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Atfer that we had an hour and a half drive through the Colca Canyon National park which was a nice scenic drive on Doris, and along the way we drove along a pass which was 4900 metres above sea level (at which point Ness fainted) before reaching the town of Chivay. At the 4900 metre pass we had the chance to jump off doris for a short while, and at this point there were local peruvian ladies selling their Alpaca clothing so oh yes I got a picture with them and brought some Aplpaca goods some socks and gloves (to keep me warm in altitude it was cold hehe). We didnt stay long at this high pass because Ness wasnt well and it is hard to breath at that height too. Along the route as we got closer to Chivay Doris had a flat tyre which is not as easy to fix on a truck haha so took a good half an hour to do. Matt and a few of the others got out to help driver steve lift her up on the jack to change the tyre over, while the rest of us either stayed on the coach or sat on the roadside. I was bursting for the loo at this point and luckily there was a toliet across the road (think it was on the side of some local persons house oops, but we all used it anyway) have to say it goes under my list of worlds worst toilets I have ever seen really disgusting but I will leave that point there haha!!
After that we drove straight on to the Canyon, which was really impressive as it is the deepest in the world, at one point it is 3200 metres deep. We got to a viewpoint of the canyon where it was at 1000 metres deep and got the chance to take some cool photos of the canyon, then we walked along the edge of the canyon on this walkway for an hour which was pretty cool, as you could see right down into the canyon along the whole way. This walk would normally take 15 minutes at sea level but because we were at 3000 metres above sea level it took us all roughly about an hour, its quite tough because you feel out of breath so easily so have to take it slow. Along the route of this walk we were lucky to see a few condors soaring through the canyon, this was amazing to see as they are really big,their wing spans are normally between 2 to 3 metres long so they looked really big flying around, got a few pics but it was hard as they flew by so quickly.
After our short walk we left the canyon and headed back to Chivay and on the way we stopped at the Colca hot springs, which were great. We were all in a fairly large outside pool where the water enters into it at approx 40 degrees celcius and spreads along the pool, so you can stay in the really hot part or go to the other end of the pool to cooler parts. Was really relaxing and good for insect bites especially Rustys whose legs were covered in bites ouch! (The water actually flows into the springs at 82c but has to go through cold water tanks to cool it right down before entering the pool. We chilled in this pool about an hour Russ and a few other were able to enjoy a cold beer and a cig whilst in here hehe South America so they dont really mind what you do.
After these relaxing hot pools we headed to the town and got into our hotel which was nice but it was pretty cold in this town, me and Matt went for a walk around, its a tiny town so not much around but there were some markets hehe. We got stopped by some local lady who asked where I was from and said she liked my hair, and also said that I would probably get stared at alot as people in this town rarely see colour of hair like mine and she was right. Later that night we stopped at a local place for dinner (me,matt,russ,ness,mandy,debbs and felix) was a great meal but was the longest ever! They didn't have half of the meals on the menu so most of us had to have pizza, we all ordered diff ones but they all looked very similar when we got them haha. Me and Mandy wanted to share a bottle of wine but they didnt have any wine either, so Mands went to the local shop and brought us a bottle which tasted really bad (Peru doesnt have nice wine) but we drank it anyway haha. This kid in the place kept running out and buying ingredients for our meals haha, and we all got our food one at a time and matt got his after everyone else had eaten, but we got fed in the end and the meals were nice, but the music playing was really awful haha. South American restaurants are never quick you learn to expect it haha.
After the meal me and Matt headed back to hotel room as we werent feeling too good, Matt especially after Arequipa, while Russ and some of the others went to a local bar for a few drinks and games of pool. Our room was freezing and we had said wouldn't it be so cool if we had hot water bottles, and no joke not long after a hotel guy came to our door wtih hot water bottles he must have known, this was sooo good kept us nice and warm for the night arrrrr!!!
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