Nigel: During our time in the previous town, we signed up for the Cola Canyon tour. The tour was for 2 days and the main attraction was the canyon and the condor birds which lived within. The canyon was previously recognised as the deepest canyon in the world (Grand canyon is the longest), but in recent years and with technology improving, it is now the 3rd deepest. For a canyon to be classed as one, it has to have one main feature... it has to be deeper than wider. The part we saw was around 1,040m deep but the canyon goes to around 4,000m deep. To see it at that depth you have to do a 3 day trek to the nearest town. The 2 days of our tour consisted of lots of driving, stopping at several small towns, and seeing the canyon. After going through 3 passes, over 4,000m, we arrived in a town called Chivay around 4pm. Shortly after being dropped off at our hostel, which was one of the coldest hostels ever, we went to the local thermal baths. On this occasion we didn't get in, as the thought of getting out into the cold evening wasn't appealing, but there were things to do and see around there. The town was ok and had a big market and an Irish bar (they are everywhere!!) but we didn't see much of it.

We did go out for dinner in the evening and we happened to come across a little restaurant not far from our accommodation. There were 2 things which attracted us, the first being the picture of the perfect golden brown chicken and chips which was shown on the poster, and the second being the roar of the football match that was coming from the television on the wall (maybe just one thing for Alison...the football). The sight and sound of these two things encouraged us to enter and it was not long after that we were eating and watching football with the locals. The match which was being played was Peru v's Chile which are rivals due to them bordering each other. It was a good experience and even ordering the food (one menu fits all) didn't fail either.

The next day involved a very early start, more driving and several stops in small villages along the way. The first thing we did was go to a small village and see the local girls who were dressed in their traditional clothing and performing a Peruvian dance. By the amount of effort they were putting into the dance, it was obvious that they didn't really wanted to be there. This feeling was also reciprocal for the people who were watching. After this quick stop we set off for the canyon. The road turned from smooth asphalt to rough terrain but the best part of the journey was going through a tunnel which looked like the locals had dug out themselves. Not your normal construction as you could see the marks of the picks on the side of the tunnel. Not long after this we were at the canyon. The part which we stopped at and the reason for the early start, was to see the Condor birds glide around the canyon. With wing spans around 3m in length and being one of the heaviest birds in the world, it was good to see them up in air, albeit, for a short time. Due to their size they can only fly for short periods of time and this means that they use the thermal currents as much as possible. They are also classed as vultures as opposed to hunters. Our guide told us that there weren't many left as the locals used to attract the birds to the bottom of the canyon with food and wait for them to go to feed, and once they were full, they would run and catch them. With them being heavy birds and even heavier after feeding, they wouldn't be able to fly away.

With a quick return to Chivay for lunch, it was back to Arequipa for one evening and then on to Cusco the next day.