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Published: August 8th 2006
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Colca Canyon
This was the first view we had of the canyon, we had to decend to a little bridge about 10mm into the picture and head along the river on the other side to that landing pad looking bit!! 5 hours!! Ain´t No Canyon Deeper Enough,
Ain´t No Water High Enough,
Ain´t No Trekking Hard Enough To Keep Me From Yoooouuuu!!!
AAAAAIN´T NO CAAAANYON!!! (My Pills!?¿! My Pills!¿?!)...
This was a week of "Worlds This" & "Worlds That"....
Set down in Arequipa after a great time in Cusco. And after a few chats and changes to my trip involving both South America & Australia me and Kay thought it best to go our own separate ways from here... Time Too "Paddle Your Own Canoe" Ray...
So Colca Canyon, This is the best place to go spotting Condors (Biggest birds in the world with wingspan of 3m+) and untill recently Colca was believe to be the DEEPEST Canyon in the world (but new radar techniques have shown the one next to it 15 miles away is deeper by 165m) but at 3000m (9842 feet) and 43.5 miles long its still a daunting task for my first trekking experience!!! Yes got all the gear and this 50 days in is my first real trekking experience...
Booked my trek with my hostal "The Point" (cool chilled hostal, good dorms and lockers and ace garden with hammocks and grass Highly Recommended!!)... Was
View From The Bottom..
Nice to get to the bottom... But at sometime we had to go back up!!!! a 3 day 2 night experience with a group of 5 plus our guide who would also be our cook.... The group was made up of Me,"Gon" the Crazy Israili, "Vincent" the French Guy and a German Couple "Cristophe & Silja"... We all got on great and had a wicked trip lots of conversation plus fun and games including sh*thead which i tought them all (cards)...
Was a 6 o'clock start and a 6 hour bus ride followed by my strangest lunch so far!!!! A Fried Egg, Plain Rice & Mushy Peas???? (set a bad feeling for food on the rest of the trip in my mind!! but was proven wrong food was great), then it was off on the trekk which we as a group decided the route!! now with Gon being a hardcore (Mad Crazy Fool!!!) Jungle explorer and trekker we chose the hard way!!!.. So Day 1 was 6 hours down and across, Day 2 8am start 5 hours up and across and then Day 3 2am!!! yes 2am Start and 3 hours STRAIGHT UP IN THE DARK!!!!!!! (with only our little flashlights to show the way)...
I found the trekking hard what with the
The Gang!!!
From Left to Right... Vincent,Gon,Jenny (Guide),Me,Cristophe & Silja (Hi Guys Hope Your All Safe)... altitude stealing your oxygen and me not doing much exercise for 2 months... But my plan was to stay in the front 3 and not let my spirit break besides the bit i haven´t mentioned is that at the end of each stint is a small Oasis with natural hot springs to relax and spend the evening and boy were these deserved!!!! it was as if all the pain just went away and pride took over when you reached them!!! You could turn around and see the vast distance you have just trekked, the problem with this was when you turned back around you could see what tomorrow had in store??????
But by far Day 3 was the killer!!! Wake up call 1.45ish (i slept in my clothes both for warmth and ease)... I found great delight in helping here with the aid of my camera flash!! Ouch!!! (Pics Below)... then the walk was pretty much straight up and in yesterdays daylight the task looked scary not to mention the heat from the sun, so although 2am is tooooo early was the best time to tackle this... And we had to be at the top to take our bus
Cochanile!!!!!
The white stuff on this cactus is an insect and one you "ALL" eat? or wear? more often than you think!!!! If ya pop it dark red blood comes out!!! This for example is used to colour the following stuff just to name a few - Face Rouge, Lipstick, Jelly, Jammy Dodgers, Eye Liners and pretty much any food that is red but not a ntural flavour!!!! so veggies beware!!!! to see the Condors by 6.....
We made it ok and headed down the valley to the spotting place... Now the stories you hear of this experience are varied and i think (Know!!) it all boils down to a bit of luck!! this in that there are 3 places to view all at different heights and the thermals in the canyon that morning have a say on how high the birds fly and how close you get (all places are close enough for you to see but only very close will do for the camera shots!! i didn't get Very close just close enough!!!).... But the majastic flying style and the size of these birds is amazing!!! there were about 8 at one time....
On the way back stopped at a local market and saw the cutest little girl with a baby alpaca trying to nick her icecream (got it on video!! Priceless!!!), the market was really interesting with lots of local grain and F&V stall with the strange potatoes (peru has 250 varieties!!) and scary meat stalls!!!
That night we all went out in Arequipa for drinks and from me to you all "Hope Your Safe
How Cute!!!!
This was the icecream alpaca!!!! & Well"....
Next stop Puno on the shores of Lake TitiKaka the "Lagest Navigable Lake In the World"...
The Lake in split by Peru and Bolivia (60/40) and at 3810m (12500ft) covering 3205 sq miles (50 miles at widest point) is the highest in the world (also has the biggest frog at 1 foot long!!)....
I was only here for a couple of days Peru side and one day Bolivia...So on my Peru trip i took a boat which stopped firstly at a floating island, this was an island constructed purely of reeds with reed houses reed boats and they even ate them!!! although Very Impressive i still had a little feeling of tourist trap and didn´t warm too much to this!!!! but the next stop was what i was waiting for!!! you got to spend the night on one of the islands "Almantani" and stay with a local family who would cook for you and you got to see how they lived... The island only had 1000 people living on it and you had to marry within your island!! (but they all seemed normal!!!).... There were 3 rules to the island "Don´t Be Lazy" "Don´t Lie"
Oasis!!!!!
This is us arriving at the oasis on day 2.... "Don´t Steal" and the motto was "I´ll help you today, You help me tomorrow" and it all seemed to work on the surface (no-one was even allowed to own a dog because a dog would bark at intruders and this was a statment of mistrust towards your nieghbours, nice touch!!)....
My family consisted of a Granny who did all the cooking a mum (Veronica) a dad who i barely saw a young boy and a little lamb... the cooking facilities were from many years ago but the food was ok/good (nowhere near enough!!!) and everyone hung out in the kitchen (small barn away from the house) in the evening just for warmth as the place was freezing at night!!! including the little lamb who stood within inches of the cooking pots for best heat...Arrhh...
Next day was another island on the way back with a local dance and show plus a big market, we stopped for lunch (Lake Titi Trout) and then headed back to the mainland....
I stayed in Puno another night and then got my coach into bolivia where i stayed in Copacabana for the evening and headed off to LaPaz the following day (incidently
Traditional Dress...
All the locals wear thier traditional dress including the men who have top wear a differnt hat depending on wether single or married!! Good Idea?? the "Highest City In The World")....
Take Care All...x
Bit For the Travelers- Puno to LaPaz 25 soles with stopover in Copacabana, Island trip 50 soles includes pickups, Cool little pub in Copa called Mayers (open till 2 great Mojito's)... Accomadation in Puno 15 soles and 40 Boliviano's in Copa.... Fish The Best Meal By far In This area...
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Uncle Buncle from down under
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1 foot frog
A 1 foot Frog! what happend to hiss other legs I mean how does he hop......................