Arequipa to Chivay

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We left Arequipa on Friday morning to travel across the high desert altiplano, 150 km north to Chivay. We passed through a spectacular landscape of volcanoes and desert, and saw mountain animals such as llamas, alpacas and vicunas. We stopped off at the highest point of the tour, 4900 metres up. The air was very thin and hard to breathe, but we'd taken precautions against altitude sickness by drinking coca tea and chewing coca leaves. We descended down a windy and bumpy road to Chivay where we stopped for a night.

Chivay is a small relaxed town with a central plaza, a market and a small cathedral - a refreshing contrast to the bustle of Arequipa.

We relaxed in nearby thermal baths (the second time I've done that since I came to South America) and had a very lazy time. Well, we've been told to take it easy in the high altitudes, so what else could we do?

When we arrived in Chivay it was very hot with no clouds and a deep blue sky. But it's 3600 metres above sea level, and when the sun isn't high in the sky it gets very cold very quickly at this time of year. In late afternoon it was very chilly and by night time it was freezing. We'd better get used to it - there's more of this to come on the Inca Trail!

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