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Published: April 29th 2008
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Our time in and around Arequipa was like a microcosm of our time in South America: up a mountain one day, in a museum the next and down a canyon the next. This trip is certainly never dull! Arequipa itself is Peru's second largest city and offers stunning examples of colonial architecture. But, straight after our arrival in Arequipa instead of taking it easy we decided to try to climb a mountain instead.
Cerro Chichani
We had read in our guidebook that Cerro Chichani was an "easy" 6,000+ metre peak and so decided to give it a go. Let this blog be a warning, there is no such thing as an easy 6,000!! Our hike involved being picked up from our hotel at midnight to be driven to the basecamp of Cerro Chichani at 5,100m above sea level. We then started our hike at about 3:30am using torches to light the way until a stunning sunrise at 5am. Unfortunately none of us (there were 4 in our group) were really able to appreciate the beauty of the sun as we were all starting to feel the effects of the altitude. By 6:30am we had reached the top of the pass
and were drinking coca tea to try to relieve the nausea. I think that coca tea tastes like smelly socks, but was willing to drink it if it was going to help. From here we donned crampons to cross the ice/snow field known as Angel Falls. It was tough to concentrate on each step, but certainly nicer to be walking along a more or less horizontal track rather than going uphill. Towards the last part of this section Cerro Chichani came into view looking still
very high above us. We stopped at its base for some food and juice, but it was difficult to think of anything other than the altitude sickness!
A few hundred metres later, at an altitude of about 5,650m Barry decided he couldn't go any further and so sat down whilst the rest of us continued. Half an hour later the other girl in the group dropped out too. I made it to 5,850 metres and couldn't take another step. It is easiest to describe altitude sickness as a cross between being drunk and having a hangover: lack of coordination, nausea and a headache. Not a nice experience at all! And so after seven hours
of going uphill I started the descent. Going down was tough but at least I knew I was heading home. Barry had taken the altitude particularly badly though, and had even been sick a few times. I was very relieved to get back to the car, and even more relieved to get back to the hotel in Arequipa where we were able to collapse and recover. I love trekking, but I think it is fair to say that this was not the best trek we have had!
Arequipa
And so, after our mountain experience we were happy to relax in Arequipa for a few days. This is a wonderful city with colonial architecture, plenty to see and great restaurants. The highlight for me was our visit to the Santa Catalina Monastery, which covers a vast area of land in the centre of the city. It contains its own little streets, plazas, churches, bedrooms, etc. The whole complex is painted in beautiful pastel colours which add to the serenity and makes it even more photogenic. This is the kind of place my Mum would love to visit - there is even a pretty cafe in there!
As for food,
we were once again spoilt for choice - great pizza, alpaca, garlic bread, etc. There are plenty of gringo-type restaurants but also "locals" places in the centre of the city to try. We also found a supermarket on the main square selling watermelon and so were able to munch on that whilst sitting on the Cathedral steps watching the world go by.
Colca Canyon
Arequipa is the gateway town to the Colca Canyon, the world's second deepest canyon (in fact the deepest one is only a few kilometres further away but harder to get to), twice as deep as the more famous Grand Canyon.
In the beginning we based ourselves in the pleasant town of Chivay for a couple of nights. We took a long day hike from here covering over 20km, exploring the surrounding countryside and canyon. There were very few gringos trekking in this area and so we had most of the wonderful views to ourselves (shared with the local wildlife of course which included pigs, llamas, dogs, horses, etc). After the trek we treated ourselves to a soak at the local outdoor thermal pools. They are beautifully situated in the canyon and offer a lovely
spot to revive weary bones.
From Chivay we took the bus further along the rim of the canyon to the town of Cabanaconde. On the way our bus became surrounded by condors for a few minutes which was an awesome sight. The condors came rushing past the windows and the driver even slowed down for us to have a closer look. We had been hoping to spot condors on our visit to the Colca Canyon, but hadn't realised quite how easy it would be!
We only stayed in Cabanaconde for one night but this gave us just about enough time to explore the Colca Canyon. We trekked down into the canyon which was as amazing as we had hoped it would be. The trek down was long and tough on the knees but gave a good idea of just how deep this thing is. We dropped over 1,000m altitude to an oasis at the base of the canyon where we took a well-deserved lunch break. Had we had more time I think we would definitely have made use of the swimming pools there but sadly had to make our return climb before dusk. It is always good to
leave something for next time...!!
This is a beautiful part of Peru and felt very safe to us. The scenery is fantastic, the weather was perfect and there is plenty of great trekking to be had. Just make sure you are acclimatised first!
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barrygahan
Barry
I was only sick once!!!
Reading it does bring back painful memories, though!