Characterised by old colonial buildings, plazas and courtyards all built in white stone, Arequipa is Peru´s second city. Situated beneath several huge snowcapped volcanoes the city is surrounded by poor slums and the streets are packed full of tooting smelly taxis all day long.
We are still enjoying being with Katie and Shay, and have based ourselves here for quite a few days. Amongst other things we all visited the rather macabre museum display of the frozen body of a 12 year old Inca girl who was sacrificed on the summit of a nearby volcano over 500 years ago and discovered in 1995!
Yesterday (Sat) we completed a 3 day trek into the Colca Canyon some distance north of here - at over twice the depth of the Grand Canyon it is reputed to be the worlds deepest. We travelled by mini van over a high pass at a breathless 4900m and arrived at the canyons edge in a place where Condors nest, and were lucky enough to see half a dozen or more at close quarters as they rode the morning thermals. This was real Peru, with pre-Inca field terracing and the locals working the land in their traditional dress...and only traditional food available comprising of vegetable soup followed by diced vegetables with a few scraps of Alpaca amongst it if you were lucky. Anyway, this seemed sufficient to power us down the horribly loose and rocky paths into the base of the canyon and then onwards to travel between basic huts blessed with wonderful comfy beds.
Sarah did brilliantly well but the huge haul out back to the village on day 3 would have been very demanding so once we saw a mule was on offer she recognised this as a good option. At first light she joined a few others in setting off up the hill behind the rest of us who were on foot. It was a fantastic moment when she caught up with us and then tore ahead up the steep, rocky and exposed path ahead compltely at the mercy of this powerful beast! We weren´t sure who was more shattered when we reached the canyon rim!
Now having a few easy days and will head down the Cuzco Coffee Company (a Starbucks rip-off) for a coffee and a cake....
