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Published: January 23rd 2006
The Churchy Part of the Pinchollo Fiesta
The celebration begins at church! Kind of ironic considering most everybody is drunk for 3 days afterwards.So we left Arequipa is search of a bit of hiking... Down into the 2nd deepest canyon in the world seem to fit the bill for an afternoons walk.
Lets start at the beginning. Took a bus from Arequipa, which is estentially situated in a desert, over a 4800 m pass where there was snow, ending up in Colca de Canyon where there was once again cati... a bit crazy! The upper portion of the canyon is heavily terraced and used since the time of the Inca (500 years ago) to grow corn, potatoes, and barley. This is a bit of a change as everywhere eles that we have seen terraces its been rice, rice, and more rice. 1st nite was spent in Yanque with a family. We walked down through the terraces to a hotsprings situated on the Rio (river) Colca. Though they werent that hot the location was great. The evening was spent going over the alphabet with the familys 3 year old i.e. she was teaching us, not the other way round!
The next day we headed to Pinchollo. It was only a short drive away and we were lucky enough to arrive on the first
Randy and a showy little alpacca
OK, you know you´re a tourist when you pay someone to have your picture taken with them. I couldn´t resist though. or a three day festival. The festival was in celebration of Saint Sebastien, life, friends, bread, drink, dancing. Due to our broken Spanish that was as close as we could get. At anyrate, it was FANTASTIC!! Beyond Randy and myself there was only one other whitey in the village. We danced and Randy had some of the 90 proof whatever they were drinking drink. Due to living at sea level these days back home we were both a bit short of breath from time to time as we were giver at 3600 m. Many of the 55+ crowd put us to shame as they never stopped dancing, or drinking. To give you an idea, the festival started around noon with a procession around the Plaza. We went for a three hour hike and returned to serious dancing in a large rectangle/circle around 4 pm. This dancing around the Plaza continued well into the nite... i.e. everytime we woke up they were still playing. The whole thing began again at 6 am. When we drove back through the town on our way back to Arequipa (2 days later) they were still playing and dancing around the square... FANTASTIC!!
Next, we
Even the boys wear pretty dresses
Boys are lucky in Canyon de Colca... The girls aren´t the only ones wearing flashy clothes here. decided to fit in that afternoon hike. Hiked a ways out of town and ended up at Cruz de Condor. Massive birds that ride the thermals rising out of a narrow and very deep part of the canyon. Got a close-up look at these beautiful black creatures. We then started our descent into Cola de Canyon (see photos). We were lucky to meet up with a local and we proceded to have another kindergarden lesson in English and Spanish i.e. shoe=zapato etc... Yes folks, people live down at the bottom of this canyon... Through our 5 hour hike we travelled through 3 villages and ended up at place called Oasis. A palm treed terrace beside the river with several pools. Really, it was that fantastic but it was a nice place to have a nap before hiking the 1200 m out of the canyon. Any suggestions on the difference between a canyon and a valley? 1st guess is the former is formed due to an earthquake, while the latter is forme due to glaciation.
Other Travellers:
If you do this trip it is suggested that you get up early (ie 3 am) to hike out and avoid the heat.
Dancing in the Streets
The people of Pinchollo really now how to throw a party. 26 oz bottles of booze were the norm, as were endless dancing and a brass band that wouldn´t stop (and i mean they barely took a break for 3 days). We had a nice sleep in and starting hiking at 8 am. At least a third of the hike is in the shade steep cliffs and slope aspect (ie. it a south facing slope...remember we are now below the equator). There was even a cool breeze as things dont really heat up until later. It was warm, but not as bad as I think things are made out to be. If you have the time and can break up the trip to Colca de Canyon we strongly suggest it as there is much to see and do and one day doesnt do it any justice.
After the hike we headed to Chivay and then finally today back to Arequipa. Tomorrow we head south to Chile and the city of Arica.
We are off to have some cake....
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