Blogs from Arequipa, Peru, South America - page 6

The alarm went off at 2.15 am and we dragged ourselves out of bed, by 2.33am we were on the bus to Colca Canyon. After 3 hours we arrived in Chivay for breakfast. From there we stoppped at several small villages and saw local ladies and little children marching around the village square and got asked many times if we wanted to take photos of the children in their brightly coloured costumes. By 11am we were at Colca Canyon itself, the canyon was vast. We had just 40 minutes to spend here so rushed down to the best vantage point to see the condors. After a short wait we saw several huge condors cruising around in the sky getting closer and closer to us. All too soon it was time to leave, we stopped at some ... read more

Well, here I sit in the north of Peru and I am hopelessly behind with my blog updates. The previous 3 weeks have been so busy and much happened that I really didn’t have time to update my blog. Carla has been with me the last 12 days and we had better things to do than sit in front of a PC and compose articles. That is called priorities. Nonethtless, let’s begin on my experiences in Puno and Arequipa After a fantastic time in La Paz it was time to move on. The day I choose to make the move was the 1st of May, a national holiday in Bolivia. So the city was dead in the morning when I went to the bus station to get my ticket to Copacabana. I purchased my ticket, went ... read more

After exploring Lake Titicaca we decided to make our way by bus into Peru and the city of Arequipa where we were pleasantly surprised by this elegant, yet modern town. With El Misti, a 5,700m dormant volcano poised directly above the city it certainly takes on a mystical feel. After a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the cuisine we proceeded north to go trekking in the Colca Canyon or the "Valley of Marvels" by the Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa. This canyon, which is nearly twice the size of Arizona's Grand Canyon and the world's deepest at more than 4km from cliff edge to river bottom held us captive with impressive views and vistas. The huge canyon is home to traditional Indian villages and settlements and our goal was to visit some of these and ... read more

Arequipa, moins touristique que bien d'autres endroits du Pérou, bénéficie d'une histoire très importante et d'un cadre assez splendide. En effet, le coeur de la ville est classé au patrimoine de de l'UNESCO et en toile de fond se dresse le volcan El Misti à 5825m d'altitude. Le but de notre passage à Arequipa est de nous rendre dans le Cañon del Colca, second canyon le plus profond du monde. Après nous être renseigné dans quelque agence de tourisme sérieuse, nous prenons un bus de nuit qui nous emmène sur les hauteurs du canyon. Nous descendons à Cruz del Condor, point de vue impressionnant d'où nous pouvons observer le vol des condors. Nous commençons alors notre petit trek en suivant la route jusqu'au mirador San Miguel, proche de Cabanaconde, à 3287m d'altitude. Une grande descente, d'environ ... read more

We passed through Puno en route to Arequipa. I found Puno to be a bit uninspiring. As Peru's most famous lakeside town, I was surprised that they lived with their back to Lake Titicaca. The land becomes more industrialised as you move from the town centre towards the shore. The main point of interest around here are the floating islands, made of bound reeds, on which indigenous people used to live to avoid marauding enemies.These days they are subject to marauding tour groups. Arequipa is Peru's second largest city and the dusty outskirts do not look particularly welcoming. However, as usual, the colonial city centre provides a pleasant focus for visitors. The main plaza is quite large and is flanked along one edge by a beautiful cathedral. A fair number of old buildings survive, some of ... read more