Colca Canyon

Saturday morning at about 8:30 the other exchange students and I piled into a bus heading for Colca. In reality, Colca really isn't that far, but since we are tourists and we always take the scenic route, it took us about 5 hours to get there. We stopped at various times to go to the bathroom, buy Peruvian memorabilia, or to look at animals. You see we were riding through the desert, where dwells the Vacuna. Ok, so there is the llama, which I believe is the biggest in the family but the least desired for making clothes, the alpaca, the next smaller version which I believe has softer fur, and then there is the vacuna. The vacunas are protected I think, because so many people want clothes that are made from their fur. We stopped at a couple points to get out and take some pictures of ones that were crossing the road or were close enough to get a decent photo of. They are small compared to llamas, and all of the ones that I saw were white and light brown colored. Our guide said that the travel in packs of either five or six, I can't remember exactly, but she said that in that pack there will be only one male. If you see vacunas in groups of less than five it is because they either fought with the group that they were in, or are getting old. The English that she was speaking was pretty broken, but her presentation was still very interesting. All of the places that we went were obviously for tourists, so there were many groups of children and women selling hats, gloves, and various other pieces of clothing made from alpaca fur. Apparently it is pretty normal for tourists to want pictures of the children here; almost all of them are dressed in traditional Peruvian garb asking for one sol if you happen to take a picture of them. At the first place that we stopped there were very pretty mountains far into the background, so I asked a child if I could take a picture of him if I bought one of the bracelets that he was selling. So I got a couple nice shots of him, and then I spent a sol and bought myself a little bracelet that I actually like quite a lot. (I'll have pictures within a few days... I'll explain why I don't have them now in a bit)

We continued our journey through the desert on winding desert rodes, sometimes almost overlapping as we weaved back and forth down the mountain because of such a steep slope. We saw men, women and children every once in a while on the sides of the road steering their small herd of cows, donkeys or llamas toward a very limited number of areas with grass for them to graze on. It was an incredibly pretty ride, with views that stretched as far as you could see into the vast expanse of the Peruvian desert.

So we came into a small town that consisted of mostly half-finished shacks and broken glass. I said to one of the other exchange students, "Watch, in about a minute and a half we are going to stop on the side of the rode and they are going to say, 'Ok we're here!'"
So about a minute and a half later we stopped on the side of the road, and guess what our guides said to us. Yeah, I so called it.
Our hotel was just a slight little building with a few rooms, no heat, and no hot water. I happened to be the last one out of the van because I had unfortunately had my seat stolen and had to sit in the back corner during our 5 hour drive. So when I got in there were no rooms left... so my guide said that they were staying at another hotel just down the road, and that I would have to come with them. But, very kindly, a couple of the girls offered to double up so that I could stay at the same place. I was very grateful, because I was looking forward to a couple days with the other exchange students, and wouldn't have liked to be all alone with the grownups that night. So instead of getting shafted out of a room and having to bunk with the adults, I ended up getting my own room with a double bed and a tiny little bathroom. Not a bad deal I would say.

After a couple of hours of resting we left for a swim at a nearby tourist location where there were pools filled with water from hot springs. That was pretty cool, except that there were a lot of people there and it took a long time to find somewhere to sit along the edge. Some of the girls weren't tall enough to touch the bottom so when we finally took over a small portion of the edge they were very happy to take a seat and relax in the nice warm water. It was slightly murky, and every once in a while you would feel something trailing you, so you'd look behind to find a hair or two stuck somewhere on your body. But besides the haziness and of the water and the occasional hair it was a cool experience. It gets dark and gets cold early here, so after only about an hour and a half we were back at the hotel getting ready to go out to eat.

We went to a restaurant for a nice meal and some traditional music and dance. It was nice; we all kind of collaborated to figure out what everyone was going to order, and then just talked for a bit until the food came. All along throughout the night the people who were dancing would separate about halfway through the song and pick random people to come and dance with them. About the fourth round in I was asked to dance. It was a little embarrassing because it was music that I had never really danced to, but I had good time anyway. Before too long the woman that asked to dance handed me off to a random Peruvian lady so that she could go find another partner. So I danced with a random Peruvian woman for a while. What I ended up eating that night was corn soup and alpaca steak. Overall the night was very nice. Good food, nice traditional music, and a warm atmosphere. The only downside was that one of the exchange student girls lost her retainer when she was dancing, and later found it crushed on the floor.

Figuring out what to do after took way too much effort than it should have. As we were leaving the hot springs we were given a little flier for an "Irish Pub", so we were debating whether to go to the bar or just to go back to the hotel and chill. Half of the group decided that they wanted to go to the bard and the other half wanted to just head back to the hotel. But as we were getting out to go into the hotel a couple of us expressed the idea that we should all just stick together. So we walked to the bar from the hotel all together. It was just down the road about a five minutes walk away.

