Arequipa

After returning from the Colca Canyon we have had a few days to enjoy Arequipa city, a cozy base for us to spend Christmas. We stayed at the Los Andes Bed and Breakfast which is a stones throw from the Plaza de Armas, and we really enjoyed it for the friendly atmosphere and great communal spaces.

Arequipa is known as the "White City", because many of the buildings in the historic centre are constructed of Sillar, a white volcanic stone. It makes for a beautiful effect, especially as in the main plaza there are palm trees and you can see the Volcanoes in the distance. The sunsets are a stunning pink and orange, probably because of the residual volcanic ash in the area from the previous eruptions.

The local Santa Catalina Monastery is a must see, even though by local standards it is quite expensive to enter. It was built by a rich widow to very high standards of luxury, and closed to the public for 391 years before being opened just recently after restoration from earthquake damage to help with local tourism. Those nuns really lived in style!

We enjoyed the local cuisine, and Ben decided to be adventurous and try the local

specialty, Cuy. Cuy is the Spanish word for Giunea Pig, so it took quite some daring, especially since the preparation appears to consist of dropping the whole body into a deep fryer and then transferring it straight onto the plate. Ugghh. Ben did a brave job of trying to not waste the plate, and Patricia took a very small bite just to say she had eaten Cuy. The rest of the dinner was spent trying to ignore the head of the Cuy by hiding it under a bed of lettuce!




The day of the 24th was spent grocery shopping in preparation for our big Xmas meal we planned for the 25th, since most things in town are closed that day. That night, we went shopping for Christmas gifts, took a quick tour inside the cathedral to see the ceremonies and had a nice dinner out. The big attraction this night was the incredible midnight fireworks display let loose by the locals in every neighborhood of the city. We´ve never seen a city explode in celebration like Arequipa did during that memorable hour.

On Christmas day we opened our presents in our room, complete with improvised festive Peruvian decorations. You can see we are now the height of South American fashion!






The rest of the day was spent cooking and drinking from brunch around 10am to dinner around 10pm and all shared with new friends at the hostel. We planned an ambitious Christmas dinner with all the typical dishes including an apple crumble to top it off, which became a huge challenge as the hostel ran out of gas for the stove just after lunch and the oven never worked in the first place! The entire meal was cooked on a two-burner electric hot plate (Chicken with gravy, apricot sausage stuffing, corn on the cob, steamed brocolli, buttery squash, cashew raisin rice)! The dinner reviews were solid and we lasted through all the merriment until our bellies could take no more.

A great cap to a memorable trip in Arequipa.

The Colca Canyon

The Colca Canyon in the southern part of Peru is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US and is promoted as the deepest canyon in the world. Needless to say, it is a stunning place to visit especially since there are many day or multi-day treks that can be done with relative ease, as you can stay overnight in the small villages along the way.
Besides the canyon itself, the area is famous for the Condors, huge prehistoric-type birds that can be seen in the early hours of the day soaring through the valley.

We stayed one night in Arequipa and left at 3am the next day (!!!) on the bus for Cabanaconde, a small town 5 hours away from where most of the treks are accessed. We stopped at the Cruz del Condor, a viewing point where Condors are usually sighted. Unfortunately we were only rewarded with a glimpse of one far away, but this was rectified later in the trip. Ben compensated with a striking Condor-pose of his own, and this picture really comes alive if you sing "Condor-maaaan!" to the tune of Superman. Oh yes.

Since we have recently done lots of "hard-core" trekking, we elected to take it a bit easy and use Cabanaconde as our home base and do day treks from there. A tip to future travellors: do NOT pay for the guided tours. There are so many excellent maps and the treks are relatively easy. Since you will be stopping at towns there is no need for much in the way of equipment. You can buy a cheap bus ticket there and back with Aliberry tours, who have an agency in town, and they will stop at hot spots for your viewing pleasure.

Anyhoo, we stayed at the Pachamama Hostel, which we whole heartedly recommend as it is a fun, hip establishment with a cool bar and wood fired oven for the best pizza in town.

