Understated Arequipa and great Colca Canyon

My whistle-stop tour of Peru continued with Arequipa and Colca Canyon in the south of the country.

Arequipa

Often overlooked by Cusco, Arequipa is a world heritage city and Peru’s second largest. There is some stunning European-style architecture (especially the arched main square and cathedral) and even more impressive surrounding views of snow capped volcanoes and mountain ranges. I only had one full day to spend in the city before starting the standard backpacker Colca Canyon trek, so I tried to pack as much as possible into my one day – despite only having four hours sleep because of bus delays the night before.

The day didn’t begin so well with me losing my walking tour group within 15 minutes of starting the tour. I was pretty miffed by this after I had made it clear to the guide I was popping to the bathroom quickly and I spent the next hour or so wandering aimlessly around the city. This actually turned out to be quite a good thing though because it meant I got my bearings of the city quite quickly.

With this “free time” in the morning that I had set aside for the walking tour, I went to the main local market and it was huge! They have everything you could possibly want there: all types of meat, fruit, vegetables, spices, everything. My favourite was the juice isle though, you can request any combination of juice (I had pineapple, orange and strawberry – amazing). Although South America has an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, they’re not often used in restaurants and local cooking so I welcomed this boost of vitamins and minerals.

After drinking this in the main square – another beautiful, palm treed plaza – I visited the cathedral. It’s 10 soles for the tour (plus tips) and includes a guided tour of the main cathedral, museum and an opportunity to see the view from the roof of the cathedral across to the famous Misti volcano.

This was a really impressive church, one of the best I’ve seen in Peru and the tour guide was extremely clear and informative – I almost felt glad I’d lost the walking tour after this. As the only English-speaking member of the group, she translated each part of the tour and explained a lot of the religious meanings for me. A special part of the tour was seeing the famous organ which has over 1,000 pipes and is the only one of it’s kind in the whole of South America (in fact only 10 were ever made).

Next I went for a lunch at a place made for me, the Pasta Canteen. They serve affordable, yummy, fresh pasta where you can choose the type, sauce and toppings – definitely recommend.

In the afternoon my enthusiasm and energy levels were really beginning to deteriorate. By chance I stumbled across the Museo Santuarios Andinos and having read about it in my Lonely Planet guidebook decided I would visit this before heading back to the hostel for a well-earned nap. And I’m so glad I did. It is famous because the museum holds the refrigerated body of Juanita or the Lady of the Mountain who is one of the best preserved sacrifices ever discovered – she still has hair, flesh, muscles and blood. (Sadly no pictures are allowed but I’m not sure I want a dead body on here anyway.) It was really interesting learning about the history and ritual of the Inca human sacrifice – the honour of being selected and their journey from selection age, around four years old. This museum is 20 soles (plus tips) and in my opinion better than going to the monasteries for 50 soles – but as I didn’t want to pay that much I can honestly say.

I would have liked to spend an extra day in Arequipa but I ran out of time, as always. It’s an interesting and beautiful city, perhaps the prettiest in all of Peru, and anyone who skips it on their trip is truly missing out.

Colca Canyon

For my trip to Colca Canyon, the world’s second deepest canyon which is also double the depth of the Grand Canyon in America, I booked a trip through my hostel. I was sceptical after my experience in Huacachina but everyone in the hostel spoke highly of the tour and I decided it would be much easier than finding a tour myself without any recommendations. I’ll say upfront that our guide wasn’t very good – he didn’t add anything to the trip at all – but the tour in general was good value – decent transport, food and accommodation.

The day starts at 3am with a long drive to Chivay. After my lack of sleep the night before this was quite difficult for me and I actually picked up a mild illness because of this. But I didn’t have time to be ill so I just carried on anyway. First we went to the Cruz del Condor to see the world famous condors – with a wingspan of up to 3 metres. Annoyingly we had to get there early because of protests on the roads which meant we didn’t get to see very many. I struggled to get many pictures but just as we got back onto the minibus lots came out and were flying over head – and annoyingly we weren’t allowed to get out again and see them.

Next we went to the start of the trek, an impressive 3,100 metres high. I was part of a large group of 16 young travellers which definitely compensated for the lack of guide. The first part of the trek was a three hour, steep descent into the canyon (down to 2,100 metres). But what really made it all worth it was the amazing views – the pictures speak for themselves but the brilliant blue sky against the rugged golden canyon is one of the best natural sights of my trip so far. After a short lunch, we walked along the other side of the canyon for a further three hours before reaching our lodgings for the night (very basic but good enough). At this point it was interesting to see the contrast between the dry side we had descended and the lush, green side we were now walking along (this is because of the melting glaciers creating a source of water). We also saw some impressive Inca terraces here which added to the natural beauty of the place.

