town. But once arriving there and asking the guard if he had seen a man with red hair we decided to do the tour without them. Got to be said it was pretty damn boring tour of the artwork of the church. Somehow Lonely Planet thought you had to see it. So after missing Marc and Harry we headed to go grab some lunch. Possibly the best lunch of the trip. For just 3.5 soles maybe $1 we got a big soup and lomo saltado a national dish of beef, vegetables, rice and potato.
Figuring we weren't going to find the
boys we went back to the hostel and left a message on facebook. Luckily they saw it and we arranged to meet them for dinner and beers. After meeting some people in our hostel including a Canadian girl who drank in my pub in London every Friday night we all headed out for dinner and drinks. This is perhaps not the best idea we have had due to the 6AM wake up time the next day. I believe we got home at maybe 2AM so the levels of sleep weren't great.
Waking up feeling shit the next morning we got ready for our tour of the Colca Canyon. We decided on the two day tour as we had managed to get it for the same price as the one day tour after a little back and forward. The first day of the tour wasn't anything special but the drive was nice and the scenery once we reached COlca Valley pretty stunning. The whole valley has been terraced. A method of farming the mountain lands used since Pre-Incan times. The afternoon finished in the local hot springs which was very much welcomed. That night we went to a restaurant together
to watch the traditional dances of the Colca region. The dances were quite good but the place itself was way too touristy for my liking. That night not wanting to go to bed straight away and no one wanting to go out we decided to play some cards. We had managed to convince some of the others on the tour to join us. Harry also decided it would be good if we had some cheap rum. The night turned out to be great fun.
The next morning would be another early rise. This time so we could get to the Colca Canyon early in the hope of being able to see lots of Condors. Condors are a special bird in Peru with them being one of the three sacred animals of the Incas. Plus we would also get to see what is claimed to be the world's deepest canyon. But I believe again this turns out not to be true. That morning we drove to the condor lookout over one of the deepest points of the canyon. The canyon itself is great to look out over. But what made the morning incredible was seeing these massive condors swoop and
glide through the Canyon. For those wondering the Condor has the largest wingspan of any flying land bird. A very long title indeed. Beaten in wingspan only by the Albatross I do believe. We were also very lucky according to the guide as they were flying high that day and even flew straight over our heads. But our luck didn't stop there. We then went for a small trek along the top of the canyon. At another viewing point we saw a female land on a rock not five metres from us. Top to that it was then joined by a very large male and a young condor. So after sitting there just watching them for a long while we had to leave to go see some more of the sites. So we headed back towards town and for lunch. Deciding we didn't want to pay tourist prices we went to find a local place. We got an awesome meal for 8 soles instead of the 20 the tourist place wants. After that we got back in the bus for the trip home.
That night after going back to our hostel for a shower and to grab our stuff
we headed out for final beers with Marc and Harry. We had so much fun travelling with the boys it was sad to be going it alone. It would also be the first time that Forster and I would be travelling solo since all the way back in Buenos Aires. So far we have been blessed to have had some awesome travel companions. Hopefully we find some more along the way. So we went to the pub and had a couple of beers then grabbed a taxi with them to the bus station. We all man hugged goodbye and parted ways. We will have to catch up with them in the brief time we have back in London. So overnight bus number one was boarded. We were off on our way to the north of Peru.
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