The first day we did a day hike up the canyon wall to the Kallimarca ruins, which after having seen Machu Pichu weren´t terribly stunning but it was a fun walk through lush countryside full of terraces to a beautiful viewpoint of the valley. The area is entirely devoted to the growing of organic corn, and it was very picturesque. We had a nice lunch at the top as a reward. After descending, we had a long afternoon nap to catch up on our sleep and woke up to enjoy some local Arequipena beers and Pisco Sour with pizza at the hostel. Yum!

The next day started bright and early as we planned to hike down to the deepest part of the Canyon where there was apparently an Oasis to be found. We hadn´t seen any pictures or heard much about it so we didn´t know what to expect. Therefore it was more than a pleasant surprise that after hiking 2 hours straight down into the desert-like valley there actually WAS an Oasis, complete with palm trees and even a few rustic resorts with beatiful bright blue swimming pools.

The one we chose to spend the day in had a pool beside a large rock we used to sunbathe, hammocks, waterfalls for washing and a volleyball net to boot. It cost us 3 soles each to use the facilities, and a simple but delicous lunch was 10 soles. Not too shabby to pay 5 CAD for a full day in paradise. We were finally lucky enough to have a view of a Condor swooping up above, which made for a perfect day. It was clear blue skies until it was time for us to leave, after which the clouds rolling in provided a nice shade for the return hike.

The hike back up to Cananaconde from the Oasis is infamous, as it is very steep going and equivalent to being on a stairmaster for what most people takes about 3 hours. We would like to credit our previous hikes for what may be a record breaking 1.5hrs for us to complete the ascent, woohoo! That and the threat of thunder which definitely helped with motivation.

The last day we took a public bus to the town of Yanque, where we enjoyed the hot springs. After hitching a ride with some friendly Americans to Chivay, the next big local town, we got to hang out with some pretty ladies and their friendly alpacas.

We caught a ride with the tourist bus back to our home base of Arequipa where we arrived with fond memories of the Colca Canyon, and especially the Oasis :)

Ollantaytambo

There are many archeological sites that can be visited in the Sacred Valley from Cuzco. We chose to do a day trip to Ollantaytambo, where the town is designed according to the original Incan plan. The cobblestone streets are laid out in an organized fashion with plenty of crisscossing waterways built in. It is amazing how these structures have survived over time and continue to be functional for the current inhabitants, many of whom apparently are direct descendents of the Incans.



The town is also below a large Incan ruin of a fortress and sacred temple set into the hill that was quite big and fun to explore, Indiana-Jones style.

Machu Pichu!

The reason for traveling to Cusco for most people is plainly obvious. The ancient citadel of Machu Pichu, never discovered by the Spanish and therefore still in impressive form, is a shining beacon for this area.

There are many ways to reach Machu Pichu from the modern - think mountain bikes, to the mundane - take a bus right to the top. We opted for the very traditional method - by the Inca trail, a route that is still intact almost 500 years after the Inca last used it.

Our group was composed of exclusively spanish speaking travelers from Buenos Aires, with one lone Canadian who had taken Spanish lessons and was volunteering in the area. At first this was a daunting prospect, especially for Ben, but the crew was very friendly and full of good humour. We made some good friends on the trek that we hope to meet up with once we reach Argentina.

Our tour company was Cusco Explorers and we can't say enough about how well they performed. Our group of 13 trekkers was provided with three guides, a host of porters who carried everything from tents to food and a world class chef. We ate three incredible meals each day, including an afternoon tea and snack. The food is worthy of special mention here as it was by far and away the best camping food, a term which really doesn't apply, that we've ever had. Breakfasts included such things as omelletes, pancakes, breads, coffee, fruit juices, etc. Lunches were enormous making it difficult to trek afterwards and included chicken, rice, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, fried potatoes, etc. Afternoon snacks included fresh popped popcorn, cookies, hot chocolate and tea. Dinners included beef stirfry, pastas, cook up rice, pizza, and somehow the chef's specialty of giant hot peppers in puff pastry. Incredible stuff.

