Arequipa, Peru Part 1

Arequipa part 1 also known as the city behind the mountains. Volcanoes actually - The two volcanoes are Misti (still active) and Chachani.

We arrived in the early hours of the morning on our oltursa bus (from ica) and stepped foot in our first shared dormitory with 8 other people at M B backpackers.

As the hostel guy opened the door for us we were hit by a mixed odour of sweat and alcohol.

The dorm room was still in darkness since our to-be dorm buddies were still lazily waking from their sleep.

I remember looking at Dipesh and thinking - what the heck have we done!?

We quietly stepped in and took a moment to collect our thoughts...did we really leave our home comforts in Lancashire for this?! Are we actually staying here for two nights?!

It was fairly chilly and drizzly (typical prestionion weather!) This was quite different to the warm weather that welcomed us in Lima and Ica.

Having freshened up (quietly) we stepped into the city of Arequipa with crispy sunburnt faces from our previous stop.

We explored the city and figured out our bearings (places to eat, supermarket etc) we had an early night (eye mask and ear plugs are essential in shared dorms!) since we had a super super early start the next morning

We were picked up at 3am for a day tour at the Canon del Colca (4 hour journey)

'What's the dealio with the Colca Canons' I asked Dipesh.
Dipesh fished the information out from his encyclopaedia-type brain and explained that the Colca Canyons is the worlds second deepest canyon. (11,488 feet deep)
(The first being Yarlung Zangbo, Tibet, China. 19,715 feet deep)

We stopped at a small hillside town called Chivay that has embraced tourism without losing its unkempt high country identity

The streets were lined with ladies dressed in traditional Peruvian clothing. Colourful hats, printed and sequinned dresses with a bright coloured Peruvian cloth tied on their backs with various merchandise to sell to the flock of tourists.

The local people are descendants of two conflicts tribes. The Cabanas and Collagua. Historically, these two tribes used to distinguish themselves by performing cranial deformations. But nowadays, the two tribes wear different coloured hats to denote their ancestry.

We stopped at Chivay for breakfast. It was yummy. Peruvian bread with butter and jam accompanied with a warm porridge-like quinoa drink and papaya juice. We were also handed coco leaves to assist with any high altitude symptoms.

Nothing combats the effects of altitude sickness quite as effectively as coco leaves 🍃 which is illegal in outside of Peru, Bolivia and some parts of Argentina.

It tastes like green tea. You simply chew on the leaves and keep a bundle gathered in your cheek - just like the locals

We stopped at a few other villages of a similar nature. The sky was heavy with mist/low cloud so we couldn't see much of the landscape unfortunately.

I also got the opportunity to hold a baby llama (part of the camel family) - they are so cute and fluffy! I want to bring a baby llama back home 😊

The mist/low cloud refused to budge even when we reached 'Cruz del Condor' which is at a high altitude and is also marked with the cross of Christ. This spot is a popular tourist spot due to it being the residence of a large family of the Andean Condor (Peru's national bird). It's also at a high altitude. I was beginning to feel the effects of high altitude (pressure on the chest and shortness of breath)

We were disappointed to have not been able to have any Condor sightings. Apparently they are more likely to be seen between June - September.

We didn't realise the importance of this bird until we reached the canons. Both Dipesh and I were smug to have seen a Condor up close at the zoo in Ica.

Our minibus driver drove through the meandering Andean roads and tunnels so skilfully

We reached a higher altitude point called 'Paso de Patopampa' which is the highest point on the road between Arequipa and Chivay.
'Paso de Patopampa'... sounds like a beautiful water fountain courtyard surrounded by pretty flowers doesn't it?.....in fact that was far from what it was like; cold, grey, wet and thick with mist. In fact it was one of the most lifeless places I have been too. I felt like Frodo when he forced to cross Mordor.

The only colour and brightness we saw were the handful of Peruvian ladies sat selling merchandise (including an assortment of warm llama based clothing) to the shivering tourists. I felt so sad for those ladies sat in the grey/murky cold and wished they would just go home and sit in front of the fire with warm slippers and a cup of hot coco.

Paso de Patopampa being 4910m above sea level left me and my lungs gasping for air. We couldn't see much (again because of the stubborn mist/clouds)

I just wanted to get back into the minibus but Dipesh insisted we have a walk around.

My lungs and I just wanted to get away from here. Dipesh tried to persuade me to stay out by purchasing some coco candies from one of the ladies - this apparently is suppose to help with altitude sickness- it did nothing but cover my teeth with sugar and gave me a small sugar burst.

Before getting back on to the bus, we noticed several stones stacked up upon each other - in fact there where hundreds and hundreds of them. We saw them earlier on in the journey but just assumed it was a game played by local kids or a past time for tourists/hikers.

But who would sit here at Paso de Patopampa and make hundreds and hundreds of these small stone stacks? We asked our tour guide (Marco - seems to be a very popular name!) what this was.

He explained that it is a ritual undertaken by the local Peruvian people to please Mother Earth and the mountain for protection and to keep them happy. Marco pointed in a north westerly direction and said 'that's volcano Chanchi and that (pointing north easterly) is volcano Misti - which is still active'

Hence why those sacrifices were made. Both Dipesh and I felt admiration and some familiarity with the Peruvians. Their connection with nature and surrender to Mother Earth (Dharti Maata) was something that we could relate to.

We boarded the minibus and descended to a lower level. The mist began to clear (or we just moved below it) revealing the most beautiful landscape (snow capped mountains).

The snow capped El Misti was now in sight and so was the depths of the cannon. We pulled over at a view point to have a refreshing glass of cactus juice for 3 soles (tastes like kiwi) and also saw several cages with guinea pigs (apparently it's a Peruvian delicacy!)

Whilst sipping on our glasses of cactus juice we saw a Condor fly high above us! It's was high in the sky but we could see its incredibly large wing span. Dipesh explained (planet Earth reference) that the Condor doesn't use much energy in flying - in fact it hops on to the geo thermal winds that surround the mountain sides. The Condor simply glides on these waves.

We hopped back into our minibus and began our return journey to the city of Arequipa. The road was mostly a straight road leading straight towards El Misti.
It was an incredible sight. We took a gazillions snaps but none will do justice to the sights we saw!

Once arriving into the city of Arequipa, we stopped by a supermarket and bought pasta and tomato sauce with a pre-filled tray of spring onions and peppers. This will do for dinner I suppose #simplemeals #bareminimum #noOliSoWaterWillDoRead more