Arequipa: It feels weird to breathe normally.

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We have probably spent close to a week in Arequipa, with a short three day jaunt into Colca Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world. It has been an extremely interesting time in Arequipa.

It took us about 7 hours on a bus to get from Puno to Arequipa. Warning, though the front of the second floor of the bus is awesome when it comes to views, it is burning hot with the sun. However, we arrived easily enough to Wild Rovers, the hostel chain that we stayed at in Cusco and now in Arequipa, though the taxi ride from the bus station to the hostel was terrifying. Signs, speed limits and lines on the road are just guidelines. The atmosphere here is always a great one! With a pool, bar, Irish themed restaurant and hot showers, the place really does start to feel like home, especially when you all hang out together for a few days!

We spent the next two days just chilling and relaxing by the pool with a few trips to the outside world of the hostel to see some of the sites. Arequipa is an interesting and exciting city, but still not as clean and touristy as Cusco. However, I think I like Arequipa better.

Besides finding an awesome view of the city and surrounding mountain, which are mostly inactive volcanoes, we visited one of the old convents, where nuns still live but can have contact with the outside world, and the main cathedral…which is actually a basilica. I’ll admit, I’m learning a little more about the Catholic faith going to these churches and hearing about some of the artifacts. For example, I had no idea that a pelican, which doesn’t really look like a pelican usually, is a symbol used in the church…interesting.

The convent was also really interesting. The one we went to is very old and families used to have to pay the convent for taking one of the daughters as a nun. Today, they would have had to pay 500 million soles, which is about 250 million dollars. All of this money for a life of no contact with anyone from the outside world, only a few letters and sometimes the ability to talk to your family with a screen between you. Props to them though. I’m guessing the money helped when they made chalices and such out of 1,000+ diamonds.

Probably one of our more exciting adventures in Arequipa was walking around the city, which is HUGE, finding Mexican and Turkish restaurants with amazing food, and going to this market that takes up about half a block and has almost every food imaginable, though walking near the meat and fish made me want to vomit…and walking down the fruit isle was amazing.

Halfway through our time in Arequipa, we did a three day trek through Colca Canyon. We shopped around, trying to find the right tour for the right price. Everyone we had talked to told us to be careful with which company we chose and ask specifically what we would get for the money. We, and when I saw we I mean Becca, bargained for the right price…and then we through it all away and went with one of the most expensive ones, go figure. We decided on a three day trek, since four days was too long and two days was too fast.

We chose Land Adventures. When we tried to find reviews on the different companies, everyone said Land Adventures was the best and with their small groups (2-8 people), it would be a very personal trek. We would also go and stay with families when we got into the Canyon, which our guide seemed to know very well. Pépé was our guide…and our first impression of him was him falling out of a chair. It was going to be an interesting trip.

We were the only people signed up for this trek, so we basically had our own personal tour guide, which was amazing since we got to set the pace. We left Arequipa about 7:30 a.m. while most tours left at 3 a.m. We stopped for some mate de coca (tea made with coca leaves) to help with the altitude change and stopped for some pictures in the wild alpaca, vicuna and llama reserve as well as the highest point along the route, which I think was just over 5,000 meters.

Getting to Copacabana around 1 p.m., we ate lunch and started our three-ish hour trek down to a small village at the bottom of the canyon. Colca Canyon is said to be one of the deepest (it’s actually the second deepest with the deepest being its neighbor and only a different of about 300-500 meters. Going down was not bad. We kept a pretty steady pace, stopping to say hola to the locals and talk about some of the different plants. We even saw a condor on the way down!

We spent the night in a small village, where there really isn’t any electricity, except for the TV and a few lights in the common areas. Everything else at night is done by candle light. My parents would be proud as I tried food that I really don’t like, like avocado, bananas, and tomatoes, so as not to offend the family we were staying with. Then I would give the rest to Becca, who keeps me around for this very reason.

The next day we were up at 7 to start the four hour trek through some villages, along the mountainside to the Oasis, which is basically paradise. Along the way we stopped a few times, did “20 minutes” uphill which Pepe said would be a taste of our three hour trek back to Copacabana. It was very interesting to hear about life in these villages. There are no cars and in some places no electricity. They get around by mule or by foot. The people are basically self sustaining, and for things that they might need that they can’t grow or make, they take to Copacabana to trade, sell or buy. They are also trying to improve their homes to host tourists. There is one doctor on the mountain for about 10 villages. When they go to visit the villages on the other side of the mountain, being gone for about 2-3 days, the people have to rely on knowledge of plants and such to hopefully combat whatever is ailing them until the doctor gets back. Most of the people living here are elderly and children. The parents work in the cities to make money to send back. The kids are sent to help the grandparents run the farms and take care of the animals. Most of these villages are from pre-Incan times, and trying to update with the changes of modern technology can be difficult, due to government ‘assistance’ and the mindset of the people.

Pepe explained that when the kids are in schools, Land Adventures tries to stop to let the tourist teach the kids some of their language, encourage them to continue their education, and try to convince the grandparents that the education is a right and important for the child’s future.

When we finally reached the Oasis, I thought maybe I had died on the trek because this place was beautiful. It had pools using water from the nearby springs that were the perfect temperature, especially after hiking all day, beautiful green scenery, and really good food. (The Peruvians have mastered soup and lemonade in my mind!)

Then came the trek up. I will admit, after not being able to breathe through my nose to either a coming cold or some type of allergies, my thoughts were not positive for this hike. You are basically climbing, in some places straight up, about 1,500 meters or more. Becca was determined to do it, for the feeling of accomplishment and success. I took a mule. I splurged the $15-$20 to save my lungs. And I am super happy that I did. After passing Becca and Pepe, and having to change mules as the owner asked me how much I weighed (rude?), it started to rain. First it was a light, cool rain…then the sky opened up and God laughed. Within a few minutes, I was drenched. This is the point that I definitely knew that I had made the right decision in taking the mule. I got back to the hotel we would spend the night at about an hour before Becca and Pepe made it. However, props to them for making it in 2 hours and 20 minutes in a normal 3 hour hike!

After a hot shower, and amazing food, the bed felt wonderful. The next morning, I think I hated life even more as muscles I didn’t even know I had hurt. I could barely move my legs, and my calves are now amazing…After leaving the hotel, we started the drive back to Arequipa. We stopped at some points to take beautiful pictures of the canyon, see the famous condors (which are the ugliest animals ever), and pet an alpaca and llama, and even get a hawk or eagle on my head. We then got to the hotsprings. Though it was extremely awkward because it was Becca, our guide, me….and four native males, the water felt amazing! After that, a buffet lunch of epic proportions and back to Arequipa.

A fun night trying to salsa at a salsateca (salsa night club), and we have reached our last day in Arequipa. We will be taking a night bus to Ica and work our way up the coast to Lima. Only a few more days in Peru!

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Photos

Arequipa
One of the churches with Mount Misti in the background