Peru: Arequipa, Colca Canyon & Huacachina

 (Post by Colin)

Merry Christmas folks !  It is the  28th of December today and we are preparing for an Australian New Year celebration - more of which in a future post.  For now it is catch up time.  This post is the last section for Peru and what an amazing adventure it was.

So we left off last post in Cuzco.  On the night before we were due to take a bus to Arequipa we diligently went to the the bus station to make enquiries and ensure we had our ticket.  Having gone to every counter and enquired about the price which ranged from $20 to $40 for this 11 hour journey we then proceeded to make a decision.  All of the counters had beautiful pictures of their buses on the counter and some had computers.  We figured that if they had a computer they would probably have a decent bus and so we picked one in the middle price bracket who also had a computer at the counter.  The guy sold us the ticket to Arequipa and told us to come back the next day at 6am.

The next day we arrived - reported to the guy at the counter (same one) who directed us to the bus stand.  The bus did not look so good..  I followed the masking tape on the windscreen with my eye to discover that it covered a large crack running right through  the middle of the front windshield.  The interior had also seen better days and stunk of animals..  Lovely..   Anyway - without further ado we jumped on and took our seats.  The scenery on this trip was not very exciting and I began to have suspicions about where the bus was going when around 7 hours in we passed a sign to Arequipa and did not take the turning...  It turned out that the bus was not going to Arequipa at all but to Puno...  (argh!)  Puno is where the famous lake Titicaca and the floating islands are.  A place for this journey we had originally decided to give a miss at least on this Peru trip.  As we came into Puno we realised that it was a remarkably ugly city. A real shame because the lake itself looked beautiful and I could imagine how it could be.  We had to think fast and decide - do we stay here or carry on to our original destination?  So after an hour long discussion with the bus company where it became clear that the guy had sold a ticket to us knowing full well that the bus was not going to our destination,  they put us on another bus for another 8 hour journey to Arequipa..  This bus was even worse than the first.  For one the route took us right over the top of Mountains and it was freezing !  We were not dressed for it and Ana and I just huddled together to keep some warmth.  Secondly  the windows on this bus leaked and so when it rained the rain just poured right in from time to time soaking me !  Whilst it was still light the scenery on this route was breathtaking.. 

Puno to Arequipa 1

Puno to Arequipa 2

Puno to Arequipa 3

We arrived to Arequipa at around midnight and with some frantic phone calls on the bus  we were met by the brother of Ana who's hostal - La Casa de Ana - we had booked.  Straight to bed that night.

La Casa de Ana was in the Yanahuara area, a 20/25 minute walk from the center of Arequipa and in a very nice and safe residential area.  Ana the owner, tells the story that she originally purchased the house to live in but she was always hosting traveling friends, and well the idea then came to turn this very welcoming home into 'Casa de Ana'. We had a really comfortable stay here. Arequipa itself is truly a gorgeous city.  Because of the very mild/warm climate and the white volcanic rock they used for the buildings it has really stood the test of time and has retained much of what it must have looked like in the colonial days.  The views from the city are of vast Volcanoes.   I would say that of the Cities we visited in South America this is probably my favourite.

Casa De Ana

View from the terrace of  El Misti Volcano

Following Ana's advice (our landlady), on day one we went out to a traditional Arequipan restaurant - La Nueva Palomino and ate and drank like kings..  It was too much - next time we would order only one dish and share !! We drank Chicha which is a traditional Peruvian  fermented drink (very alcoholic). Ana says that the flavour reminds her of an Angolan brew called 'Kissangua'.

La Nueva Palomino Sign

The America Plate

Drinking Chicha - Ana

Drinking Chicha  - Colin

Some of the weird stuff I could not eat....

After the heavy lunch we took our first journey into the center of town. The architecture is very impressive, our first introduction was the imposing view of Monasterio de Santa Catalina bang in the main square. We did not go in, there's so much to see in the form of museums and churches that it can be overwhelming and expensive. But even just looking from the outside you can experience the respect that such sites command.

The main square

Ana with giant stuffed toy Llamas

Church and Lady - example of the stone..

