When you arrive in Peru you realise this is the South America that you have dreamed of. It fits all the clichés of what you would expect a South American country to be like. Local women carrying heavy loads on their backs with multicolour blankets, men sleeping on benches with massive hats on, street sellers hassling you on every street corner to buy their products. This is the experience we had been looking for and it was a refreshing change from westernised Santiago.
Our first stop in Peru was Arequipa, we missed out Lima as we were tight on time and had heard from almost everybody that it was a hell hole. Arequipa however was amazing. We arrived in Peru in the run up to an election so our journey from the airport in to the centre of Arequipa was full of walls adorned with different paintings of party symbols (hats, spades, three leaf clovers!) and different candidate names. It might sound a bit boring but I loved to see all these wall murals which somebody had spent so much time and effort creating. It didn't stop at party pushing either; shop fronts, cars and restaurants could all be seen with hand painted advertisements across them. It was a welcomed change from mass produced, picture perfect posters and billboards.
There was however a reason we had come to Arequipa and that was to do the Colca Canyon trek. For those of you who don't know Colca Canyon it is the deepest canyon in the world, yup that's right it's NOT the Grand Canyon which was of course named by Americans so we can't take it's title too seriously. We decided to do the three day/two night trek which gave us the opportunity to stay with a local family who lived in one of the traditional towns at the bottom of Colca Canyon. We picked Land Adventures to do our trek with as we had heard so many good reviews and we were not let down. They were utterly amazing at looking after us and offering the best experience possible we could have had during our time in Colca Canyon. We highly recommend you check them out if you are contemplating any tours in Peru.
Our trek began at 3am in Arequipa where we were picked up bleary eyed to start out 6 hour journey to Chivay where we stopped for a quick lunch which included some disgusting, non de-script juice that nobody at our table seemed to be able to identify. It was back on the bus for another hour or so where we then stopped at Cruz del Condor where we were lucky enough to see around ten massive condors circling above us. Peru have protected this species which was almost extinct a few years ago but now thanks to Peru there are around fifty living in Colca Canyon alone. They are an impressive and beautiful sight and one we will never forget. Next it was back on the bus and another hour or so til Cabanaconde (3287m) which is a small village that sits above the part of Colca Canyon we were to trek. A tasty lunch was grabbed here before we began the descent in to the canyon. We were lucky enough to end up with a great group of trekkers which included one English couple and one German couple.
The descent from the top of the canyon was narrow, steep and in places really rocky so you had to be careful with your footing or you'd end up falling over the edge to become a condors dinner. It took our group around three hours to trek to the bottom of the canyon and in the blazing hot sun. We didn't think that was too bad and it was an awesome journey down. After a quick catch of breath at the bottom it was back on our feet and our first taste of an ascent in the canyon. The thin, dry air and altitude quickly became apparent and what would usually seem like a moderate climb up hill turned most of us in to wheezing cripples. We managed though and were pleased to see the little village of San Juan de Chucco (2200m). From here it was only another thirty mins or so until our final destination for the day and the newly green scenery full of avocados and cactus fruit was an easy distraction along the way.
We arrived at Cosnirhua (2450m) just before sunset and met our hosts for the night. I didn't catch any of their names but it was a middle aged couple and their teenage son who lived off farming the land surrounding their home. They work hard and long days of manual labour in the canyon, starting around 4am and finishing around 8pm and that's 6 days a week. The locals speak the pre-Inca language of Ketchua which is a dying tradition in the area as almost all of the young have left the canyon to live in the cities and speak the official national language of Spanish. It was a shame to hear how the culture of the villages in the canyon may become extinct once the current inhabitants die. This made us feel extremely fortunate to be able to experience life while it still existed in these villages.
Dinner was prepared for us on a traditional stove before we headed to bed and rested our tired bodies in our basic but comfortable rooms. We all knew the next day was going to be a tough one so we were all eager for an early night and as much shut eye as possible.
After a tasty breakfastof pancackes we hit the path again and headed for the neighbouring village of Malata (2450m) which was a pleasant and donkey filled warm up to the day. In Malata we went to a wee local ran museum where we saw the canyon way of life and got to try Chicha, the local alcohol made out of fomented corn. Happy with our daily booze fix we continued down hill towards Oasis Sangalle (2160m), which although pleasant sounds much more exotic than it actually was. We spent a good few hours here basking in the man made swimming pools which were filled with water off the mountains and soaking in the hot sun.
After lunch enough was enough and we had to strap on our climbing legs and lungs for the ascent we had all been dreading. We started around 3pm and although later in the afternoon the sun was still burning hot, making our first few steps much harder than they had to be. We were told the first part was the hardest, which was a lie, the whole thing was bloody hard. But we all trekked on all keeping the end target in sight, well apart from me who thought this random flag about three quarters the way up was the end, quite a disappointment I must say. The German couple were the dominators of the group absolutely storming up the steep, rocky and slippery ascent. I was starting to wonder if they were actually bionic as the hot, thin air and high altitude seemed to have little effect on their bodies. The rest of us Brits kept true to form and took our own sweet time climbing up the narrow paths whilst taking regular stops for blethers, drinks of water and contrived photo breaks. After three and half gruelling hours we made it to the top elated, over emotional and bloody knackered.
Little did we know we still had another thirty minute walk in the pitch dark before being rewarded with a three course meal and a comfy bed. I would add sleep but we had the fortune of experiencing a political party demonstration Peru style which basically involved a bunch of pissed men playing trumpets and drums all night long until they passed out, with their trumpets presumably still attached to their lips as the occasionally hoot could be heard during the early hours.
We woke up sorer than we have ever felt in life but utterly stoked we had conquered the deepest canyon in the world, well part of it anyway. We hopped back on our uncomfortable little bus and headed to Chivay where we were to catch another uncomfortable little bus to Puno. It was quite sad saying goodbye to our companions we had just spent three hard days with and also experienced so much with; laughter, swearing and at one point even vomiting. They were a great bunch and we were pleased it was them we trekked and struggled up hill with. Muchos Gracias amigos y Colca Canyon.
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