4,160 metres deep (twice the depth of the Grand Canyon in USA). At an altitude of 2800 metres (Ben Nevis is 1,344 metres). 18 mile walk.

In case you have been worrying that we have died, don´t worry, we haven´t. However, the three little facts above damn well nearly did! On Monday, Jordan and myself set off at 3am on a bus towards the Colca Cayon for a three day guided trek. The trek essentially involves walking down one side of the canyon, partially up the other side, along and back down that side, and then up the orginal side.

The night before we set off, a guy in our hostel told us it was a casual walk and was disappointingly easy. He also said that it would not be cold at night (Arequipa has a desert climate - roasting during the day, freezing at night), so we wouldn´t need warm clothing. Luckily I ignored his advice and packed my coat as in the mornings and evenings it was really cold. We quickly found out this wasn´t his only lie...

So around midday on Monday we arrived at the Colca Canyon and set about our walk down, full of confidence that being young, fairly fit guys that we would find it like a walk in the park. We could not have been more dillusional. By the time we reached the bottom of the canyon we were absolutely knackered! To make things worse, the beautiful looking river at the bottom of the canyon, which had driven us on like a carrot in front of a horse, was in fact FREEZING cold. And we were not even at the end of our first day of walking

By the time we reached the tiny little town we were staying in, the whole group of six people were like zoomies. We all ended up sleeping for most of the day and for about 12 hours that night.

The next day was a fairly easy walk to another town further along the canyon where there was an oasis waiting for us (pretty much just a small pool to be honest). Here we all just chilled in the sun, dreading the following day where a three hour, 8km walk was waiting for us. By the end of it we would have climbed over 1000 metres in height. On a side note, we played the locals at football for beers and won. Yey!

Day 3 - day of pain. At 5am we were woken up to start the walk. No breakfast. No coca tea. Just get up and walk.

Just to quickly put things in perspective - we set-off at an altitude higher than Ben Nevis and had to pretty much walk up Ben Nevis in height. In case you don´t do much walking or haven´t experienced altitude before, it is a b**** and saps all energy, and we were at some serious altitude.

What I haven´t mentioned yet is that Jordan during this trek had been suffering from some sort of fever and so wasn´t feeling the best. After about one minute of walking he fell down and our Guide asked if he would like a Mule. Jordan reluctently said yes... but unfortunately there was no Mules avaliable - leaving him no option but to power up the Canyon.

After 2 hours 15 mins I reached the top of the Canyon, shortly followed by Jordan about 15 mins later. Apparently anything close to 2 hours is really fast, and I reckon if I hadn´t been slowed down by people in front of me, I would have broken it. The real achievement however, is Jordan reaching the top. I know he wasn´t faking the fever as I had to put up with him groaning every night. So how he got to the top, and in a quick time, I don´t know. Incredible mental strength I suppose!

Anyway, the internet cafe is about to shut but there´s a lot more we need to fill you in on, for example we went rafting the day before the trek. Not much to say there really, apart from that the water was really cold. Also we are trying to up load pictures but there seems to be a problem. You can see some from our first few days here - https://picasaweb.google.com/106770969473102293815/Jul92011LimaHuachachinaAndArequipa?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJGfrLK5wKeyxQE&feat=directlink

Take care,

Michael and Jordan