Weird Palm tree

We stayed a couple more days in Arequipa before the main event.. Next stop on the agenda was a journey to the Colca Canyon.  Once known to be the deepest Canyon in the world until they discovered another one 40 minutes away from the first which is deeper but much less accessible. It is populated by people living a traditional Andean way of life (subsistence farming and animal husbandry)   Ana (the landlady) was very accommodating and we were able to leave our packs at Casa de Ana and just take enough stuff for 3 days of hiking in the Canyon...  We caught the local bus from Arequipa for a 4-5 hour journey to the Canyon.  The first thing we noticed was that all the Women were wearing this very specific hat which we were to see alot more of..

We arrived at Cabanaconde the start of point for our trek, stocked up on supplies and took a brief look around.  First impressions is how dusty it is here.  The town itself is tiny and looks like it survives from farming the land and tourists like us who come to the Canyon to hike or to view the Condors.

Cabanaconde - dusty street

Cabanaconde main square

We had a plan for our trek - the first part was a four hour hike down to the bottom of the Canyon to the village of San Juan de Chucho where we have arranged to stay at La Posada de Roy.  Ana (our landlady in Arequipa)  is the Godmother to the owner's son and so was able to secure for us the best room i.e. the only one at the moment with an ensuite. We did feel like like royalty. The hike was a little bit dull and although downhill was not that easy mainly due to the gravelly ground and the  dust... Before we started we noticed another hiker - Fabio - from Italy who was about to descend so we teamed up with him.   Fabio  was really cool. He had been in South America volunteering for 6 months and was coming to the end and so was doing a bit of traveling.

Start of the Hike

Fabio, Ana and Colin at the top

A local Woman making her way

Fabio, Ana and Colin at the bottom !

Canyon View

Canyon view sun set

We arrived at  La Posada de Roy and it was really basic but cute - no electricity so when it is dark it is dark. There was supposed to be hot water but it did not work.   Our landlady though humble and simple was running Casa de Roy and had plans to extend, whilst supporting her daughter's education in Germany. She was studying to learn German and support her mum with the business. She would then become a Guide. Everyone in the family is ultimately engaged in supporting and encouraging the betterment of each other. A lot of businesses are owned and run by families. It's really nice and we ate a simple but delicious meal and  Fabio and I had a couple of beers. Much needed after the walk in the hot sun..

La Posada de Roy

All of us with our hostess

Our landlady's mum

Next day it was up early and ready to set off for a 5- 6 hour hike to our next destination  called Sangalle or "El Oasis" named because it is an area at the bottom of the valley that has lush vegetation and maintains a very high temperature all year round even at night. It is worth noting that at the top of the canyon it goes below zero at night. This day of hiking was much better and went both up and down and through some small villages..

typical housing ruin

amazing structures - like Gaudi's  Sagrada Familia!

protecting the crop

Shrine

Finally after 4 hours or so we had the Oasis in sight...

The Oasis

The Oasis river

Sangalle  or "The Oasis" has several "resorts" with swimming pools.  The first guy we went too tried to charge us $30 a night but we kept going and stayed at more or less the last place for $10 a night. It was a bamboo hut with no electricity.  It's worth mentioning that we were following some guidance we got from the internet, and we were looking for a place called 'Oasis Paradiso'. They forgot to mention that most of them claimed the name of 'Oasis' or 'Paradiso' or even both. Not sure if it was a deliberate tactic ! We settle our things in one of them and took a swim and relaxed for a few hours. Fabio decided to make the climb back up that day and so left us at around 4pm.

Col swimming

Col swimming

A bamboo tree chair

our front door

Inside

We had heard that the hardest part of this hike was  from here back up to Cabanaconde - so we arose early to try to do it before the sun got too hot.  Oh my god it was a tough hike - up hill all the way and so dusty. By 8 AM the sun was blazing... 

