Arequipa
Trip Start
Jan 25, 2008
1
27
36
Trip End
Jun 01, 2008
Arequipa,
Arequipa,
Peru
Saturday, May 3, 2008
After discussing our options for several long hours we decided to DIY our own roadtrip. Having met up with a friend of Chole and Jess, James of 25+ years and in possession of a driving licence, we were able to hire our very own 4x4 Toyota Prado from Avis. We set of the next morning, the guy from Avis drove us as far as the outskirts of the city so that James didnt have to contend with the crazy Peruvian taxi drivers and then we were off
Our wheels
. Predictably we got slightly lost within the first half hour taking a wrong turn into the village of Yanka, we realised our mistake when the road, which we were told was asphalt all the way turned into a bumpy dirt track with a vertical drop down one side, a carefully manoevred u-turn and ten minutes later we were back on track.We came over the top of the canyon, felt our ears pop with the ridicoulously high altitude and stopped to take in the view before descending into the village of Chivay for a quick pizza stop. We set off again along the road that runs the left bank of the canyon, through tunnels carved out of the mountain and past patchwork fields and inca terraces through a number of rural villages where we made a few more wrong turns, circled the plaza de armes several times and got caught amoungst the cattle, sheep and mules making there way home from the fields. When we finally arrived we headed straight for the hostel recommended in the lonely planet and were amazed to find our rooms had electric lights and private bathrooms with hot water - weŽd been expecting something much more basic. The one thing it was lacking though was heating and at such high altitude we were in for a cold, cold night. To make matters worse, at dinner that night, Neil began to feel a little off colour and was getting hot and cold shivers.
trekking in the canyon
On the recomendation of the guy form our hostel we woke up at 5am the next morning to get to the Cruz del Condor (condor lookout) before the other tourists arrived. Two hours later we were still sat in the car with the heaters on, cursing the guy from the hostel and still not having seen a single condor. The tourists buses arrived so we got out the car to join them and ten minutes later we caught sight of our first condor and the competition to get the best picture began. Not an easy task and Katie took a rather large number of photos of peoples trainers, blue sky, bits of wrong and parts of a wing. As time went on however there were more and more condors and they flew closer and closer and just watching them fly against the sun was awesome. We stayed until lunchtime and then headed back to the village to begin our trek down the canyon.
WeŽd been advised not to do it in the middle of the afternoon because of the heat but we needed to get the car back to Avis the next day and were on a tight schedule. The further we went down the hotter it got and we had to got fairly slowly as the path was slippery. The worst thing was that we could see the swimming pool of our camp at the bottom of the canyon looking so inviting - it just wasnt getting any closer. Neil was taking it slow cause he still wasnŽt well and Katie slipped early on adding another bruise to those acquired on the Inca Trail and so began to exercise a bit more caution. Two and a half hours later, we finally made it to the bottom and Katie chilled out on the grass while Neil sloped off to his wooden hut for some much needed sleep.
That night we had dinner, played cards and then went to bed early as we were getting up at 3.30am the next day to take a mule back up the canyon and get the car back to Avis for midday. WeŽd originally planned to walk back up but Neil was too ill and Katie was too lazy. As it turned out getting the mule up in the dark was a fantastic experience itself, under a sky of a billion brightest stars weŽd seen we made the ascent and as we neared the top we watched the sunrise over the canyon. Unfortunately Neils mule lacked a saddle and he had a rather more bumpy ride up the canyon to say the least. The mules were pretty scary aswell, trying to overtake each other on paths barely wide enough for one mule with a sheer drop down into the canyon on one side and then biting and kicking each other when their plans were foiled.
When we made it to the top we had a good breakfast and then set off on the journey back to Arequipa which was fairly uneventful until we reached the city and James had to navigate Arequipas one way system and crazy taxi drivers and then ran into a demonstration for labour day! Somehow we managed to get us and the car back to the office on time and in one piece. Neil still wasnŽt feeling well though and Katie was pretty worried when we took his temperature and it was 39. Taro, whos studying medicine had suggested there was a mild possibility that his symptons may be malaria and so Katie became convinced it must be and whipped him off to the hospital where we were informed it was just an ear infection! Big relief, and a slight overeaction but it was good to get him fixed up!