Seeing as I have been into bars in Ireland and experienced what the Irish Pub has to offer, I can honestly say that there was absolutely nothing Irish about the bar that we went to. Spanish music blaring and lots of Peruvian beer (light and nothing like Guinness or Murphy's) were what filled the scene. We ended up playing pool for a bit, and then at 11:30 our guides said that it was time to leave. It's not like we had to go back to the rooms and sleep, they just didn't want us staying at the bar any longer at night. So we went back to the hotel, and I'd say that people didn't get to bed until two or three in the morning.

The morning came way too fast. I woke to someone pounding at my door at around 5:30 in the morning. The condors are the best for viewing very early in the morning, so we wanted to get a nice early start on the 1 hour-ish ride to the Canyon. We ate breakfast, which consisted of instant coffee, warm bread, and the normal jelly that I have every morning for breakfast. The warm bread was amazing, because that early in the morning it was freezing. That is the first time that I have actually felt really cold here in Peru. Usually everyone is telling me to bundle up when I feel just fine and dandy.

So we packed up all of our stuff and we left for the Canyon. Again, like the journey from Arequipa to the hotel, there were several places along the way where we stopped to take pictures, bathroom breaks, and to bargain with a few of the many merchants at every popular touristy spot. We also took an optional small trek along the mountain to the point where we were supposed to see the condors. That was incredible. The views (Colca Canyon is the deepest Canyon in the world) were amazing. We all took it pretty slow because of the altitude, but still just walking I found myself breathing as if I was jogging along the path. It also had become really hot, so I was regretting what I had put on that morning in my chilly hotel room.

So we came upon a spot that I thought was just another touristy location on the way to the Canyon. There were a whole bunch of merchants and tourists, just like the 27 other places that we had seen along the way. So I just sat there with some friends, chilled out a bit, and ended up buying a pair of gloves made from alpaca fur for 5 soles in exchange for a couple photos of the merchants children. It was nice, but it was hot and we were all tired from the lack of sleep and long-hot bus rides, so before too too long we decided to go to the bus and leave. Little did I know that I was leaving the place that the whole trip had been organized to go see. The tour guide didn't say anything about "Arriving to the Canyon" or "Looking for condors over the walls". It was just like any other place that we stopped. So most of us didn't even know that we were supposed to be looking over the wall for the birds with the largest wingspans that can fly on Earth. Condors are supposed to have up to a 9 foot wingspan.

So we left, most of us questioning each other if they knew when we were getting to Colca Canyon. Then the tour guide said that we would be stopping in town for lunch and then heading home. I was, quite frankly, pissed.

On the way down the mountain we saw a condor, but it was really far up in the sky, so the pictures that I have of it look just like a crow or a raven. Apparently the condor activity had been really low because we got there so late (like 8:30 9 in the morning) so I probably wouldn't have seen much anyway. But it would have been nice to at least know that we were there and that I should be looking for what we came for.

Anywho, so we went back to town and had a decent meal. Then we got back on the bus and headed home. This time we weren't taking the scenic route so it would only take between 2 and 3 hours to get home. About 2 and a half hours later we were getting back to Arequipa. I was really tired. I had been trying to sleep on the way but it was so uncomfortable in the bus that any "sleep" that I did get just made me more tired and made my neck hurt. So I was eager to get out, get my backpack, and head. So thats what I did.

(This is the part where I tell you why I won't have pictures for a few days)

I was so tired and eager to get out, that I forgot that I had put my towl, bathing suit and CAMERA in the overhead compartment INSIDE the bus, not in the trunk. So as I was riding home in a taxi with a friend that lives in the same district as me, I remembered. I was so mad at myself. I had taken hundreds of pictures over the weekend, taken compliments about how nice it was, and had told everyone how it was pretty much my pride and joy. And I managed to forget it in the bus!!! So I frantically called around looking for numbers of rotarians that would be able to get in contact with the bus company. I got a hold of a rotary member, she called another member, he called another, and he called the bus company. So at 5 oclock I got a phone call saying that my things were fine, and that I could pick them up on Tuesday at 12 oclock at the Rotary Office. What a relief that was. I don't know what I would have done if my camera was gone.

So soon I'll have some pictures up of the weekend. I have a lot so I'll have to do some weeding of the ones that are only so-so.
I think that pretty much sums up everything that has happened this weekend. I also have vacation this week so I'm making some plans with some friends. Hope everyone is well!

Love,
Jack