Back from the hike

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Have returned from our long trip in the 2nd deepest canyon in the world. We took a long bus ride to get there and then ate lunch with the other tour groups. Our guide was a girl in her 20´s. We were with three people from Australia and one British guy - everyone was in their early 20´s. I was the eldest, and Ted 2nd. We were also with the fittest bunch. Unfortunately, we got lost in the dust. Couldn´t keep up with the young crowd. We met up with them at the bottom of the canyon, though. We had dinner at a family´s house and slept in a mudbrick hut - very dusty and cold. After staying up and talking, we woke to a very hot day. We hike 500 meters up & I am not sure how many kilometers. We went to a ¨"museum" and drank some chicha (spit beer). We grossed out the Aussie´s when we told them how it was made. The towns were very poor & everything was made out of mudbrick, even the churches. The woman all wore colorful skirts and bowler´s hats. We finally made it to "The Oasis", and it was an oasis! A swimming pool, grass, food! It was pretty cool. We had to sleep in a bamboo hut with a muddy floor, though. No electricity, again. We got up at 3:30 in the morning and took mules up the 1500 meter vertical to the top of the canyon by moonlight. It was really cool, but also terrifying! The mules kept walking on the edge & I was afraid we´d all go tumbling down into the abyss. The trail is not maintained at all, so I thought the trail might crumble at any point. Some of the trail was already falling apart, it was like walking on rubble. I just kept looking at the top and nothing else. Ted and I are now saddle sore. We then took a bus to see some condors, but soon lost interest. We decided to head back to Arequipa & skip the hot springs. After all, we will live in a town chalk full of hotsprings. Anyway, that´s it for now . . .

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