Getting ready to trek into Colca Canyon

Trip Start May 06, 2007
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Trip End Jul 24, 2008


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Sunday, July 8, 2007

After the last few days of every night a different city, I'm ready to stay put for a few days (or at least have a home base with some side trips).  We arrived in Arequipa late last night and pretty much went straight to bed.  This morning we spent some time walking around to find a different hostel that was more central and social since our requirement for last night was free pick up at the bus station.  After bringing our stuff over to the new hostel, we went in search of information on how to get to Colca Canyon.  We've both decided to do a three day trip that includes two days of trekking down into the canyon and then back up out of it.  It will be rather strenuous since the elevation drop is about 3000 meters into the canyon.  It's supposedly the deepest canyon in the world - twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US and is also home to many condors.  We've decided to do the trek Tuesday through Thursday to give ourselves another day of relaxation in Arequipa first.

Arequipa seems like a nice city so far.  It's the second largest city in Peru.  Because today is Sunday, most of the stores and restaurants are closed and the city is relatively quiet, so it will be interesting to see it tomorrow when it comes to life.  I also ran into an Irish guy who I first met in Quito at the Spanish school and then again in Cuenca and Vilcabamba.  He's been here a few days so gave us a few tips about the city and showed us his hostel.  It's really, really nice, very clean, and only $2 a night more than the hostel we're at now, so we made reservations there for when we return from the Colca trek.
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Comments

herblee
herblee on Jul 13, 2007 at 03:04AM

a small town big continent feeling
Great stories Laura. Somehow, because you keep bumping into other travelers you met at other towns, it makes South America feel like a small town where everyone knows everyone. Add to that, you meet people who you lived close to at one point, but didn't meet them until you traveled to another continent. (I'm playing 'Its a Small World' in my head'). Safe travels and keep blogging.

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