The trail itself is about 42km long and has three distinct high passes, the tallest of which is at 4250m. Its no easy journey. Some in our group paid the extra expense to hire a porter to carry their personal belongings in order to be assured of success. Fortunately for Patricia, she married a Sherpa more than happy for another challenge.

The entire trek consisted of 4 days and 3 nights. The first day was an "easy stroll" through the valley, where we were already rewarded with a few picturesque ruins. The second day was the most challenging, consisting of 5 hours of straight uphill hiking, the last two hours being fairly steep in order to reach the highest summit. This was then followed by a two hour downhill trek to the campsite. Probably due to our "training" with the Santa Cruz Trek, we were the first to reach the top from our group. It was incredibly hard work, and after reaching the campsite we all had a much deserved siesta before dinner in our tents with a view of the Sacred Valley.

The third day was the most picturesque, as the trail consisted of original Incan stones on a path winding around the edges of tall mountains, often with sheer drops off the side that would take your breath away. The descent took us into tropical jungle, with an abundance of flora and also rain. On the way down we walked by various beautiful ruins that would literally rise out of the mist on their high mountain perches. It was breathtaking.

On the last day we woke up at 3:30am to hike up a number of very steep and narrow stone steps and were rewarded with our first view of Machu Pichu through the clouds. It rained fairly hard the whole trip, and particularly that morning, but the grandeur of the site made the entire trip worthwhile. The mountains surrounding Machu Pichu were majestic, and the stone buildings with the surrounding terraces cut into the mountainside looked like they were straight out of a mystical fairytale.

After traipsing around the site with our group and tour guide, we descended into the town of Agua Calientes where we had a celebratory lunch, enjoyed a long soak in hot thermal baths, and caught the last train back to Cusco. All in all, it was an unforgettable experience.

Cusco

For Ben, the bus from Lima to Cusco was a journey to forget. The concept of a 21 hour bus ride after the difficult hikes we completed in Huaraz seemed like an excellent prospect for forced downtime and much needed rest. The buses here are actually quite comfortable and are similar to plane travel back home - blankets, pillows, food service and the chairs recline quite far.

All that said, beware of the mayonaise and chicken sandwiches! Ben got it bad starting sometime before midnight and continuing throughout the morning hours as the bus snaked its way over the mountain passes from sea level up to Cusco at 3300m. This experience put Ben in bed the entire first day in Cusco. Unfortunately, Patricia caught the same ailment two days later and had a similar experience. Each of us took turns as nurse maid, picking up soups to go at the local restaurants.

This was the lead up to the four day trek by the famous Inca Trail to Machu Pichu. Patricia's timing was especially bad as she only had one day rest before setting out on the trip.

Cusco itself is an incredibly beautiful city set in a valley surrounded by mountains. The original Inca plan for the city was the shape of the Puma and the city certainly meanders in a very organic way. The Spanish colonial architecture blends easily with ancient Inca ruins and modern peruvian construction. The Plaza des Armas is a bustling square with beautiful churches, just up the hill is the San Blas area with its artists and cozy streets, and local markets offer all of the fun of chasing down food supplies between crowds of people, noise and smells. The narrow streets offer a new adventure at every turn.

Around Cusco are some small but excellent Inca sights. We managed to negotiate a tour of the coungtryside between sites by horseback. El Blanco and Brown Beauty were fine steeds. Patricia was a very understanding cowgirl as her horse was well and truely in charge.

Lima

After our incredible adventures in Huaraz came to a close, we embarked on a marathon set of bus rides to reach Cusco, home base for our trek to Machu Pichu.

In order to reach Cusco, you must transit through Lima by 8 hour overnight bus. The next bus from Lima to Cusco, an incredible 21 hours!, did not depart until mid afternoon, affording us some time to see Lima city centre.

Due to our early arrival in the city, we were some of the first people on the streets. We took some time to explore the pedestrian avenues, the Plaza des Armas and also took a tour through the nearby cathedral complete with creepy catacombs - bones everywhere.








