Advertisement
Published: October 18th 2009
Edit Blog Post
And another beautiful view
I wish these pictures could portray how amazing it was This is probably one of the most memorable and tough experiences Ive had here so far! We descended into the deepest canyon in the world on day one, taking us 4 hours. We reached a tiny village nestled in this canyon called San Juan Chuccho and stayed the night there. It was insane to be sleeping in such a tiny village with a secondary school that has a mere 3 students in what looked like a barn. Rustic was an understatement! It a world away from what Ive been used to my entire life, its strange to think that people actually live here, having to trek for 3 hours at least with mules just to get basic supplies from a slightly bigger village called Cabanaconde. It was a beautiful walk down though and I was eager to take on some uphill walking.
On day two we rose at 7, had breakfast served to us by our guide then went on our merry way to visit two smaller villages. One was called Malata where we visited what could possibly be the worlds smallest museum, but it was by far the best museum I have ever been to. As we arrived we
were served Chicha, a traditional drink made from corn which was drunk by Incas for generations. It was served to us by a tiny happy chap who actually spoke Quechan. He showed us around this museum which is a third of the size of my bedroom, explaining all the things along the way and giving us demonstrations of how they make their soups, which animals they eat, how long each food type lasts, what they cook on, how they transport things and so on, including the amazing traditional dress. He even let us try on the hats, I looked ridiculous, but loved every minute of it!
At the end of day two we arrived at Sangalle, known as an oasis also nestled deep in the canyon. Again the accomodation was very....rustic, with dirt flooring in the rooms....but I can imagine it being any other way there! They had pools to cool off in, with the water being supplied by the rivers that flow there. It was nice to relax, awaiting the monster hike the next day.
On the last day we rose at 5 and started the 3 hour ascent up 1000 meters. There were many of us
doing this, all going at various speeds, all understanding each others pain as our thighs burnt and we were left a little breathless from the extreme altitude of over 4000 meters above sea level... thats 4000 higher than what we e used to in England! Nevertheless I still beat altitude sickness, whether that is because my body can cope with it or the copious amounts of coca tea and coca sweets I don know, but Im just grateful I made it without killer headaches and sickness!
Some people gave up half way, or didn even attempt it, opting for the mule instead, but dad didn give up and rejected the various offers of mules passing by as he almost died on his way up. I must say, I thought Id lost him when Id been sat at the top, chatting away to the other trekkers and waiting for him for an hour, but eventually I saw him turn the corner and was extremely proud that hed made it, despite having dreaded it for the previous two days! He says it has finished him off and Im to go solo on the next trek, but Im sure Ill be able
to convince him 😊
All in all, the trek through Colca Canyon was so worthwhile and I saw some of the most incredible views of my life there! Theyll be cherished in my memory forever! Yet again, they were postcard moments. I had to pinch myself to check what I was seeing wasn a hallucination from the altitude!
One thing I will say though, is you definately don need a guide! There are so many trekkers that you can walk with them if you think you e unsure of the way, but the paths are clearly marked so you shouldn have trouble. We met a few groups that had gone it alone and I think it is definately a better option as you can choose what you want to do without being tied to what the guide wants to do or what your group are doing. Plus itll save you around 80 soles per person!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.139s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 15; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0921s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb