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So, we signed up for a 3 day trek in the colca canyon because some people we met en route said that we would get more sleep than on the 2 day one and we´re not really in a rush. However, The hostel man who we booked it with said we were lleaving at 3am. We waited for 2 hours at that ridiculous time til the bus arrived to pick us up, am not sure if he thought it was amusing or just cant tell the time!!
We slept as we left Arequipa in the dark and awoke to winding mountain roads, at some points perilously close to the edge of the canyon. Our first stop was a tiny town where our trek would start but first we had some free time before lunch where we sat in the sun in the obligatory plaza del armas.
As we wandered around I got a strange sensation, as if something was stuck to my foot and dragging along the ground. I looked down and there was indeed something hanging off my walking boot...........IT WAS THE SOLE!!! Yes, my trusty walking boots let me down, after what I calculated was about 9 years. So there we were in a little town with only our non existent spanish to help us out. We managed to find someone with a dictionary and found out what the word for glue is, somehow found a shoe repair shop and made the guy understand what we needed, mainly by waving my boot around, demonstrating the problem and shouting colla! Colla! And got some contact adhesive. I then sat through lunch with my chair leg in the boot putting pressure on it whiule the glue dried. All to no avail. 5 minutes down the road it came off again. So now, not only can I say I have done a 3 day colca canyon trek, I can also say that I managed it in a pair of sandals which were approximately 3 sizes too big for me. I had no spare shoes, being conscious of the weight of my bag and those were the only things anyone else had spare.
The first day was all down hill, not easy in sandals as I kept thinking I´d fall into the canyon and never be seen again. The views on the way down were amazing though, it is really a gorgeous place. We took far too many photos. We were warned before we started that when we saw mules coming in the opposite direction we should press ourselves against the side of the canyon, not step out towards the abyss, a warning that served us well.
When we reached our accomodation for the night the sun was just disappearing befhind the side of the canyon and it was freezing. The little campsite we stayed on had no electricity nin the rooms so we sat outside, making the most of the remaining light and jumped into bed straight after dinner to try and stay warm.
Day two was a big uphill trek. My downhill muscles were aching from the previous days walking and they were soon balanced out nicely by the pain in the rext of my legs. The days were baking hot and any shade was a relief on the way up. We then had a short descent to what I can only describe as paradise. Our next nights accomodation with a pool cut into the rock and a whole afternoon to sunbathe beside it. Or so we thought. The positioning of the site howerever meant that the sun had disappeared by about 4, leaving us shivering. Once more, after a meal of soup followed by rcice, potatoes and unidentified meat, we hit the sack.
We needed our sleep as the final day of the trek began at 2am with cocoa tea, followed by the scary ascent back to the top of the canyon in the dark. Pure insanity. It was worth it when we got to the top but there were several points when I thought Gregg was going to give up. Only half of our group managed it, the rest came up on mules and arrived at the top shortly after us, freezing from having sat still for so long. The reason we´d got up so early was so that we could go to Cruz Del Condors arfter a quick brakfast. It was not a comfortable ride as we took a public bus but the sight of the condors made up for it. It was very crowded and felt a little odd, do the condors get paid for putting on the show? Hoew did they know to start at 8 and finish at 10? Is it in their contract? But the birsds ar amazing, at first they were all very far away but a few swooped right over our heads.
We stopped off at some hot springs on the way back to Arequipa, which was great for the aches and pains and then by the time we got back we were done in.
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