Into the depths of the Colca canyon

Well well well... the blogging reins appear to have been somewhat cautiously passed in my direction (this is Ian, number one nephew) and so I take it upon my shoulders to give you a full insight of the cruelty and discipline my brother and I face from our evil Aunty and Uncle on an daily basis on our two week tour of Peru.

Finding ourselves with an extra day in Nascar meant Liza was hard on the nagging to get stuff booked up for the remainder of our trip. Bemoaning the fact we had not only chosen to meet them at the height of the holiday season but also precursing the three day Peruvian national holiday, she insisted we booked all travel, accommodation and activities to avoid further disappointment - we had to forego the trip to Puno as a result of not being able to catch the bus the previous night.

After the whole morning and half the afternoon of being dragged around travel agencies and keyboard bashing in the internet café until our fingers resembled the "other" side of a cheese grater, we were finally treated to lunch: meat!

Our overnight bus from Nascar to Arequipa  was due to leave for the at 11.30, but we hit Peruvian time and finally got on the move at about 1.30am. I made the assumption Peruvians get stuck in "hot" mode even when the temperatures veer around freezing overnight as external doors to public places very rarely seem to close, which made for a pretty chilly wait. We made it to Peru's second city for lunch time where we had booked at a place known as the Amazing Hostal, which surprisingly pretty much lived up to its name.

At this point we decided to properly dive into the local delicacies of alpaca and guinea pig. We opted for a restaurant recommended to us by a travel agent in Nascar, as it was his Aunties. Andy and I went for the alpaca and Jack and Liza for guinea pig. The alpaca was in the form of a steak - and was really very good. A better lamb in my opinion. The guinea pig (cuy), wasn't. Wasn't in the form of a steak, I mean, but actually tasted pretty good, even if it was served up whole (yes, feet, head, teeth etc included!)

The night bus had by this point taken it out of the "oldies" who went for an afternoon siesta, but Jack and I were still up for exploring the centre of Arequipa, where they were busy preparing for the independence festivities by decking up the buildings in customary red and white and building a stage of some kind.

Liza has since informed me it's compulsory for all state buildings to display the Peru flag in the month of July which she reliably read on Wikipedia. I'm still not sure if she's having her leg pulled or she's pulling mine. Or I guess it could actually be true. There are that many around!

We decided to head out on a 2 day, one night trek to the Colca Canyon, the second deepest in the world (I find Andy's facts more reliable :) ). This meant a 3.00am start and a 3 hour drive to the head of the canyon. The first stop was in mountain town Chivay where we were finally allowed breakfast.

The locals - obviously accustomed to 6.00am tourists on a bitter Saturday morning - were all set up to extract a few Soles from us by way of animal photo opportunities!

We then drove along the lower rim of the canyon to a view point where the condors are encouraged to congregate with dead donkey meat being dropped into the canyon floor, so that each morning as the thermals start they climb up into the morning sky.

A further half hour drive brought us to the rim of the upper canyon where the path drops down to the floor. This is a 1100m drop down a very loose, steep and windy path.  The views were stunning but there were few chances to take them in because of the concentration required just looking where you are going and keeping balance!

Base camp below: Almost there!

We arrived after a few hours in the midday sun to a very welcome swimming pool with water provided by the stream. Jack and I later wondered a little further through the undergrowth beneath base camp to the very bottom of the canyon to fully appreciate it's overwhelming scale. The river was tainted a muddy brown colour following a small landslip we witnessed a little way away, releasing an almighty cloud of dust.

The following morning we set off shortly after 5am in the dark from our bamboo huts to climb back out of the canyon. The 1100m ascent was tough but there was a great sense of achievement by the time we were all up at not long past 8.

On the drive back we stopped at a few places to take in the stunning scenery, including the 1500 year old terraces embedded in the hillsides:

Before returning to Arequipa, we took one final detour via some natural hot springs. To reach these we had to go over a rope bridge which Jack and I decided was from the film Shrek (before the dragon completely destroyed it). The spring trickled into 4 or 5 pools, each one overflowing from the next and thus each becoming slightly cooler. The top pool was only just bearable (would guess around 40 degrees), and the bottom pool blended with the river for a half hot, half cold combination, which was a bit odd!

