Las Casitas del Colca Colca Canyon

... down, 3h up, rest a few hours down" to reach "the oasis" down the canyon. So I leave around 10am, going north toward the canyon. It get from flat to very steepy suddenly, and that's impressive. But now it is very different from the grand canyon, covered with small vegetation, not as steepy, not as colored. But as big.<br>As you go down it of course gets hotter and the vegetation grows thicker. And ...

<br><br>G's report:<br>Since the last report we have flown from Ecuador down to Lima, made our way to Arequipa, did a trek in the Colca Canyon, and have arrived in Cusco.<br><br>Lima was a fleeting day visit, it was much bigger and more modern than anything we saw in Ecuador we had some great seafood, walked along the clifftops and Peter got a much needed haircut (as i was the interpreter I was v tempted to tell them to give him a No1 all over). Then we were of the next ...

... Our hotel was based in a little valley in a middle of no-where such beautiful views.<br>Went to the Crus del Condor to see the majestic birds.<br><br>Waren heute in den Colca Canyon, es ist zweimal so tief wie der Grand Canyon und wir konnten die Hoehe spueren uns war schwindlig bei 4800 Meter Hoehe. Haben Coca Tee getrunken, aus den Blaetterjn wir auch Kokain hergestellt ...

... spread out so its not quite like walking down Oxford street. The first day is a fairly easy one, only slight uphill bits. We arrived at our lunch site and were treated like kings, all the porters clapped as we arrived - which seemed a tad embarassing considering they were running ahead of us carrying 20kgs each, gave us drinks and bowls to wash our hands. They´d set up the lunch tent and we experienced the first of our feasts ...

... yarn shop that seems to have disappeared, we went for a coffee at Jack's Cafe. Beth was in heaven! Finally a decent cup of joe. Kay had some fabulous mint tea too. We'll be back there again for sure.<br><br>While Kay and Beth were gallivanting, Gladys and Christine headed up town to suss out tour company for our Sacred Valley tour. They were successful, finding us a company which would do a private tour ...

... thought alot about it, haha<br><br>Tomorrow I leave for Machu Picchu - WOO HOO. I take the train 4 hours to the nearest town - Ollantaytambo. There are geothermal hot springs nearby - so towely, washy and razor are going on a road trip. I spend the night and visit Machu Picchu tomorrow and return to Cusco late in the night. <br><br>Hope everyone has a great week &#258; - my exclamation point, hehe<br>

... is slowly atrophying my brain. In either<br>case there should be some entertainment to be had.<br><br>One<br>final note: it seems to me that Facebook now works just about as well<br>as Flickr does for viewing photos so I think we're just going to be<br>posting there. Anyone reading this who is not one of my Facebook<br>friends but wants to see the pictures should look me up either under<br>my name or our email address (dinoj2@hotmail.com).<br><br>Next up &#8211; the<br>Inca Trail.<br>

... granny if she could take a photo; this granny was a legend, as not only did she agree, but she started wacking way at the strands of her rug with her wooden tool thing like there was no tomorrow, and combined this vigorous activity with an over-zealous cheery face. Classic. On our wanders we also encountered Granny Guacamole, an old woman in the street selling bread filled with guacamole as the predominant ingredient, and Granny Street Popcorn, predictably an old woman ...

... sea level), it'd do us good to buy 3 things that would ease potential altitude sickness: one, coca leaves to chew, during which alkalines are released; two, coca candy, made from coca leaves that have a similar effect as coca with the added bonus of having sugar; and three, mineral water to keep us hydrated. We stopped by a few places along the sometimes rugged road to Chivay, including the highest point of our journey at just above 4800 m...<br>

I am woken up by a splitting headache. It's 5:30 am, and I'm freaking freezing as everything outside and a few things inside of the little house I'm staying in are covered with frost. I can't eat and I'm feeling dizzy so I prepare some sandwiches and set off to see the mountains. <br><br>The road to Cruz del Cóndor, and generally to the entire Valle del Colca is really steep and narrow. At about ...