So on the 23rd Jan 08 we headed to Arequipa by bus. No unsual people this time, however the driver was a bit of a maniac…when turning a corner he took out a little stall, but didn´t even stop!! Other than this the jouney was fine and very comfortable having the seats right at the front getting all the views as we travelled. Arriving in Arequipa was amazing compared to Puno, finding ourselves a really nice hostel in the centre.

Even though Matt and I said Machu Picchu would be our last trek for a while, we signed ourselves up for another one to the Colca Canyon! This time it was 3 days and 2 nights…25th to 27th Jan 08.

Day 1.

We got picked up at 5.30am to get the bus to Colca Canyon. After 6 hours we arrived at the top of the Canyon and met up with our group over lunch. The hike was over three hours down steep, gravel like, slopes and steps. Hard work on the knees and very hard to keep your balance at times! Not going to lie… this wasn´t enjoyable. That evening we stayed in mud style huts on the canyon floor… insect central!! Upon opening the door there was a pretty huge cockroach which left a nasty green sludge after I squished it. Also, spiders in the bed and a fire fly disco in the thatched roof. Since we did not have our mosquito net we wore our long sleeved thermal tops and bottoms, tucking them into our socks…warm!

Day 2.

We were told this was a flat day of hiking but promptly found that we had been lied to! It was up and down with a miniscule flan section! We visited a village at the bottom of the canyon, stopping off at a local hospital. As you might have guessed, the hospital was very basic having only 1 doctor and 2 nurses to cover the entire canyon. According to the doctor there is frequently cases of women getting beaten up by their husbands due to drink. The doctors here usually do a 1 year stint, having to leave their family, before heading back to a major city.

At lunch time we arrived at our accomodation for the night. Very similar to the last but with less bugs!! This place was called "The Oasis" and had a swimming pool…very chilled. From here we arranged mules to take us up to the top of the canyon the next day… no way we were walking up the 1000m ascent at 2am! While we were chilling by the pool two locals kids came over to us. They were fascinated with our iPods and cameras, listening to very loud music and chopping our heads off in the photos they took.

Day 3.

We got woken up at 2.30am, which is never ideal, getting our mules at 3. One of the mules did not have any stirups or saddle, only blankets. Trust this to be the one that Matt got considering he has never riden before!! The ride up was very steep at times, with the mules jumping up steps and going extremely close to the cliff edge. After just over two hours we arrived safely at the top and got some well deserved breakfast.

We then got the bus which headed back to Arequipa via Cruz del Condo - the condor look-out point - and another village. After spotting some very distant condors we arrived at the village where we had to wait for a few hours. To kill time we watched a local football match… the first time I have ever seen anyone wee on the pitch, let alone get a yellow card for it!!

By the end of the trip we were exhausted, and slept for most of the bus trip back…definately no more treks just yet!!

Next stop Arica, Chile on 30th Jan 08.