“ Arequipa is the capital city of the Arequipa Region in southern Peru. With a population of 904,931 it is the second most populous city of the country. Arequipa lies in the Andes mountains, at an altitude of 2,335 meters (7,661 feet) above sea level; the former snow-capped volcano El Misti overlooks the city.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arequipa
I arrived in Arequipa on a Sunday, which meant everything was pretty much closed. I got a taxi driver, who I barely understood and he was trying to tell me that he couldn’t drop me off right at my hostel, “Los Andes,” because the streets surrounding it were closed. I put on my pack and found my hostel after I dodged a crowd of people standing in the centre square for worship. I checked in threw my stuff in storage, got a room to myself because I knew I was going to be booking the Colca Canyon trek and needed to assure some sleep. I now had to find a company, who did a 2 day trek and oh yeah, track down hiking boots to purchase, since now I have no shoes.
I whipped out of the hostel with a map and went to the first company I was recommended. It was closed… just all the restaurants I heard about too; they should open later though (hopefully). I went to another company and 2 British girls and a French girl around my age were inquiring about the same thing. They were all skinny legged with blonde long hair… and they wanted to sign up for a hike down and up the deepest canyon in the world? Interesting. Anyway, they mentioned their hostel, “Home sweet Home,” offered them a better price, if I wanted to join them. Why not right? So I went to their hostel and told the lady I was friends with them to get the group discount. I went to pay and my bill was a little ripped. The lady wouldn’t accept it! No matter what! “It wasn’t fake” I pleaded to her, but she made me track down a bank to exchange it. Oh wait, all the banks were closed on Sundays. Not knowing what to do, I went to a fancier hotel and asked them for change with my bill. The same thing happened. The lady wouldn’t accept until I begged her and explained the story. Finally, she gave in! I got the money and ran to the back hostel and got my receipt.
I was now starving at this point because apparently the chocolate bar didn’t make due. I passed a place I read about and wanted to stop at to eat. The 3 girls I briefly met earlier where there and a guy from Chicago too. I sat down with them and finally got to break the ice and know more about them before the 2 days I will spend beside them sweating. Lizzie studied Law in England and met Patricia in her (girl from France) program. The other British girl was an accountant named Charlotte. Jason from Chicago was just a traveler on another trip. They were all friendly and asked me questions, which made me feel more inclusive.
All of us set up to the markets following lunch. I was on a quest to find and buy proper hiking boots – it was a must, which meant it was going to be a fiasco. To sum up the extremely annoying story, I found boots, but they were men’s and I could only find men’s ones at a decent price. Problem though, they just didn’t fit, they were too big. So I ended up being forced into getting a pair because the market was closing. The girl said out of the blue “Oh yeah, I have some small sizes somewhere,” and I later realized she coloured in and changed the size number from an 8 to a 6. Tisk, tisk.
I caught up on emails and bought plenty of snacks to get me through this hike. I heard this was a necessity. I went back to the hostel and attempted to get some sleep. It was hard too because I was getting a little eager and anxious.
“The Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru. It is 4,160 m. (13, 648 ft) above sea level, which is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. It is promoted as the "world's deepest canyon," although the canyon's walls are not as vertical as those of the Grand Canyon. The Colca Valley is a colorful Andean valley. The name Colca refers to small granaries of mud and stone, built into the cliffs in the valley and canyon. These repositories were used in Inca and pre-Inca times to store food, such as potatoes, quinoa, and other Andean crops. The canyon is home to the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus), a species that has seen worldwide effort to preserve it.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colca_Canyon
It was roughly 2am and the main entranceway was packed with people, who had signed up for Colca Canyon hikes. I don’t think any of these people were going with my tour group, but we’ll see. I was one of the last to be called and I was running late. I slept in; one of those heard the alarm and in a haze turned it off. I woke up in a panic to get my day pack together in time for departure. I was super thankful for being the last person the company picked up, so it was later than expected. I got called down and went into my mini bus in pitch darkness and it was filled with people. I recognized the girls and sat in the back; there were about 8 of us. The tour guides suggested we slept on the bus while we went to our first stop to have breakfast, which was in Chivay, a town at 3, 633m (11, 919 ft) above sea level. No one got sleep due to the horrible bumpy roads, which I could tell the people on the bus were already getting a little grumpy. We had some a quinoa drink, which was very tasty and would give us protein. We had buns, cheese, and a meat. Everyone was quick to get seconds in order to stalk up on protein and calories before intense hiking for the next couple of days.
