Arequipa & Colca Canyon 17th August - 21st August 2006 We are rather rudely awoken at 7.15am to be informed that a double room has become available and we have to change rooms inside 45 minutes otherwise it will be lost. Great, just what we need after a long bus journey. We swap rooms and have breakfast which is a variation on a well known theme. After all, a continental breakfast is a couple of bread rolls and jam right? We sort ourselves out and have a wander around Arequipa (2800m ASL), the town has a nice colonial feel about it with lovely central square, cathedral and official looking buildings with an old nunnery tucked away out back somewhere. We are immediately struck just how touristy Peru is. After weeks of being on the road in Argentina where we saw only a handful of backpackers, suddenly there are loads of American (NOOOOOOOOOO) French, Brits, German and even our favourite Japs around. What fun this place is going to be!! Still it's nice and warm and this time Stu's shorts are more than justified. In the distance towering over the town are two huge volcanoes, Misti (5400m ASL) and Chachani (6075m ASL) Once more they form the typical backdrop to what has been our South America tour so far, snow-capped volcanoes. Sometimes Stu thinks that if he stares at them long enough they will erupt for us (of course this could be true but ones patience wears a little thin after about 5 hours). We sort out a few chores: laundry, flight booking to Lima, changing travelers cheques that sort of thing, then head out for a spot of window shopping. We are pretty restrained as we have managed to work a few days in La Paz (Bolivia) into our schedule so we are expecting plenty of shopping to be done there. Stu has a good gourmet burger for lunch (good thing about touristy places) and Amy tries the local, creamy soup. We book a 3 day/2 night tour to the Colca Canyon for the Saturday and it's pretty chilly in the evening as we head out for dinner. We go to a little local restaurant where they have a brilliant local "pan pipes an all" band playing and we have a toe tappingly good meal. We reward the musicians (and you guys back home) by buying one of their CD's and look forward to sharing it all with you. The food itself was also particularly good, Stu had Alpaca steak and Amy had stuffed hot pepper and for once the Arequipeña beer didn't taste too bad. The following day (Friday) we are up at around 8 and head out to the local museum to learn about Juanita the teenage sacrifice to mother earth (Pachamama) on top of Chachani. She was dug up a few years ago in her mummified state and the museum is pretty informative and it all leads up to the final unveiling of the well preserved body (inside freezer) which is reasonably freaky. Lunch is a comedic affair with Stu's waldorf salad having more fruit in than anything else (and no walnuts either) and Amy eats only half of her veggie soup. Perhaps the altitude is having an effect on our appetites. In the afternoon we walk around the convent, still used today by about 20 nuns but which has been mostly opened up to the public. The place is a little Venetian with narrow alleyways and plenty of colour and frescos splashed over the walls. We get some great photos and head back to our hotel. In the evening we head out for an Italian meal and have a reminisce about home and agree that we are looking forward to going home. Still there's 7 weeks or more to go and we are up bright and early the next day for the trip to Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world. It's light at 7.00am as we get in the taxi and then straight on the bus. Our tour group is mostly full of Brits (Chris, Sam, Heather & Adam) as well as the token Aussie, Daniel. It's pretty rammed on the bus but still there's a one man band standing at the front playing the pan pipes and little guitar thing as we head up and around the mountains. The terrain is still very much desert like and very dusty and we pass several little villages in the middle of no-where. We arrive at our destination (some unpronounceable place beginning with C) at about 1300hrs and head straight into a restaurant for lunch. Soup and Lomo Saltado go down very well and we then head off for our 4 ½ hr downhill trek. The view from the top of the canyon has to be one of the very best we have seen on all our travels. We can see the tiny river 1200m below us and the base of the canyon with once more snow-capped mountains towering above us. The official depth of the canyon (from the lowest point to the highest point) is over 3000m and it feels like the scenery has been stuck on a blank canvas in front of us. As we descend we see 4 huge condors flying first below us and then high above us. They land on the rocks just above us and we can hear the whoosh of the air through their wings as they take off. Amazing. Unfortunately Sam falls over half-way down into the canyon and badly sprains her ankle and husband Chris has to carry her the rest of the way down the mountain (what a guy eh). Amy remarks that if she fell over Stu wouldn't be able to carry her down the mountain, Stu protests but deep inside he is glad that she hasn't fallen over herself. We arrive in a little village at the bottom of the canyon just as it's getting dark. The simple, yet welcoming wood & straw huts are just what the doctor ordered and we have a nice evening meal and a good laugh. In the morning we are up at 7am and after a huge breakfast of pancakes we are off walking again. This time Sam takes a donkey and we can't keep up with her as we walk steadily uphill. After passing several local villages we then descend into an oasis and have a great swim in the pool and a bit of a sunbathe. Food follows and we are almost in paradise. Heather has had the great idea to go back up the 1200m on a mule. Amy jumps at this idea as she has been wanting to ride a horse/donkey/mule since we arrived in South America, to Stu's surprise everyone else thinks this is a great idea too and he reluctantly agrees. Well, what followed definitely bordered on animal cruelty as the path was extremely steep in places and it was pretty warm as well. We stopped only once and our mules easily outstripped the donkeys that Sam and Chris were riding on. Stu thinks his mule (hereafter known as DAVE) was a little bonkers as every now and then he would make a bolt for it up the mountain, practically barging the other mules out the way. Once in front Dave then thought it would be a good idea to stop in the middle of the path and take a breather. Altogether it would have been great fun had there not been a sheer drop and certain death on one side. We arrive at the top of the mountain after 2hrs and it's fair to say that ones bum was a little numb. Dinner is a rather ropey spaghetti bolognaise (we should have known when the guides both ordered something else) and we then settle in for a few beers before bed. The following day it's a long trip back to Arequipa broken only by a stop at the hot springs (very relaxing). After Alpaca stroganoff for lunch we finally arrive back in Arequipa at 1830hrs. We arrange to meet up for dinner afterwards which turns out to be a great Turkish meal (we all order the same dish) followed by chocolate ice cream (once more we all order the same thing which is a source of much hilarity. Also in the restaurant it seems that it is someones birthday and there is lots of dodgy (and rather inappropriate) dancing going on around us. Still a great night and trip was had by all (even Sam) and we agree to keep in touch. Tomorrow we are off to Puno and Lake Titicaca, one of the highlights of the tour before we started and we can't quite believe that it is upon us. Lots of love and keep the messages coming. Stu & Amy.