Cabanaconde, Peru

We left the dust and smog of Arequipa at 930 am on a glorified schoolbus towards the small town of Cabanaconde. We loaded up on empanadas and a few other snacks before boarding. The bus rattled out of the station and we were stoked to be getting off the beaten path. The roads out of town were jammed up and the going was very slow. An hour after we left we finally made it to the edge of the city. Misti volcano was looking good in the backdrop beyond Arequipa.
The bus lurched along and up and up we went into the high plains between the mountains and the volcanos. We passed by countless little villages with steep hillsides covered in terraced farm land. We stopped in the village of Chivay to pick up more passengers. The locals were lined up ready to rush the bus as they were unaware of how many seats were left on the bus. Once the door opened a police officer held the pushy locals back from rushing on so others could get off first, it was an intense scene. Once everyone was loaded up we were off again.
Hour 6 in the bus was wearing on us. Luckily the views kept getting more and more immense as we got closer to Canyon del Colca (the world's second deepest canyon). The pavement turned to dirt and the exposure off the side of the road grew. 1000ft plus drop offs were around every corner which made us hope the brakes and clutch were solid.
Hour 7 and we were almost there. You could see Cabanaconde off in the distance, perched on top of a large knoll with the canyon to the right and massive peaks all around. It was a sight to behold.
We both let out a sigh of relief as we stepped off the bus. Cabanaconde is really cool and we were excited to do some hikes into the canyon.Read more