On the drive back to Arequipa we got some last few scenery shots... this time with animals!:

We arrived at about 6pm giving us a 2.5 hour turnaround time to pick up our big bags from the hostel, sort ourselves out, and get a cab across town to the bus station. We got another overnight bus to Cusco and meandered our way through the hilly streets to our hostel (not partiularly welcome given a) the time, b) the temperature and c) the steepness of the climb considering the state of our legs from the hike the morning before!), arriving at about 6.30am. With the temperature around freezing we witnessed more open door syndrome at the hostel where we hovered before getting in some welcome breakfast. Before heading off to explore, the sun lit up the city allowing us glorious views from our hostel rooms, making the walk up now seem not so bad.

After a day acclimatising in Cusco, which sits at 3300m, we make our way to Machu Picchu town tomorrow ready for seeing the ruins themselves on Wednesday.  

Family fun in Peru

Arriving, via the record breaking bus trip from La Paz in Lima we had a couple of days to get to enjoy the city before our nephews Ian and Jack arrived.

 Old town Lima had a wonderful colonial feel with some superb buildings. Our only issue was the weather which really must get the Lima citezens down in the winter which is unremittingly sea mist for about 5 months of the year, no wind, no rain no sun just mist mist mist and more mist.

 They seem to survive by holding endless and wonderful parades, In our days in Lima not one went by without us running into one at some point. Our first, started at about 9.00 am with endless school marching bands and we have no idea when it finished as we were long gone!

 We also explored the cathedral, which had opened up the crypt which was full of the usual crypt like things, coffins, skulls and all the mummified bodies etc. It also had about 12 of the most extravagant side chapels I had ever seen. Next door was the Bishops Palace which was also very plush with one of the most wonderful staircases I have seen.... We of course danced down it!

 Another cathedral in town.... this one was meant to rival the main cathedral and caused a bit of a row we read.

 There was also a wonderful museum of pottery... Mostly Inca and pre Inca stuff, and well worth the visit.

 It also had a wonderful selection of minerals including the largest lump of Fools Gold I'd ever seen.

 Followed by another visit to the parades....

We also went to 'La Catedral del Pisco' to try pisco sours the national drink, they are very nice but very strong.

The following day Ian and Jack arrived.

We had a stroll around town then took them to another Pot museum. This one had a selection of erotic pottery.

The rest of the museum was quiet interesting too.

 The next day we headed south to the town of Paracas through the desert and where the marine bird life is spectacular

 Jack decided to enjoy the local transport systems, these Tuk Tuks come in all colours and shapes, I may get a montage together.

 The birds were incredible out on the isle about 20 min by fast speed boat off shore. We were very lucky in that it was a windless day and only the large Pacific swell was present, if there had been some wind the ride would have been really rough. I also felt rather sorry for the name given to the Guano (local tongue for excrement) cormorant. Although it did not seem to mind and it flew and dived around us quite happily.

 Sea Lions were also in evidence with Liza finding them very cute and wanting to bring one home (this with the Lamas, spider Monkeys and bats.....Humm)

We left Paracas and took a 3 hour bus further south where we came across the oasis town of Hunacachina surrounded by sand dunes where after lunch Ian and Jack tried sand boarding down the dunes.

 

 A very brief shot of Jack standing up.... this did not happen much. Sand arrived in places he did not even know he had places.

We (well Ian Jack and I) also hit the dunes in a sand buggie. Due to camera and sand issues we did not take a camera but spent two hours being very environmentally unsound driving roller-coaster like up, over round and through the dunes. We also body boarded down three of the bigger ones. Surfing down sand is sure warmer than snow but I think the possibility for friction burns was significantly higher.


We then caught another bus to Nasca where the next day after a bit of a wait we had a flight over the famous Nasca lines, of which little is really known, everything is supposed any your guess is as good as mine as to the reason for their existance.

You can just see the man in the hillside on the left if you know what you are looking for here!

And a bird on the plateau of this hill here..... (it is actually fairly clear once you know it's there.... honest!!!)

The rectangle and the bird immediately below the corner are about 700y old so it is thought... Again if you can see them in the photo!... I need photoshop and an image  intensifier here but I'm sure you know what we mean!!

Well here's a map of our route and a pic of what the lines really look like when you know what's there!!!


We returned to Nasca and found that our planned bus on-wards was not available with the result that we have had to enjoy another day in Nasca which allows us to write up the blog and plan for the following week so not a totally wasted day.....

Upwards into the high altitude of Machu Pichu...... Love to all