After arriving in Arequipa at 5am on Saturday morning, at 8am I left on a two day tour day of the Colca Canyon. I was lucky to be accompanied by two sisters from Arizona who had been on the Peru Hop bus with me since I left Lima.
The first day was freezing cold, we encountered snow at the highest point, 4910m. By the time we returned to the same spot a day later it was rather warm and the view much better.
There are three famous mountains here, the one on the left Misti, has steam coming off the top as it is a volcano. For my knitting friends it's also what Misti Alpaca is named after, unfortunately I couldn't find a way to visit their factory.
Becky and Susan in our hotel room in Chivay, demonstrating the powers of their water purifier. Despite three of us sharing a room and each bed having four blankets and a thick cover it was still cold.
The Colca Canyon is the second deepest in the world but not near as spectacular as the Grand Canyon, which is third. I managed to see six condors, which is what it's famous for but didn't get any decent photos.
I enjoyed the Colca Valley, with its terraced farming much more. Lots of little towns, each with a beautiful church in the centre.
I've spent the last two days pottering around downtown Arequipa. There are churches and taxis everywhere, lots of yummy food, shops and interesting museums. The free walking tour, led by tourism students from a local university was a great way to get to know the city. I even saw the mummy of Juanita, a girl sacrificed by the Inkas 500 years ago but almost perfectly preserved in the snow until she was found on 1996. It was kind of freaky! Cameras aren't allowed into the museum, which is very cold as she is kept frozen.
Everything is based around the plaza, which makes navigation easy. Apparently the temperature of 22℃ is pretty consistent, year round. I can understand why the Spaniards were so keen to settle here.
The first day was freezing cold, we encountered snow at the highest point, 4910m. By the time we returned to the same spot a day later it was rather warm and the view much better.
There are three famous mountains here, the one on the left Misti, has steam coming off the top as it is a volcano. For my knitting friends it's also what Misti Alpaca is named after, unfortunately I couldn't find a way to visit their factory.
Becky and Susan in our hotel room in Chivay, demonstrating the powers of their water purifier. Despite three of us sharing a room and each bed having four blankets and a thick cover it was still cold.
The Colca Canyon is the second deepest in the world but not near as spectacular as the Grand Canyon, which is third. I managed to see six condors, which is what it's famous for but didn't get any decent photos.
I enjoyed the Colca Valley, with its terraced farming much more. Lots of little towns, each with a beautiful church in the centre.
I've spent the last two days pottering around downtown Arequipa. There are churches and taxis everywhere, lots of yummy food, shops and interesting museums. The free walking tour, led by tourism students from a local university was a great way to get to know the city. I even saw the mummy of Juanita, a girl sacrificed by the Inkas 500 years ago but almost perfectly preserved in the snow until she was found on 1996. It was kind of freaky! Cameras aren't allowed into the museum, which is very cold as she is kept frozen.
Everything is based around the plaza, which makes navigation easy. Apparently the temperature of 22℃ is pretty consistent, year round. I can understand why the Spaniards were so keen to settle here.
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