So I´ve gone to a different internet cafe and this one seems a bit better for uploading pictures. Instead of uploading them to two places, I´ll just link to the picasa website.

While I´m waiting for the pictures to upload, I thought I would expand on the Colca Canyon experience a bit more as yesterday I mainly focused on the physical side and didn´t really talk about what we saw.

I mentioned yesterday that the Colca Cayon is twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. While this is true, as you will see from the photos it isn´t quite as impressive because the walls are not has steep. It is still brilliant nonetheless.

On one side of the Canyon, the opposite to the side where the major towns are situated, there are three or four very small villages, each with around 50 people living in them. Their lives are literally as basic has you can get - they grow food and then walk to the otherside of the Canyon and trade it for different types of food. With the heat of the sun and the manual work they continually have to carry out, it is a very harsh life. Excluding the fact they have mobile phones, I don´t think their lives have changed at all over the years and I imagine they will be the same in 200 years. They have no electricty and no cars - just mules and fire. However I did get the impression from speaking to our guide that the villages are dying out as when the children grow up, they move to the bigger towns and cities. A bit sad I guess, but I wouldn´t want to live the life they lead.

You may notice in some of the photos there are farming terraces. These have existed since pre-inca time, meaning they are bloody old. No idea how they were created but it must of been a lot of effort!

Anyway, pictures are uploaded so time to run again. I´ll let Jordan give you a run down of everything I have missed out in a few day time.

https://picasaweb.google.com/106770969473102293815/Jul132011ArequipaRaftingAndColcaCanyon?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIHS1q6w_PX2cg&feat=directlink

Hope you are all well,

Michael