To Colca Canyon

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8:30am On a way to Colca Canyon, the world’s 2nd deepest Canyon. There are about 12 people in the tour. Long, bumpy and unpaved road on desert mountains. Very dry and sterile looking terrains.

11:10am. Reached at 4910m above sea level. Higher than I have ever been on land. I felt Light-headed and short of breath. Dust from the dirt road and dry air made it harder to breathe.

1:30pm Buffet Lunch. Tried almost all Peruvian food I liked. Rocoto(Baked Chili stuffed with ground meat, onion, milk and eggs) Ceviche(raw seafood marinated lemon juice), alpaca meat, 12 different kinds of potatoes, Kenhwa soup(Kenhwa is Peruvian cereal, very nutritious and tasty), fried banana and Inca cola(Peruvian love this drink, It’s yellowish and sweet.) etc.

4:40pm. Hiking up a mountain at Chivay, a small town before Colca Canyon. Started to feel a headache and nausea. At first, I thought it was just altitude sickness and would be better soon, but it was not. There must be something wrong with lunch. Everybody in the group went to a hot spring in town but I came back to a hotel. Throwing up 3 times on a way, I managed to walk back to the hotel.

5:30pm. The hotel room was freezing, and of course, there was no heating in a room. Shivering with cold, I decided to take a hot shower. Within 3 minutes, even before I soaped, the hot water turned cold and I had to stop. Walking to a bed in an unheated room, I trembled so much and I couldn’t set an alarm clock.

6:00pm It was too cold to sleep. I decided to put on all clothes I brought, even a winter jacket and got under blanket.

6:30pm Still couldn’t sleep because of cold. Nausea was gone but the headache didn’t get better. I regretted so much not to bring more clothes and leave a pack of medicine at a hostel in Arequipa. I was upset with myself for carelessness but felt sorry for myself at the same time.

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep.

12:30am Woke up. Felt much better. Wanted to get some fresh air and went outside. Nobody was on the street, and the small town with many beggars and stray dogs in the afternoon looked so different. Surrounded by huge mountains all around, the plaza at the center of town appeared very tranquil with cold crystal clear air under a bright half moon. Feel like I was the only person on this planet. A small radio sound from a taxi at a distance made this even romantic.

Got back to a hotel and slept

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Photos

desert mountain
dry and barren terrain