Arequipa & Colca Canyon

So from Cusco I jumped on the Peruhop bus to do the southern route (minus Puno/Lake Titicaca) and headed straight to Arequipa (the white city - named so because much of the old city is built using sillar: a volcanic rock in huge supply due to the city being surrounded by Volcanos). First overnight bus and it worked a treat; wrote my Salkantay blog then had a wicked sleep before being dropped off at Wild Rover hostel; I decided to give Wild Rover a crack because, when in Peru I guess it’s a right of passage… more on that later.

Spent the day exploring Arequipa city; went to the museum and learned the history behind the frozen mummy “Juanita: The Ice Maiden” who was a young Inca girl who was sacrificed to the mountain gods in the 1450s and was later discovered in Mount Ampato in almost perfect condition (due to the ice) in 1995. It’s crazy to learn the history of these sort of cultural rituals as they seem so bizarre and ‘cult like’ having grown up in Australia in the late 1900s. When you are explained the Inca culture, and the belief that the mountains were gods who could cause destruction by avalanche, volcanic eruption, or significant climatic catastrophes it starts to seem almost rational. These violent gods could only be appeased by sacrifices from their subjects, and the ultimate sacrifice was that of a child, especially a young beautiful, perhaps royal, child which Juanita is assumed to be given the value of offerings in her grave and her significant place of sacrifice and burial almost at the peak of Mount Ampato. No photos allowed in the museum so you’ll just have to google her… it’s crazy actually to see how well preserved she is; aside from some discolouration and damage to her facial skin due to being exposed after a volcanic eruption she is in near perfect condition.

Also whiled away a few hours in the beautiful Santa Catalina Monastery of Arequipa which is perhaps one of the largest monasteries in the world. What happened behind their walls were largely a secret for over 400 years and they only opened it to the public in 1970 after the major earthquakes in the 1960s as a commercial means to fund the rebuild. Today there are still closed off sections that haven’t been rebuilt as well as the sections that nuns still reside in are away from the prying eyes of tourists.

So Wild Rover…. apparently it’s gotta be done; evening kicks in and despite the fact that I’ve managed to dodge the all day drink fest by the pool by sightseeing I decide to join in the action. So I head downstairs and am immediately pulled into a game of beer pong by a really serious Canadian who knows ALL the rules and suddenly its game on. Shots are being poured down our throats from the bar tenders for basically no reason except that the guys I was hanging out with got Wild Rover tattoos when they were at Wild Rover Huacachina. Happy hour kicks off and its 5 sole vodkas ($2.50). Anyway long story short I can tick that box of staying at Wild Rover; I wake up the next morning dehydrated AF and have a tour picking me up at the crack of dawn to head out to Colca Canyon… before I leave wifi zone I wisely change my upcoming booking in Huacachina from Wild Rover to Bananas (BEST DECISION EVER).

The drive out into the Colca Valley is amazing. Completely surrounded by Volcanos the landscape is arid AF and occasionally punctuated by these intense green areas where they are growing crops. We see Vicuñas, Llamas and Alpacas pretty much the whole way.

At this point we’re at 4910m altitude; my dehydration from too many Vodka Sunrises and Cusqueñas the night before isn’t helping and despite drinking ‘mas mate de inca’ I’m not feeling too great. What pulled me out of my haze and queasiness though was seeing Mount Ampato where Juanita was sacrificed; especially cool after learning the history and seeing her mummy the day prior.

So we cruise down into the main town in the Colca Valley, Chivay, it’s pretty rundown… either half built or half collapsed from earthquakes (hard to tell) but it’s got a cute little Plaza de Armas which we walk through on the way to the hot springs. Beaut way to finish off the day and try to recover from my altitude sickness (maybe self inflicted due to last night’s festivities but I’m gonna go ahead and just blame the altitude… alcohol’s good for you right??) in a 39°C thermal pool. Also managed to score an awesome dinner at the local market of Lomo Saltado (my fave) and fried rice for the bargain price of 7 soles (approx $3.50AUD)…WINNING!

The next morning we’re up bright and early (this is becoming the norm in Peru) in the hopes of getting to spot some Condors. But first we are bailed out into the freezing cold main square of Yanque (another little town in the Colca Valley) to check out some local dancing… Here the tradition is that fathers didn’t want their daughters dancing with boys so the boys dress as girls… and the tradition continues. The pic below is 2 dudes and 1 chick twirling around in their lady dresses :).

So from here we cruise up to Cruz del Cóndor passing some ancient Incan terraces which the local farmers still use to produce their beans, corn and quinoa, to hopefully see some condors…. turns out we were in luck and there was a bunch. I didn’t think I was one to stand around in awe and take pics of birds but lo and behold turns out all I needed was for 1 condor to fly over me and to see the crazy wingspans of 2-3m (depending on gender) and I was hooked…

it looks tiny but it’s super high up… perspective… also what a beaut landscape.. blue blue sky and cactus everywhere DREAMY

Aside from these majestic carnivorous creatures there was bucketloads of cool looking cactus and amazing views of the Colca Canyon which is apparently the deepest canyon in the world at 4160m (roughly double the depth of the Grand Canyon in the USA).

After a few hours admiring the views we stop off at another viewing spot to try the local cactus fruit, Sancayo (super sour but yum) and also the ice cream they make out of it… still sour but with milk slightly sweet.
From here we can see the start of the Amazon river (bang in the top middle of the below pic with the two alpacas) and I end up chasing that baby alpaca down the road so I can get a hug and a pic because… when in Peru :)