Into the Colca Canyon

After arriving at Conor and Michelle's digs in Lima, we decided that our first stop would be Arequipa, Peru's second-largest city.

The road to Arequipa

The drive there was interesting in itself, beginning with the coach. Ignoring short-haul flights, the way to get around Peru in comfort is with luxury bus lines, of which Cruz del Sur is the most prestigious. It's more like traveling by airline: You get a big soft reclining seat, a pillow, blanket, meal service, the whole deal. The security procedure is similar too. Everything goes through a metal detector, bags are searched, passports are checked and re-checked, and it's assigned seating only. The trippiest part though, is the cop that comes on board just before departure and videotapes everyone on board. Oh, that and the on-board safety video that lets you know that every coach is GPS equipped, and if any unscheduled stops are made, the security forces will be alerted immediately. It all makes you feel really safe, at least for a moment until you realize that they probably do all these things for very good reasons. Then you feel a little nervous.

The drive was through some nice scenery, mostly coastal desert contrasted with the occasional fertile area that line the rivers flowing out to the Pacific.

 Arequipa at night. I have no idea why this is the only picture of the city I can seem to find.

Highest on our itinerary in Arequipa was a trek through the Colca Canyon, which lies a short drive from the city. It's the deepest canyon in the world: 4 kilometres from the cactus-lined trails along the river to the snow-capped mountains above. Dizzying.

I think we were about half-way down at this point. The knees were already on fire.

 Started from the bottom now....ah forget it.

The descent into the canyon was rad, loads of breath-taking views. At the bottom, we were relieved to here that our trekking was over for the day, and we could kick off the hiking boots and relax. And what a place to chill out - it was like a little Peruvian hobbiton. Our lodging was run by a local family who had built a perfect little idyll (by my perspective, anyways, ha!) at the bottom of the canyon. A few gardens, thatch-roofed bungalows, four sheep, one pig, a few chickens, two dogs, a friendly kitten, and perfectly groomed grass kept that way by the aforementioned sheep. Oh, did I mention cheap cold beer?

 

I thought it was unlikely to get any better, but then as the sun set, the fireflies came out dancing, and the kitten decided to have a cuddle on my lap. And it was not possible to be more relaxed that day.

 The two best travelling companions a guy could ask for: The wonderful Michelle and Conor.

Until the nest day where our lodging at the bottom of the canyon had a pool and hammocks. Hammocks I tell you! And that's all I have to say about that for now.