The next day started at 4am with a very steep, zigzagging three hour trek out of the canyon, beginning in the dark with flashlights. I was feeling even more ill at this point and without help or encouragement from the guide decided I would walk at my own pace – even if it meant I was 40 minutes behind the rest of the group (there were lots of other groups so it wasn’t as if I was walking on my own anyway). This was hard work and the altitude and illness combined to make me feel pretty weak but I was determined to continue. I stopped to take some pictures along the way and absorb the picturesque sunrise. The last 20 minutes were very hard, mostly because I had no clue how close I was to the top – I could no longer tell how long I’d been walking and the path was so similar the whole way I felt as though I was in a trance climbing to the top. When I finally reached the top I was very sweaty and tired but pleased with myself for enjoying the scenery and not giving up or even taking many breaks for the whole three hours.

After a breakfast at the top of the hill, we were taken to some nearby hot springs. After the great hot springs in Baños I was excited for my second experience, and my legs definitely needed it. They were a lot more rustic than the previous ones but quickly filled with other tourists who had also finished the trek. I probably preferred seeing the locals in Baños enjoy the springs but it was still a great experience.

On the way back to Arequipa, we stopped off to see some llamas and alpacas grazing along the roadside. I actually think I was wearing my new alpaca jumper at this point which probably wasn’t very sensitive – no wonder a llama tried to spit at me. We also saw the Ampato mountain where Juanita’s body was found which added an extra something to the trip for me.

All in all, I had a great time in the south of Peru. So many tourists come to Peru just to see Manchu Picchu but hopefully I’ve shown that there is so much more to see. I have been to Machu Picchu and Cusco before with my squash team and family nearly nine years ago. They are both amazing place and well worth seeing but definitely not the only stars of the show.

Three days at Cotopaxi: the most relaxed volcano in Ecuador

After having spent six nights in Quito, the most I’ve spent in any pace so far, it’s fair to say I was very excited to be moving on to somewhere new. The hostel I had been staying at in Quito, The Secret Garden, has a sister hostel in Cotopaxi national park. Everyone I had met at the hostel seemed to be moving onto there next so I thought there must be a good reason for it. Cotopaxi is one of Ecuador’s most famous volcanoes and visiting it was already on my bucket list, so I joined the bandwagon and booked the 3 day-2 night inclusive trip ($88 for a dorm).

We set off at a reasonable 10:30am to travel to the new hostel in a Jeep. The four-wheel drive was definitely necessary, the road was bumpy, cobbled in parts and full of holes to avoid. It reminded me of the driving in Venezuela. On the way there it was quite cloudy and I was always looking out the windows to try and get a glimpse of the snow-capped volcano.

The hostel itself is enchanting. It’s run like clockwork and you are immediately welcomed into a warm and cosy lounge, with mulled wine at the ready. There are two long tables where everyone eats their meals together, a large round kitchen in the centre of the main room and a fire that gets lit in the evenings. I realised once I had arrived that you could also stay in Hobbit holes (like in The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit) but you have to be really organised as they get booked up very quickly. My dorm was great though, with its own log-burning fire and amazing views of Cotopaxi.

After a delicious lunch, our first activity was a short walk to some nearby waterfalls where we could jump in, if we felt brave enough. The walk lasted about an hour and it was a nice opportunity to get to know the people in my group who I would be spending the next few days with. I asked one of the volunteers what would be the best time for taking pictures of Cotopaxi, as it was still covered in clouds. She said you could never tell and it had been cloudy for a while, in fact some people never get to see it. Disappointed, I put this thought out of my mind and continued on with the walk.

Feeling adventurous I decided to jump off the waterfall. I don’t have any proof but I can tell you it was very very cold. The platform was only about three metres tall but it was a wet and slippy. I was very nervous of not jumping far enough and hitting my head on the rocks. But I managed to jump cleanly and just about touch the pebble covered bottom of the pool before resurfacing and rushing out of the freezing water to change.

By the time we got back from the waterfalls, we were greeted by the most amazing view of Cotopaxi, finally clear after what it turns out to have been two weeks of cloud curtains. I felt so extremely lucky to see this beautiful view so early and clearly in my stay. I went to relax and reheat in the jacuzzi which had panoramic views and ended up getting out every five minutes to take pictures.