Back on the bus we drove to “Cruz del Condor,” which is a look-out location where the Peruvian national animal, the condor, were popular to fly. We were unfortunately unable to see any, since apparently the best time to go is early in the morning at day break. The 3 girls and I got a glimpse or how deep the canyon is and an idea how extreme the hike might be.
We soon arrived to our starting destination and split the mini bus into the groups with guides. I was with Lizzie, Charlotte, Patricia, Jason, this guy from Vancouver and oh wait, another familiar face, this Swedish guy, Emil, I met back in Mendoza! Like I’ve said it before, it’s crazy how people make full swings when travelling. Once we got a starter photo before we set up into the sweaty sun, we learnt some history about the land, heard out guide speak some of their native language, Quechua, and then started to make our way down the paths. I was pretty nervous, since this was the first real official hike I was doing - I think in my life! It was at higher altitude too, so the limited oxygen will be another test on my body. It was beauty at first site. The canyon walls were covered in a variety of vegetation; shrubs, plants, and cacti. You really felt small. As we were going done hill, there was a lot of dust and sometimes it was slippery. It started to hit me, my boots began to rub on my feet and I was officially breaking in my new (purchased 24hrs before) hiking boots. I wore one pair of wool socks and was told I should have worn 2, so I added a pair at a stop. It was too late and blisters were forming.
We hiked through places like Cosñirhua, Tapay and San Juan de Chuccho along the way. For a late lunch, we stopped at a cute little house. There was a delicious soup to start, and the classic meat 9this time Alpaca meat) rice and potatoes. I can never understand why the people serve both rice AND potatoes. I opted for the veggie deal, since I couldn’t bring myself to eat Alpaca, and had avocados and tomatoes instead. There was a large dog that kept running under and around our outdoor table, while a cat walked across it.
Once we set off again, my stomach was already started to turn and we had to set off again. We were going through so much water, it was unbelievable. The landscape surrounding us altered slightly to more trees and less dust on our path. Also, this time there were a bunch of straight incline hills to cross. This was extremely difficult for me. Like I was going to my pace (not THAT slow) and my ankle was hurting along with my feet from my boots, but I couldn’t help but feel behind or a nuisance all the time. I was clearly with a young, fit, more advance and faster group, but it was just extremely frustrating at some points. I would be out of breath, ready to collapse and on the verge of tears while walking to the top of a steep climb and once I joined the others, one of the other group members (not guide) would be like “okay, let’s go now!” without me even getting a break. As I am huffing and puffing, borderline having an asthma attack, I kept feeling like I was making them wait. The 2 guys were all like “let’s beat the record time today or tomorrow.” I just rolled my eyes and couldn’t help the dirt looks. I felt really out of shape and I know that I am not. Emil (the Swedish guy) was super nice and most of the time encouraged me and stayed close in distance. It was super hot and I was down poured in sweat. Our guide mentioned if people wanted the option to ride a mule to the top the next day, we could, and he looked at me. That was it. Way to centre me out. I think he was trying to be nice, but I was obviously offended and being in that current physical challenge, it was not easy to take things lightly. As we were walking, I confronted the guide about this mule business. …then I started to tear up. I said to him, “Look, I can do this and I don’t appreciate being suggested otherwise. I am no-way taking this mule up. I am breaking in new hiking boots for god’s sake! Cut me some slack!” He replied with some “Oh, well this group is fast and I just want to see you enjoy this… etc…” I was having none of it though.
I had to walk away from him because I was on the brink of sobbing and I couldn’t do that in front of him or anyone. Now, he made me second guess if I could do Machu Picchu. I thought people of ALL ages and ALL body types do it, I can surely make it. My determination fuelled my steps and then we spotted the final destination of the day; “the Oasis” or “Paradise” in Sangalle at the bottom where we were going to spend the night. It was very stunning and the water looked enticing after being constantly sweating. Once we arrived to camp, the guide announced we beat our time and were 2 hours early. SERIOUSLY. I guess I’m not too bad if I am 2 hours ahead of schedule with everyone else.
