Hola We have just returned from our first proper treck, and man was it a treck. We spent three days at colca canyon (the deepest canyon in the world) We started early with a 6hr bus ride to Cabanaconda, where we met our guide(Marcus Rahm) and had a hearty lunch. We set off straight after andwere immediatelystruck by the altitude, 3400m, already out of breath slightly we reached the edge of the canyon. We were immediately stunned by the sight ofthe canyon itself, and realised we were heading to the bottom that afternoon! The pedometer recoreded 9.4KM of zigzaging down the canyon face, the sights were stunning and marcus (with his little english and our little spanish) explained some of the local funa and flora(some used by incas), and we spotted a condor overhead, just aaste ofthings to come. I (Claire) found the very steep downhill bits grueling as my shoes were slightly tight so my toes were getting a battering. Just before sundown we crossed our first rope bridgeand headed (at a fast pace as the sun was disspearing rapidly) to our first lodging in a tiny remote hamlet called San Juan de Chuco, we ate another hearty meal with only a candle in the pitch blackness, under the most beautiful clear starry sky we have ever seen(no lecky here so fantastic view). At this point we met ourfellow treckers, Ross and Claire from Scotland, who thankfully shared our same lacklustre pace. They had already been to Brazil, Equador andthe North of Peru so we picked their brains. We headed to our dorm early which was a stone hut with corregated iron roof, you feel its much ñlater than it is when its dark at 6pm, we were thankful of the one sleeping bag we decided take(gets chilly at night). Our second day was a slightly easier day although very hot, we walked across the canyon (6KM ish), through two small remote villages (solar powered hospitals!). Eventually we arrived at the 'Oasis' which was like a little slice of paradise, spring fed swimming pools, just the 4 of us, we had a bamboo hut with the most comfy bed yet, a matress raised on a bamboo platform, it was lovely. We lounged as our guides cooked us lunch and fed us various herbal remedies (leaves in hotwater), then we went off down to the river to fish for our dinner, we failed miserably but it was great fun and Marcus seemed to be in his element, never seen him so grinny. That night hoards of other treckers decended on their shorter trip to stay the night and get ready for the biggy........ We were all quite aware of our impending 3am(3Hr) treck, straight up the canyon to Cabanaconde again. We all set off with our bamboo sticks and torches but were by no means prepared for quite how hard it would be, The three hours became four but we were still gladwe didnt go by Mule like some. After 2 hrs the exhaustion started to set in but luckily we were there to support and motivate eachother, the last part wad the worst, every time we thought we were nearly there we turned to face yet more hundreds of rock steps. We made it though and werent quite the slowest. Back at Cabanaconde we had the best fried eggs and coffee ever and rushed to catch the (later) bus to Cruz del Condor. This place is great, a viewing point over the canyon where we saw about ten condors (3m wingspans) gliding in the canyon and sometimes right over our heads. We then stopped at some Thermal spring baths at Chivay which was sooooooo nice for our wiery bodies, It was really hotandwe had the pool all to ourselves. Many thanks to Ross and Claire for allowing us to tag along with themand their English speaking guide who was a godsend as ours left us as cabaneconde and the buses were really complicated. We set offback to our hotel in Arequipa for some well earned pizza, beer and sleep. We really cant describe how stunning this place was and how glad we are we did this, especially with the inka trail impending. However (writing this three days later) my thighs are still hurting like hell, and the dust we inhaled has given us sinus problems. Take Care Claire & Ian