The first night was fajitas for dinner (one of my favourites) and then I sat up writing and reading by the fire, snuggled up with one of the five hostel dogs. When I left the main lodge to head to bed, I had a second truly amazing view – the most clear, starry night I have ever seen. The snowcapped mountains shone in the moonlight and I didn’t know which direction to look in there were so many stars, each as bright as the next.

The next day we set off early on a six hour hike to the top of Pasochoa, a nearby extinct volcano (4,200 m). I found this day so tough and it was the first time in a week the altitude had seriously affected me. Every step made me more and more out of breath. I was desperate not to keep holding everyone up but I couldn’t move any faster. I’m not exactly fit at the moment but I have been walking a lot so I didn’t expect to find it so hard. By the time I finally reached the top I was tearful and shaky. The coca leaves I had near to the top had helped a bit but I still felt weak and surprised at how hard it was for me.

The way down was much easier – in fact as points I was running and jumping. I wanted to show to myself that I’m not weak. But in hindsight, why does it matter if I am? It doesn’t matter if I’m not the best and one of the lesson I most want to learn from travelling is not to be so competitive with myself anymore. Being the best and being the worst doesn’t matter. It’s about being happy and enjoying the moment you’re in.

I was exhausted by the time we got back and excited to hear it was pizza for dinner. I spent the rest of the evening in a similar way to the one before, relaxing, writing and reading. It struck me on the way back to my dorm, once again lucky enough to have a clear night, that this would be a place I would be happy to come to die. It sounds really morbid but the hostel and its surroundings felt so calm and relaxing. A dutch girl had described it as a ‘zen’ place to be and I agree with her. It felt like what I imagine a yoga retreat to be like, without the flexibility and stretchy pants.

The next day was my last and I decided that hiking would be too much for me so I pushed myself further outside my comfort zone and signed up for horse riding. Anyone who knows me well will know I’m not an animal person. In fact I’m scared of most animals and normally I would never even go past a horse in the field walking my dogs, let alone voluntarily ride one. But I knew that it would be a great experience and I wanted to try something new.

I’m so glad I signed up for it. It was amazing. My horse, Mil Amores, was a beautiful blonde steed and he could sense I was inexperienced and nervous. We slowly trotted along most of the way until break time, getting closer and closer to Cotopaxi. On the way back we went quite a bit faster and my legs and bottom found this less comfortable, bouncing and flying all over the place.

The riding lasted about three hours but it was over before I knew it. Just like my time at Cotopaxi. And like fate, the clouds covered back over the awesome volcano as I loaded my bags back onto the Jeep. It was a fantastic three days and I was sad to leave. But the sadness didn’t last long as I had the adventure of jumping on my bus to Baños with all my bags while it was still moving – standard practise here in South America but exciting still.

Climbing Roraima: My first mountain

My trip to the Gran Sabana to climb Roraima, a huge table top mountain in the south of Venezuela near the Brazilian border, had a somewhat less exciting beginning than the flight that started Angel Falls expedition. It began with a 12 hour car transfer from Ciudad Bolivar to Santa Elena de Uairén. My driver only spoke Spanish and my language skills are limited to numbers and los banos (the toilets). Fortunately, we started early and I was tired enough to sleep through some of the journey.

When we finally reached the posada, a bit like a B&B, there was a bit of confusion as everyone around me spoke in Spanish and I stood by looking completely lost. The owner walked me a few doors down the road to the Kamadac office – the tour company that the trek was booked with. A quick briefing from my guide, Marisol, who thankfully spoke good English, and I was heading back to the posada armed with directions for a pharmacy to get more insect repellent in the morning.

Up early, I explored the dusty border-town in search of repellent and failed. I later learned that shampoo could be difficult to come by so perhaps repellent was a bit of a stretch. So I headed off on the six day trek hoping the remainder of my pocket-sized can would be enough.

Finally getting going, we set off in a big Jeep on a track to the start point with anticipation in the air – at this point I wasn’t really sure what I had let myself in for. The group was made up of a young Brazilian couple, a middle-aged Norwegian man (who complained most of the trip so I won’t include him here), myself, our guide and four porters. With a sleeping bag and camping mat tied to my day backpack, to say I was ill-equipped was probably an understatement. Somehow I’d forgotten that I’ve never climbed a mountain before and although I was wearing hiking boots, the most I’d used them for was walking the dog around the park. Was I making a huge mistake signing up for this?

