Were currently in the attractive city of Cusco, relaxing for a few days and acclimatising at high altitude again, before setting off on the Inca Trail on Thursday. Its probably the most touristy place weve been, with the centre of town filled with people either side of a Machu Pichu trip. Before Cusco we based ourselves in Arequipa, Perus second city and a place where tourists felt a relatively small minority of the population. We enjoyed a few days doing not a lot, wandering round the citys pleasant streets and plazas. It was nice to rest in one place for a while after constantly travelling through Bolivia - it helped that we managed to find an excellent and cheap hostel. There was also an immediate and marked improvement in the food as we crossed the border and we enjoyed a range of European and Peruvian food, including alpaca steak. With all the early starts and remote locations, one thing that we hadnt done for a while was have a proper night out, so we joined the lively locals on Saturday night. We got a bit carried away though with the free flowing Pisco, and had to nurse hangovers as we waited for our 10-hour night bus to Cusco. In the middle of our stay in Arequipa we did a three day trip to the Colca Canyon, the second deepest in the world. Picked up at the ridiculous time of 3am, we reached the canyon by breakfast time and started the 3-hour steep trek to the bottom and a village where we stayed the first night. The accommodation was the most basic wed stayed in so far, with no useable showers and some rooms barely fit for animals. In fact, were pretty sure some of the rooms were old animal sheds, with no windows and lots of creepy crawlies. It was nice to sit at the bottom of the canyon and enjoy the views though with beer from the local area. The next day was a relatively easy 3-hour hike through the valley and tiny villages to an oasis where we spent the second night. Although there was a welcome swimming pool, the accommodation wasnt much better, this time huts made of bamboo. On the final day we had to set off at 5am in the dark to start the steep 3-hour climb back up to the top. It was pretty tough, constantly being overtaken by donkeys carrying other people unable or too lazy to walk the vertical kilometre uphill before breakfast, but it was a good sense of achievement and good practice for the Inca Trail.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 17:25:37 +0000
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