ameriquipa. (arequipa)

---

AREQUIPA.

craziest adventure yet. so it all began with this massive double decker bus with blaring, horrendous, sort of tribal music along with music video. i was sitting on the top floor in the front row with a fantastic view of the night drive. the bus left at about 8 pm and was due to arrive in arequipa at 6 am. the road to arequipa is a windy, mountainous, scary as hell journey that was pretty awesome and terrifying at the same time. being in the front allowed me to witness the constant possible ways i could die, but the views were so cool and we were literally on the side of a mountain, taking up both lanes because the bus was so large.

after half sleeping and half freezing because peruvians don´t seem to believe in heat and the windows were covered in ice, we finally arrived in arequipa...all 11 of us and two more to be met the next day. we hopped into taxis and drove to our hostel right near the plaza de armas slash center of the city. we slept from about 7 to noon and got up, walked to the plaza, and headed to the really famous monastery. the monastery was absolutely beautiful with bright blue and red walls, lovely paintings and landscaping, and a live orchestra. we had lunch at the restaurant inside of the monastery and the food was fabulous. the setting felt very meditteranean, as did the entire city, because of the warm air, light colors, and palm trees. the city is much closer to the coast than cusco and it was obvious. the air was easier to breathe and it cannot be described any other way than a much lighter, easier, lovelier city which was a great break from the more dusty, touristy, and constant construction of cusco. we then visited the cathedral in the plaza which was also beautiful, headed to a coffee shop to relax, went back to the hostal to take a break and get ready for dinner, and then had great typical arequipeñan food. i had trout and sweet potatoes and it was absolutely delicious.

the next morning we got up and went to see juanita, a frozen incan girl that was sacrificed to the mountain gods 500 years ago and was recently discovered perfectly preserved. we went through the museum and learned about incan traditions and ways to appease the gods before finally seeing this girl. it was so creepy and interesting at the same time. for the rest of the day we shopped and ate and met up with 3 other friends from cusco and had a very relaxing time.

the next day we woke up at 2:30 in the morning, tried to eat breakfast, and got into a van with out guide to head towards the colca canyon. we had been told in cusco that the canyon was really warm and to prepare for that kind of weather. what they didn´t mention was that in the morning at high altitude in a van without heat you would die of cold. i literally wore every piece of clothing i had packed for the two days on our way to the canyon and still couldn´t feel the majority of my body parts.

we drove three hours to this area that is perfect for viewing condors and walked around there and saw these massive, majestic birds fly around us. it was really cool, freezing, but cool.
our guide then told us that robin, this really awesome girl from my house who is in a wheel chair, would not be able to join us in the canyon eventhough we specifically asked multiple times to multiple people if she could come with us, to which they replied of course she could come only on a donkey instead of walking. the news that it wasn´t safe for her to ride the donkey was delivered to us a 10 minute drive away from where we were supposed to start trekking into the canyon. after a lot of tears, yelling, and anger, we finally got her on some random tourist bus back to arequipa, and had to let her fend for herself. we were all pissed and felt horrible for letting her go back alone, especially because she speaks very little spanish, but we had no choice. she managed to get all her money back from the agency and got on a bus back to cusco that night.

the rest of us continued on journey to the canyon. we get to the starting point and the guide conveniently decides to tell us that we have chosen the most difficult trek. awesome. we learn to stay away from the edge, freeze in case of a snake sighting, and are told to haul ass because we are trying to get to the bridge at the semi-bottom of the canyon in under 3 hours. we start going down along a very narrow path that you can only walk one person at a time over the edge of a very high cliff. multiple panic attacks ensued for a few of us (cough, broder) but it was fine and we kept going.

about half way down i was starting to feel exhausted and my two stops to tie my shoes also helped to put me in the back with rosalyn. we ended up hiking just the two of us, slightly angry that the rest of the group didn´t wait at all and slightly nervous because we couldn´t even see the rest of the group for the majority of the time. we eventually caught up with the group at the hanging bridge and took a two minute break and continued to hike upwards for about 30 minutes. meanwhile rosalyn and i hadn´t stopped for any breaks along our way down in fear of really losing the group and we were so incredibly dehydrated, culminating in a panic attack and a loss of the ability to breathe for me. scariest moment of my life. thank god for kat and broder who helped me get to our destination for lunch that day because i have never felt that way before and it was horrific.

finally we get to this little restaurant slash hostel on the side of the mountain and have a great meal and i began to calm down. the next leg of our trek was an hour or so up hill and then an hour or so downhill. rosalyn and i hopped on mules for the leg up. craziest experience ever. mules really like the edge of the canyon and like making the widest turns ever. EVER. so we are going up these snaking, zig zag paths uphill on this four legged, large animal and holding on for dear life because they just kept trudging along and didn´t care if you were sliding off the back. after we made it all the to the top of the upwards portion, i was so adrenalized from the fear of the mule and ready to get off of it that i hiked down myself for the last hour or so. i met up with the rest of the hiking group along the way and we all entered the oasis together. it was so unbelievably beautiful. the rest of the terrain was dry and rocky, but at the bottom it was green and lush and had palm trees, little bungalows, and swimming pools.

we all quickly changed into our bathing suits and jumped into the freezing cold pool, forgetting that we did not have towels or any means of getting them. i tried bartering with a random guy, offering him chocolate covered raisins for a towel but it was unsuccessful. we all got out, got dressed, and hung out until dinner. the oasis had no electricity, so kat and i rocked on the hammocks and looked at the stars which were absolutely incredible.

the next morning rosalyn and i took mules back up out of the canyon, again holding on for dear life. my mule was very unhappy being last in a line of four, and he decided to take a rogue journey running up a much steeper, not normal path in order to pass the other mules and be the alpha. we were first in line for the rest of the trek. i managed to relax on the mule, even as it decided just to stop and perch itself on the edge of the cliff every so often, and witnessed the most amazing views. it was so fun and so awesome. rosalyn and i made it to the top and waited for the rest of the hikers to finish and then we all had breakfast together.

the rest of the day was spent stopping at little towns around the canyon and heading to the hot springs. about 5 of us didn´t go into the hot springs, being way too hot already to sit in boiling water, but had a lot of fun anyway. i tried cactus fruit, touched an alpaca, and saw a hawk and eagle up close. we then had lunch at this incredible buffet restaurant where they cooked in the traditional arequipeñian way- underground. it was so so so so good. we boarded our van once again and headed back to arequipa where we got some food for the road and headed back on the massive and dangerous bus. this time the bus company finger printed us before entering in case the bus tipped, we died, and needed some means of identification. yeah.

all in all a fantastic trip.
i am writing this now after not leaving the house for 4 days because i managed to give myself a concussion. no biggie. im feeling a lot better and will be heading to machu picchu tomorrow morning and coming back sunday night. then i´m off the puno and lake titicaca monday night to thursday morning, and the sacred valley all day friday. i love it here! i never run out of things to do or see.

talk to you soon.

besitos,
em

---