Around 10 minutes in the path we were walking on steepened and we were told this section was called ‘The Proof’. If you can’t do this bit, you won’t be able to climb the mountain. Well, there was a lot of huffing and puffing but I made it to the top okay, although quite slowly in the heat. I was feeling happy with myself and just maybe it wouldn’t be so hard after all…

The first day of walking lasted just four to five hours but felt a lot longer. We were all pretty tired when we arrived at the first camp by the Tek River. Here I found out I would be sharing a tent with our guide which I was a bit nervous about. Scared that I would get more insect bites, I slept in a waterproof coat until I got so hot and decided I was being ridiculous.

The next day was more of the same, packing up my belongings from the tent soon after breakfast, hiking for five or six hours and then stopping for dinner. Here we decided to wash in the river/waterfall despite the bugs. I was quite sure I had more bites but it was hard to tell with so many making me look like I had chicken pox. It was great to be clean though finally – especially after sleeping in a coat and two days of walking in basically the same clothes. By this point we had walked to the Base Camp, it felt like quite an achievement and my body wasn’t feeling too bad – although constantly itchy when I stopped.

The third day was where it got really tough for me – this was Base Camp to the top and what was more a vertical climb than a walk. First we had a difficult walk through the jungle to The Wall – where the mountain goes vertically up. I found this bit really hard and my bag seemed like it was five times heavier with the continual steep incline. I even considered going back and giving up because the group were having to wait for me a lot and I was really struggling. Once we reached The Wall, we turned to climb parallel to it, up a ramp that is very hard to see unless you know it’s there. Here we were going up and downhill, zig-zagging up the ramp and even climbing up a waterfall to reach the very top.

To say this day was hard is another huge understatement. I might have run a marathon but that was when I was fitter and had done loads of training. Here I’d just turned up and said, “I fancy climbing a mountain today”. Well I made it, but only just and if it wasn’t for Marisol and the help of the Brazilian couple, Aline and Wyllyam, I’m pretty sure I’d still be there now trying to get to the top.

The next day we explored the top and although the clouds had set in thick there was still a lot to see. My guidebook had described the top as a ‘moonscape’ so I was expecting craters and dusty rocks. It was far from this and felt more like we were on the bottom of the ocean with lots of rock pools and brightly coloured plants.

We visited the Valley of the Canyons, the Cliff of the Oil Birds, the Crystal Valley (where there was once huge quartz crystals before they were taken by travellers), the Window (Ventana) and what we had been calling, The Car – the highest point on the mountain.

This was my favourite day by far, and wow had we earned it. Without our bags we were free to jump from rock to rock and climb higher and faster than before. We had picked up some techniques from our guide and I was starting to look like I knew what I was doing. The eight or nine hours walking was over quickly and we knew the hard day’s walking tomorrow would be extra tough – stopping only at Base Camp for lunch and walking all the way back to the River Tek (a journey we had done in two days before).
Thankfully I found going down a lot easier than going up, but I seemed to be alone in this. Although I had an exciting James Bond style roll down a steep bit, generally I was okay with the walking. We washed in the River Tek and too long dithering with my clothes meant I was brutally attached by the puri puris and mosquitos.

The final day was only four hours walking in the morning back to the start point but we were all extremely stiff from walking down yesterday and it felt like we were zombies plodding along. I wasn’t sure if I would be driving straight back or staying in Santa Elena for another night – but I spent most of the walk hoping for the latter and desperate for a real shower and wifi.
When we saw the Jeep waiting for us we were so excited; glad the torment was finally over and we were going back to civilisation – using a real toilet instead of a stool in a tent, sleeping in a bed and wearing clean clothes. We were whisked away with our guide to a restaurant for lunch and to say our goodbyes – it turned out I was driving back so no shower or wifi for me!

The Roraima trek might possibly be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and definitely the hardest physical challenge I’ve completed so far. Would I do it again now, knowing how hard it was? Yes, because of the fun I had with Marisol and the Brazilian couple. They made the hard times, fun and when I should have been crying I was laughing with them instead.

Marisol was a fantastic local guide and she knew all the answers to our questions. She cooked all our meals, guided us across rivers, held our hands and even rubbed my knee when it was sore. We spent hours giggling and chatting in our tent when we were meant to be sleeping and I’ll remember the trek because of her more than the pain or even the natural beauty of the mountain.

Wyllyan and Aline were great too and have said I can visit them in São Paulo in October. They’ve given me a huge list of extra places to go and sights to see in South America – hopefully I can include some of them in my plans.

Next up is Santa Marta, Colombia in few days time after a border crossing at Paraguachón-Maicao. I’ll tell you how that goes soon!