Beep…beep….beep…. the alarm is the last thing I want to hear right now. It's only 2:30 am, my alpaca steak is still digesting, and I am still a tiny bit buzzed from the two glasses of Malbec I had with dinner. According to all the tour agencies, this is the last bus headed to Colca Canyon, a five hour drive from Arequipa. I manage to pull myself together in the dark, as not to wake any of my hostel mates, still blissfully lost in dreamworld.
As soon as I hop on the bus, it's nap time. We are woken up around 6:30 for breakfast in a little restaurant in Chivay. Next stop is an hour down the road at a lookout filled with people hoping to see the great Andean condor! We lucked out and saw a few. With a wingspan of about 10 feet they are massive!
Finally, the bus drops us off at our last stop, where things really get interesting. First, let me just point out that Carli and I are using a guidebook from 2005…slightly outdated, I'd say. Secondly, we had done virtually no research of the area and have no idea where to even start. We wander around the town to various trailheads for a solid hour and a half. We finally find the right track (landmarked with a large bull ring), and begin what we had intended to be a five-day trek along the canyon to some other town. It isn't long before a nice man on a donkey rides by and asks where we are headed. We tell him our 'plan', and he begins spitting out reason after reason of why we should not go that way… most memorable, a white girl got murdered in our destination town not too long ago. He insists on a different route, one we didn't really pay close attention to, and wishes us luck. Fortunately, a couple girls (who were smart enough to hire a guide) pass us, and we just decide to follow them! Five hours, a steep13,650 feet, and many falls later, we reach the bottom. There is a lovely little "village" (otherwise known as a hostel and campsite) where we decide to spend the night. It costs about 5 soles each to camp, something we didn't consider when we only brought a total of about 40 soles with us (we really like to plan, obviously). But we pay and set up camp in a great grassy area, and are quick to jump in the hot springs next to the river. Instant rejuvenation! Then of course, stuff our faces with an always interesting camp dinner of spicy mayo ramen, bread, and oatmeal cookies. Carb up!
The next morning we wake up fairly early, and have a nice slow morning of breakfast, feet soaking, and breaking down camp. Unfortunately by 9:30am in the desert, it is already 75 degrees. We set out on the trail, and soon stop to ask a local where exactly to go. She directs us to the "highway" and says to follow that to the oasis. We climb steadily for a few hours on a terribly dusty road, where we get dust in our eyes, mouths, ears, noses, everywhere. Finally we get smart and pull our buffs over our faces, why didn't I think of that sooner? Then a steep two-hour descent leads us to the beautiful oasis. We bathe in the chilly pool, relax our muscles, then set up camp in a nice little garden area. Bedtime comes early tonight, as we have an early morning hike out of the canyon.
Luckily the weather for our final day is ideal, overcast and in the 60s. We wake up around 4:30am to get a head start on what we expected to be a 5-hour hike to the top of the canyon. The pace is slow and steady for me, I can feel my calves tightening with every step. Person after person riding donkeys pass me, and I have to feel a little bit of self-satisfaction that I didn't take the easy way out. I have to laugh when they ask me "is it hard?" well yeah, it is hard…why else would you be on a donkey right now!? But luckily it only takes two and a half hours to reach the top, where I am welcomed with delicious fresh bananas.
Now the fun part…finding a way back to Arequipa. We ask around and find a "bus stop" which is really just a little market that sells bus tickets on the cheap. We decide to get a quick coffee and bite to eat before our bus leaves. When it comes time to load the bus, we quickly realize, oh yeah, this is a locals bus. Meaning stopping every five minutes, distinctive and kinda foul Peruvian bus odor, and crazy reckless driving. But we eventually make it back to Arequipa in nearly one piece. I am pretty much unable to walk at this point on account of my calves being so tight and sore.
After we arrive we decide to treat ourselves to a homemade veggie dinner and a bottle of wine for each of us. A perfect ending to a pretty spectacular trek!
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