As luck would have it, there was even a parade to celebrate the immaculate conception. Nice of the city to arrange the full package for us during our brief stay!

Santa Cruz Trail

Aaahhh, the infamous Santa Cruz Trail!! The compelling reason for our foray into the north of Peru. The summit, Punta Union, sits at 4750m, and is reached by an arduous 2 day hike, followed by a 2 day descent through valleys surrounded by towering mountains and glacier-fed waterfalls feeding into rivers and lakes. Needless to say we were very excited and a wee bit apprehensive, but mostly excited. We took a few days to gather our supplies including equipment rentals and food purchases. Since we elected to do our own hike without a guide and donkeys to carry our belongings, weight was of utmost importance. Of course hot chocolate and deluxe camping dinners made the cut. We joined forces for the initial part of the hike with Toby from Germany, Yacob from the Netherlands, Taylor and James from the US.

The start of the Trail is reached by a five hour bus ride from Huaraz to Vaqueria. We had an auspicious beginning when a local tried to stuff a load of frozen fish in with our backpacks in the bus storage compartment, which would have made for a stinky start to our journey. Fortunately we convinced the bus operator to place our bags on top of the bus, and crossed our fingers during the bumpy ride through cliffhanging switchbacks.

It is impossible to capture the absolute splendor of the Santa Cruz Trail with a handful of pictures. It is also impossible to capture how difficult the trek was. To give you an idea, a few level steps at that altitude will leave you breathless. Now imagine ascending from 3600m to 4750m with a backpack complete with four days supplies on your back. Exhausting is too mild a word. Fortunately Ben is quite the gentleman and took the heavier items including 5 liters of water, tent, food and stove. What a guy!!

A typical day would consist of waking up around 5:30am to have a breakfast of porridge and coca tea. This would be followed by hiking with stops for lunch and snacks, and by 5:30pm we would stop to set up camp for the night. By 7:30pm we would hit the sack with every muscle in our body on fire. However, the views were so spectacular that we mostly had wide grins on our faces.

The first day consisted of a relatively easy trek through plains dotted by meandering streams and grazing cattle, mountains towering on either side. The second day was the most arduous, as we tackled the summit of Punta Union. The climate changed quickly from temperate to frigid, as grass was replaced by enourmous boulders covered in moss and glaciers appeared up ahead. Fortunately our previous climb up Laguna Churup had allowed us to acclimatize to the altitude so there were few negative side effects with the quick elevation gain.

Regardless, we were taxed to our very limit, and there were times that completion of the task was not a certainty. It was in this frame of mind that we reached the summit, which made the accomplishment all the sweeter. We celebrated with lunch in the sunshine at the summit. Ham and cheese sandwiches have never tasted so good!!

There was no rest for the weary, as we still had to hike down for two hours to reach the next campsite. The hike down the other side was spectacular, and the next two days were full of breathtaking views at every turn.

Since we are suckers for punishment the following morning in addition to the usual hike down we did a 1 hour hike up another mountain to see Alpamayo, altitude 5947m, which according to one German climbing magazine was voted the most beautiful mountain in the world. We agree!!

We parted ways with our original group, who had only three days to complete the trek, and joined forces with Laura, Boris and Niko, a group from France that we had met earlier at our hostel. Completing the trek in four days allowed us to have a more leisurely descent, and bond with the local fauna.

Our favorite afternoon consisted of setting up camp early enough to enjoy a siesta in our tent with a view up the valley of Punta Union. The next day we finished the trek, ending up in the town of Cashapampa where we took two rides to reach Huaraz, which by now feels like a second home. This was yesterday, and tonight we leave on an overnight bus to Lima. Tomorrow we catch a 21 hour bus!! from Lima to Cuzco, where we will prepare to do the Inca Trail. Until then!

Below please see the topo map that guided us on our way through the Santa Cruz trail. You'll see our route, camping locations and respective elevations.