Amazing rock structures

Me and the view

 Ana was not enjoing it at all, in her own words "seriously, it's hard! You start going up and there's no end in sight, the sun is in your face, and the Peruvians going up and down the climb make it look like it's easy. And you go up, and up some more, and up some more and even more.... It is not easy, and we did not have enough water for the journey. Oh and the dust, so much of it.  it was my worst nightmare Col was all jolly and happy, I just wanted it to be over "

Ana suffering... :-(

 On the way we came across a local Woman literally running  down - in  open toed sandals

A local woman running down !

We also came across some men with donkeys carrying building materials down . I felt sorry for the poor donkeys. At one point a big wooden board was falling forward on the donkey and it was almost dragged over the edge!

Colca - Sangalle trek - Donkeys

Donkey with Board - Sangalle

Anyhow -  5 hours later we  both finally made it to the top.  

View

Corn field

But that was not the end of the drama for that day....   We got on the bus back to Arequipa which makes a stop half way through.  Ana got out to get some food and go to the toilet.  She was taking a while and all of a sudden the bus started pulling off.  I quickly ran down to knock on the drivers door and shouted in poor spanish.    Mi Muljer  es no aqui - a banos a banos !  My Wife is not here she is at the toilet ! !  Luckily  another spanish lady had the same problem and so we were both banging on the drivers door.   The driver was almost out of the station by the time Ana came running up.. Phew !!

So back to Arequipa and one more day there before departing to Huacachina.

We used that day to look around time again and to visit the Museo Santuarios Andinos which has 'Juanita - the ice maiden'.

Juanita

This is really an amazing story.  In 1995 a scientist found Juanita frozen at the top of a volcano where she had been for around 500 years. She was an Inca offering to the Gods. The Incas would make a human sacrifice to the Gods of a young virgin girl  to appease them.  It is so weird seeing this almost perfectly preserved 500 year old Inca Woman and learning about the customs surrounding her prescence  there. You can read about her here. If you can't afford anything else we strongly recommend you visit this museum. It's good value, there's an introductory video with some background history and then you're taken to the museum.

The next night we had a 14 hour bus journey to Ica and then onward to Huacachina . After our recent bus experience we opted for the most expensive bus  company called Cruz Del Sur.  Wow what a difference - this was like traveling first class in an airplane.  Very comfortable and possible to sleep. They even provided blankets and  a simple meal.

We arrived in Ica and immediately took a taxi to Huacahina for a few days of rest and recuperation.  Huachachina actually is a real desert oasis - a lagoon surrounded by giant sand dunes. A little bit run down and not in its heyday.  It was a place for the rich and famous during colonial times.. Although the locals were swimming in the lagoon it looked non to sanitary to us !

Huacachina 2

There is a Legend  that the lagoon was created when a beautiful  princess was caught bathing by a young hunter. She fled, leaving the pool of water she had been bathing in to become the lagoon. The folds of her mantle, streaming behind her as she ran, became the surrounding sand dunes. And the woman herself is rumored to still live in the oasis as a mermaid.

Huacachina 1

Huacachina - Ana

Cool bird..

  It really was the perfect relaxation for us just chilling at the pool and gathering our energy after the hiking..

Unfortunately towards the end - I ate some bad food and had a touch of food poisoning.. but he ho !

Next was back to Lima for one night before our trip to Santiago De Chile where we had a short day of  3 days before flying to New Zealand... A short post on Chile coming up..

In Lima we stayed centrally in Miraflores and to use up our remaining Nuevo Sol's went out for a nice meal at one of the  poshest restaurant which is in the top 50 restaurants in the world - Astrid & Gaston.   But honestly it was not that good.

Overall We really enjoyed Peru. Machu Pichu was magical , some great cities, great hiking and great food.   We only ended up with 21 days here and we felt that we had just touched the surface. Clearly there was a rich culture to uncover here and 21 days going around the key tourist attractions was not enough immersion. Ecuador was much more accessible somehow - simpler and easier to understand whereas Peru seemed that it would take more to really get to its heart.  Ana and I left thinking that this is a country we need to come back and explore more - perhaps some of the less touristic regions.

Wishing all of our friends and family well in this Christmas season and as we move towards a new year.

You can view the Picassa Pics here

Lots of Love,

Colin & Ana Kizzy