ENTRY 6: Lima, Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

My flight from Iquitos carried me out of the jungle, across the breadth of Peru, and gave me my first ever sight of the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of which sits Lima, Peru's capital. Lima is also strangely located at the edge of a desert, and is known for its perculiar microclimate that often leaves it shrouded in fog. I would only be staying one night, before catching an overnight bus south to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city.

While passing through Lima I was lucky enough to be able to stay with Denise and Poppy, a British teacher and her daughter who live in Lima. I had met them briefly on the boat to Providencia, and had kept in touch, and they were kind enough to offer me their spare room for the night. Although I don't consider myself a person who craves creature comforts, I can't deny the indescribable pleasure of the first hot shower since I'd left the UK - it was heaven. That evening we went for a walk down to the seafront - Lima perches dramatically on a series of cliffs overlooking the Pacific - and we were in time to catch the sun setting.

Sunset on the Pacific

Lima has a poor reputation amongst tourists who complain of its lack of charm and grime (which is undoubtedly an issue - the very air sometimes seem choked with dirt), but like any city it has its own distinct character and appeal. My bus to Arequipa the next day wasn't until early evening, so I had time to hop on a bus to the city centre and play tourist. My first port of call was the Plaza de Armas (main square), which is home to the Cathedral and the Presidential Palace. Although quite pretty, the large amount of traffic and people rather spoiled it, as well as making it extremely difficult to take any photos that weren't cluttered with cars or tourists.

Inside the Cathedral was impressively opulent in the way most Catholic churches are, but I was far more keen on the nearby Franciscan monastery, complete with a catacombs several hundred years old, which had served as an ossuary or the city, which are estimated to contain the remains of over 60,000 people (I'm not sure if I'd ever seen real human skulls before, and certainly not so many).

Having returned from my sightseeing, I bid goodbye to my hosts and that afternoon I took a taxi to the bus terminal, where I was bemused to find a pseudo-airport setup, requiring me to check in my bag, then proceed to a "departure gate". The company I was travelling with, Cruz del Sur market themselves as a luxury service, meaning rather than the normal seats and lack of leg room one is used to back home, you have an extremely large and comfy seat that fully reclines allowing you to lie flat. Meals, beverages and movies are also included in the ticket (as is an irritatingly loud game of Bingo). As my 16 hour journey was overnight, I was extremely glad of for once being able to get sleep on a bus, and be able to get off at the other end without feeling that I had been crushed into a small space for hours on end. The scenery we passed through was the most part pretty desolate (the aforementioned desert) but with the odd interruption of irrigated valleys and field systems. 

When I arrived at Arequipa (the furthest South I've ever been), I took a taxi to a hostel, then felt much of the afternoon feeling ill (possibly due to the altitude, as Arequipa is at 2300m). I eventually roused myself and set about arranging a two-day tour to the Colca Canyon, arguably the main tourist attraction in the region. Having arranged a trip, I then went for a wander around Arequipa itself. The heart of the old town has a large amount of extremely well-preserved colonial architecture, in a distinctive pale stone, and churches and religious foundations seem to occupy every street corner, but lend the town an other-worldly quality similar to that of Cartagena in Colombia.

By the time I get home, I think I will have had enough Churches to last me quite a while...

Having bimbled aimlessly for several hours I turned in early in anticipation of an early start. The next morning I was the last person to be collected by the coach, so the only seat left was the front passenger seat - I later found out that several people thought I was one of the tour guide on account of this (the first of several occasions on which I was mistaken for Peruvian - clearly I was looking a bit more tanned than I had in Colombia where I stuck out like a sore thumb...) We departed Arequipa, driving for several hours as the scenery became more and more dramatic, with hills giving way to snow-capped mountains, as well as the volcano that overlooks Arequipa.

Spot the difference?

As we climbed through the mountains we were able to stop to watch herds of Alpacas and Llamas by the roadside, always accompanied by herders/vendors trying to sell us "genuine Alpaca" clothing and various other products. Alpaca is supposed to be superior to wool in various ways that I can't quite remember, and I caved in and bought one of the standard conical hats with tassles that all the "gap yah" crowd seem to sport back in the UK. At about midday we stopped at a place our guide informed us was the highest point in Peru accessable by road, at a height of 4500m. We all trooped off the bus in order to add a stone to the hundreds of cairns that seemed to stretch on forever, although some members of the group were looking a little unwell due to the effects of altitude.

Headache central

After about 5 hours in total we reached the town of Chivay, which sits at one end of the Colca Canyon, where we would be having lunch and staying that night. After a chaotic buffet lunch (the result of several tour groups arriving at the same time) we deposited our bags at the hotel and hopped back in the bus for a couple of hours hiking further along the valley. By now I had gotten to know a few members of my group, and found them to contain a pair of Americans, 3 Peruvians, 2 Austrians and 7 Germans. As we were walking our guide explained how previous inhabitiants had built the numerous terraces for farming throughout the valley and pointed out the variatious irrigation techniques that allowed the valley to remain lush and fertile.

Typical scenery overlooking the Colca Canyon

By the time we finished our walk it was beginning to get dark, but we still had time to visit the local baths which were fed by a hot spring (unsurprisingly smelling strongly of sulphur). While we were relaxing in the pools we were able to see flashes of lightning and hear the thunder from a storm some way off in the mountains. That evening we all went for dinner at a local restaurant, where we watched a local band and some dancers demonstrating some supposedly "traditional" dances into which various members of our group found themselves hauled. After this we all turned in, in expectation of yet another early start.

After a 5 am wakeup and breakfast the next morning we headed off once again in the bus follwing the course of the Canyon towards the main objective off the tour - the "Cruz del Condor" - a high point overlooking the Canyon where visitors can usually expect to see a group of condors that live in the area. As we drove along the Canyon, we saw it grow ever deeper, and the sides more sheer. A couple of miles from the lookut point, our bus deposited the more energetic of us to walk the remainder of the way, and to appreciate the incredible scenery without having to peer through a smeary window. The Colca Canyon is the second deepeest in the world, reaching a maximum depth of over 4000m (more than twice that of the USA's Grand Canyon), and one of the mountains that can be seen from the Canyon is home to a spring that is one of the original sources for the Amazon River. 

Never pass up an opportunity to pose

When we reached the lookout point, we found dozens more tourists, all waiting for a glimpse of the condors. After half an hour or so a wave of excitment went through the crowd as one flew beneath us, at a distance of perhaps of 50m (too far and too quick to get any decent photos). We continued to wait, hoping for more, and saw another 2 further in the distance along the canyon, but again too far off for decent photos. After about 2 hours of this it was time for us to return to Chivay. Although several of the group seemed quite dissapointed at the lack of condors, for me the canyon was what I had wanted to see all along, and I certainly wasn't let down by the sheer scale and drama of it. 

Not quite a condor...

Following lunch in Chivay, we set off on the return journey to Arequipa, where later that same evening I would be catching a 10 hour overnight bus (again with Cruz del Sur) to the destination of almost every tourist who visits Peru - Cusco, from where I would be going on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Next time: "Gap yah" fulfilled - Cusco and Machu Picchu