After a jump into the pool that used the natural water, we doused ourselves in bug repellent because the pests were out to get us. We bought water (that was 3 times the price), Gatorade, snacks and waited for dinner - all of us starving at this point. We had soup and spaghetti. It was very inopportune that the spaghetti was waaaay too salty and some of us couldn’t even eat it. It left your mouth watering. Everyone went to bed early, since we had another early morning ahead. I was extremely nervous because BEFORE breakfast we were going to hike at complete incline for what he said would take an approximate 3ish hours. I tried to tell myself that I could do it, just take it at my own pace. Bedtime in a hay roofed mud brick house.
We woke up, got our packs ready to go and I tried to eat enough snacks to get my through. With my Gatorade in hand, we set off up the Colca Canyon. This was by far the hardest thing to that day (I haven’t done Machu Picchu yet at this point) that I have ever attempted. I sang songs in my head to keep me distracted and entertained when sometimes I would be by myself. Sometimes I would change it up with encouraging mantra’s that I would say in my head and step to the words. A very necessary “I…Can…Do…It” was one of them. Other hikers passed up and we had to be aware of locals passing with mules or horses. One has to stand up against the mountain or the mule will knock you off while passing… for real. It was beautiful to see the sun rising and the shadows it created on the hills; however, it made me continuously sweat again. I remember mostly being at peace actually, while I was walking. Probably because I was taking it at my own pace and I could still see Lizzie and Charlotte not too too far ahead. The second half was more intense for me and no tour guide to be seen. With little breaks and persistence, I kept going and met up with another group going to the top. We had 20minutes to go and I tell you, those were super hard. Just wanting it to be over, but know it will be, but then just wanting to quit anyways, ohman. There was an early guy in his 30s encouraging me and this other woman to keep going. I could hear voices at the top and I marched up there. My group clapped and I hugged that random guy afterwards, I was SO happy and proud of myself.
Oh hold on, what time was it… Ohhh I made it in 2 and a half hours??? BEFORE the time the guide said, yeah I thought so. Baaaaammm!! I can do it and did it!!! I was so overjoyed and dug in to my snacks. After heaps of photos, we were told we still had another 20 minutes to hike to the town where our breakfast was. It was across land, which was obviously better than complete and steady incline… at high altitude.
Breakfast was scrambled eggs with toast and coca tea. We got time to chill out before the groups had to leave again, so we just stretched in the sun and people started to admit to how difficult it was. Sure they got to the top faster than me, but I wasn’t bothered… only if they boasted about it (which some of them did actually).
We drove to what I think used to be the capital of the Colca Canyon region, called Cabanaconde. The trademark photo is of this white church on the main street at which markets were aligned on the opposite side. We passed many agricultural sites. Then onto the highest point of the mountains at these volcanos.
“Volcano Chachani is the highest of the mountains in southern Peru. Its name means “skirt” in Quechua, and a female character is normally attributed to the mountain in local legends. It is 6,095 m (19,997) ft above sea level.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chachani
People had stacked wish rocks and placed them all over (If you look closely at my photo, you can see this). I did so and made a wish to remain safe and sound, along with a thank-you for the inner strength that helped my completion of the Colca Canyon hike. It was freezing and everyone ran back to the mini bus (or didn’t even get out). There was a local woman, who clearly had been waiting for tourists the entire day and had some handicrafts and souvenirs spread out. A bright multi-coloured red scarf caught my eye, so I went for it and purchased it. I was holding the group up, but I didn’t care at this point. I thanked the woman and ran back to the mini bus and it took off.
One of our last stops was at an Alpaca site. There was a field full of them! Emil got out too and took pictures with me. We got one together because I wanted to remember him and for all the unspoken motivation he gave me on our trek.
We ate an amazing dinner at the same place we ate at for breakfast in Chivay only the day before. It felt like ages ago. It was buffet style and I ate like a champ. Refills, yes please. Many different soups, salads, and meats, oh my.
Back at Arequipa, I said farewell to the group and see you later to the girls. We all were taking an overnight bus to Cusco that night and I was meeting them at our hostel. I quickly showered, re-packed my massive backpack and saw the now familiar faces of people, who did the same trek too – even that random early 30s guy. I ran into the Finnish girl and she was also going to the Loki hostel in Cusco and that I would meet here there.
Lizzie, Charlotte, Patricia and I got on our bus, took a valium and passed out. I was definitely going to be feeling paralyzed and sore in the morning. Goodnight and hello Cusco! Machu Picchu here we come!
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