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Published: March 12th 2007
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1999……….6wks SOUTH AMERICA-ARGENTINA, PERU............
Colca Canyon …………………The travelling from Arequipa to the Colca Canyon was a 6-hour trip along a bumpy, dusty road going past countryside reminiscent of Mongolia or Ladakh. I have had so much dust in the last few days that I’m congested with the coughs and a sore throat. The Canyon, said to be twice the depth of the Grand Canyon, is more than 3,400m deep for more than 100km and is the territory of the majestic Condor.
Well what a disappointment this tour has been so far. There's about 24 of us on a really slow, large bus (instead of a small group on a minibus as promised) and the guide only talks if you ask her something and then she doesn't now the answer! After 6hrs (instead of 4) we are in this dump of a town (like something out of isolated Mexico). There's meant to be hot springs here but we weren’t told when to meet etc and so I guess some have gone there and others like me haven't. US$45 for three days.....JR Travel Agency...Don’t use them!
We were up at 5.30am to see the Condors in the Canyon which is quite spectacular
but not on the same scale as the Grand Canyon, even though it is reportedly deeper. It is formed by an enormous fault in the earth's crust between huge volcanoes, Coropuna (6,425m) and Ampata (6325m). The pamphlet on the canyon given to us at the start of the trek states this:
"Touring the Colca Valley is an unending sequence of surprises, its people, important archaeological remains, terraces, cacti, Churches, countryside, birds, llamas, traditional costumes and customs, many of them unchanged since the time of the Colony. Nature makes its grandness known, presenting the Great Canyon, more than 3,400metres deep for more than100km and territory of the Condor, the mystic and majestic bird, which is commonly seen flying down the imposing and magical corner of the Andean chain."
The Condors were a great experience to watch as they slowly rose on the thermals and flew past us all on the ridge moving their heads to look at us. There were up to 6 of them at one stage and some other large birds of prey. I joined up with the other trekkers (4 British, 2 Dutch, 1 American) for the Canyon and we walked from the Condor view point for
Condor
You can see them looking at you! 2 1/2 hrs to Cabanaconde, mostly on the dirt road that follows the Canyon. It was good to get a greater sense of being there, not possible from a car.
The trek involved a climb down 1,200 metres, camping overnight and up again the next morning, unfortunately rising at 3.30am, to make it for the bus. A few of the others had decided not to do the trek in case they missed the bus in the morning back to Arequipa. It took me 1 1/4 hrs to get down and 2 1/2 hrs to get up. This is about half the usual time. There is an oasis at the bottom- palm trees contrasting against the sharp cliffs. There was even a swimming pool down there with water warm enough to get in for a while and get rid of the dust. As with all the walks I have done here I showed these young ones up by going at my normal pace, which meant I got up to the top over an hour before them! It was quite cold coming up in the morning to Cabanaconde at 3,230m. It was nice thawing out in the sun in the square and
watching the morning unfold for the residents. The women wear unusual clothes reminiscent of the 19C with very full skirts and an over skirt that only comes half way down in the front. They are brightly coloured with braid or other material. They wear white polystyrene looking boater hats with bright braid or bonnet-looking hats.
I met up with one of the British girls who said that there was an amazing harvest festival in the Plaza last night with everyone dressed up and the men with Llama masks on and long black dresses. There was dancing and everyone got drunk.
The bus ride back was very long, bumpy, dusty (again) and tedious, getting back in at 4pm. I'd decided that I had seen most of what Arequipa had to offer me and so booked an overnight bus to Nazca leaving at 8pm.
Nazca..………
The overnight bus trip went remarkably quickly and with my neck pillow, Polartec slippers and earplugs, I slept quite well, arriving at 6am. I had a flight tour (US$40) over the Nazca Lines, which was a great experience. I loved being in the 4 seater, me sitting in the front next to the pilot. We
all had headphones on so that the pilot called talk to us and point out the various lines as we dipped each side and did circuits around them I was glad that I had taken my travel calm tablet. The lines were made by removing the darker sun-baked stones from the surface of the desert and piling them up on either side of the lines, exposing the lighter colour soil which is heavily laden with gypsum. Who constructed the lines & why? How did they know what they were doing when the lines can only be appreciated from the air? I got no closer to unravelling the mysteries of the lines. One woman ahs spent a whole lifetime trying to do that and her conclusions are still not conclusive.
Theories:
• Made by the Nazcas as an astronomical calendar
• Ritual walkways connecting sites of ceremonial significance
• Nazcas knew how to build hot air balloons
• A theory involving mountain worship
• Erich von Daniken’s extraterrestrial landing sites
We also went with the flight tour to a gold mining processing place, pottery demo of the same pots found in this region, and to the Nazca cemetery which
is in the desert and wasn’t discovered until 1910. What a windy desolate place, with shards of bones and pottery exposed littering the moonscape. The grave robbers came in for the next 30-40 years and all the hundreds of graves with pottery, mummies and woven material were shipped of to the museums of the world and to private collectors. The graves now are set up to show a few sun bleached skulls and bones with some material…very different from what it would have been like prior to being pillaged. The Nazca culture developed around 200-800AD.
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