We were in Arequipa from the 6th December until the 16th, which included a three day trek in nearby Colca Canyon. We were recommended an excellent hostel by some people in Cuzco. It was cheap and new and clean with ensuite and sky tv. Quite a treat I tell you. Add to that a tasy breakfast on the terrace where there were loads of hummingbirds which Alan tried to photograph relentlessly. He also got to watch football (yawn).

Arequipa is a nice city we spent our first few dyas exploring. It is pretty and clean with nice parks, squares, churches and monasteries. We visited a museum, which houses "Juanita" the Inca mummy. To explain, Juanita was an Inca child sacrifice for on a nearby mountain. Experts estimate she had been there about 800 years, but had been under ice most of that time. She was discovered about ten years ago, as well as about 5 other sacrifies on the same mountain. In the museum you can also see the pottery and other artifacts she was buried with. It was interesting but a bit freaky as she is very well preserved.

After a few days we booked a trip with a company that was recmmended to us. It was very cheap only $50 US for a 3 day trip including everything. Can´t be bad. We set off the next day to Colca Canyon, the world´s deepest canyon.

Day One:

We were picked up at the ungodly hour of 3am outside our hostel. From there it was a 5 hour drive in a cramped minibus before we reached the national park.Shortl afterwards we stopped at a condor view point for about 40mins. this is where there´s a great view over the canyon, and you can see loads of condors swooping overhead. Its quite impressive, they are big birds. We drove a bit further to the town on the edge of the canyon, Cabanaconde. When there we split off into our seperate groups. We were in a group of four with another English couple, Darren and Candice. We had one guide, called Carlitos. He was very small and pleasent. We had a quick lunch in a restuarent in the town before setting off down to the canyon.

It took about 15 minutes to reach the edge of the canyon, it it is massive. You good see the small villages on the other side we we were planning to spend the night but they seemed very far away. We set off climbing down the side of the canyon. It was steep and rocky, cutbacks all the way down. It was hard on the knees I can tell you. At the bottom we had a short rest before crossing the river and starting the climb back up to the village. This was a short climb of about an hour.

The villages can only be reached on foot or by mule and are very isolated. They farm a lot of crops and are very poor. We stayed with a family that had a couple of rooms for tourists. Ours was basic, but we were happy to have our own room and a hot shower even. Also we were so tired after the early start that it hardly mattered. Our guide cooked us some pasta over the fire in the kitchen and then we pretty much crashed out.

Day Two:

We had to get up quite early and Carlitos cooked us his famous banana pancakes for breakfast, which was really tasy. Before we left the village we checked out the familys guinea pig shed. The had loads of them, they are really cute. The guy who owed it took us they´d probably be selling and eating a lot of them around Christmas. They are a delicacy and quite expensive apparently. We didn´t fancy it though.

We set off walking down the canyon for another couple of hours, winding down slowing on small tracks. We eventually reached the oasis, a grenner area in the middle with a few swimming pools and restuarents. A good stopping off point to relax before the climb back up. We stoped there for two or three hours, had a swim and lunch. All the time I was aware of the steep track leading back up to the top of the canyon. It looked like a very long way.

We set off about 3 once it had got a bit cooler. It was a steep long climb of about three hours. Cutbacks all the way up. It was hard work. We got to the top just as the sun was going down. Walked back to the town and got to our hotel for the night. It was relatively luxurius and we thought it was great. We ate in the village again before an early night again.

Day 3:

Had a relative lie in and then went on a short walk to the lookout. Carlitos told us about life in the villages and the customs/beliefs of the locals. He pointed out the shaman village high up on the far side of the canyon. They do all kinds of weird spells and rituals there. After that we had to go and catch our bus back in the main square. It was a long drive back but we stopped at some hot springs and for lucnh on the way. We made it back to Arequipa later on, tired. We ended up going out that night with people from the trip to a mexican restuarent which was good fun. A nice reward after all our hard work.

We spent a few more days after that in Arequipa. We stayed longer than we intented as Alan was ill for a couple of days. We had a kitchen though so I was able to make him soup etc and he was ok after a day or so. We booked a bus to Lima and left i nthe evening of the 16th