Colca Canyon

Day 140 – Buses, hot springs and more buses

Our attempts to confirm bus times for this morning had been unsuccessful, so Jacqui and Peter swung by in a cab at 5:30am to collect us and head to the bus terminal.  We’d already been up for an hour trying to finalise co-ordination of our team of helpers back home who were trying to buy us a new camera in time for Anna to bring it for us.

When we got to the terminal it was just in time to discover that the first direct bus of the day had already been sold out and we had a three hour wait until the next option departed.

When we finally made it to Chivay at the head of the canyon around lunchtime it was apparent the today’s plan needed to be reconsidered.  Ditching the idea to get some walking in before sunset we instead headed for the local hot springs for a soak while we waited for another connecting bus.

Erin soaking out the bus stiffness.

When we finally made it to Cabanaconde it was already dark.  The first hotel we looked at was a little dusty and quirky, including a sink above the bed.  The second was much nicer and we shared a couple of nice pizzas with the Canadians, including one with llama meat.

Day 141 – What goes down must go up, and down again, and then up again some more

Colca Canyon is allegedly the world’s second deepest canyon, more than 3,000m deep in places and second only to another nearby Peruvian canyon.  Our first task on the morning of day one was to get from Cabanaconde which is perched halfway up one side, down to Sangalle (Oasis) at the bottom of the canyon, some 1,100m of descent in one go.  Halfway down we passed a group of tourists going up on horseback, one of the girls yelled at us with out the slightest hint of manners for standing out of the way in the wrong spot, it’s no surprise tourists aren’t exactly welcomed in some places.

“Oasis” at the bottom is a collection of rustic hotels centred around green lawns and clear pools which are fed from a nearby spring.  The lushness of the area is quite striking amongst the dry, scrubby hills. 
 
The Oasis of Sangalle tucked into the bottom of Colca Canyon.

As we trudged 600m back up the other side of the canyon we debated the nomenclature of the canyon.  Colca doesn’t look like the Grand Canyon in the US for example, the walls are certainly steep, cliffs in places, but by no means steep cliffs like what one immediately imagines in a canyon.

Erin, Jacqui and Peter stopped for a well earned rest half way up the other side  of the canyon.

 
Looking along the canyon.

As we walked along the side of the canyon we came through a small village.  We could see a number of these villages as we walked around- we’ve probably never seen more unlikely places to live!  They generally consist of between 20 and 100 houses and they must survive mostly off subsistence agriculture.  The most remote of the them would be a day’s walk from the nearest road up or down some of the steepest donkey tracks imaginable.  Because of this every family seems to have a donkey, it would be the only way of delivering anything to town.

Mid-afternoon we reached our stop for the night, a small lodge built into the side of the canyon at some hot springs, the place is called Llatica.  After downing a huge bottle of water each (we’d long since run out seing as the Oasis was the last place with potable water), we scurried down to the springs which were contained in a little concrete pool by the river.

Getting some fluids in.

Relaxing by the hot springs at Llatica.

We distracted ourselves until dinnertime (we were ravenous) by playing a new card game the Canadians taught us, it’s called Kaiser and it allegedly originates from Saskatchewan.

After dinner we were knackered and hit the hay, almost literally, our bed was an ancient mattress on a layer of bamboo laid between two rock walls!

Day 142 – Just up today!

Armed with the knowledge that if we didn’t make it back to Cabanaconde by 11am it would be a long wait for the afternoon bus, plus having learned from yesterday that the weather soon heats up, we made a start just before 6am.

The easy bit pre-dawn up to bridge, after the bridge it would be all up.

Looking back down the valley, you can just see the track cutting across the hillside below.  Llatica is tucked down in the bottom of the first fold.

We just missed the 10am bus, which turned out to be OK, because we got a delicious sandwich and some beautifully refreshing fresh lemonade while we waited for the 11am.

From Cabanconde it was 6 hours back to Arequipa.  Colca was a long way for two days, in hindsight it probably would have only been worth it if we’d planned to do another couple days hiking or spend a day relaxing at Sangalle.  It was fascinating none-the-less and our way certainly seemed better than the two and three day tours on offer in Arequipa.

Oh, and Mum asked about the condors for which Colca is known.  We did see quite a few of them circling over the valley, but they were too far off to photograph.  The wildlife photographs will improve when my new camera arrives in a few days!