Arequipa, Peru

Day 69

We were woken up in our hostel by our host yelling, “MARIAAAAA”. I think Maria is her daughter who gets the breakfast ready. She wasn’t yelling in an angry way, I think she is just so loud & happy everything she says can be heard from a distance.

We quickly smashed down some breakfast before we were on our way to the bus to take us into Peru & onto Arequipa! Before we left our hostel, our host insisted on getting a photo of us, not sure why. But she did seem to take a liking to us even though we couldn’t communicate well with her, she probably enjoyed our stupid looks at each other when we were trying to understand what she was saying!

We found some coffee outside the bus stop & hopped on the bus. 30 minutes along we arrived at the Bolivia-Peru border crossing. We got our exit stamp at the Bolviia post and then we had to walk through the border to the Peru post. This was fun, we have never walked through a border crossing before. The time also went back an hour in Peru. We successfully got our Peru visa and stamp, bloody suckers, Ellen is going to run a muck.

The bus took us another 2.5 hours to a town called Puno, which is on the North-West side of Lake Titicaca. From here we had to change bus onward to Aqepquipa. We bought the delux seats for only $5 extra each. They are wider & almost lay flat! Perfect for a 6 hour journey!

The trip was fairly uneventful and we arrived to our hostel at around 7pm. We headed off downtown for a quick dinner and then went to bed. But first, an episode of Game of Thrones!

Day 70

We had some yummy breakfast at our hostel. Banana pancakes and an omelette! Delicious!

We then went downtown and found a free walking tour. The town is very beautiful and well looked after. A lot of the buildings are made out of white/grey volcanic rock bricks. The town was originally mostly built from mud bricks, but because of earthquakes, it was flattened several times. Arequipa was the first town of the time to build buildings out of more robust material such as volcanic bricks.

Our walking tour guide was a bit loose/crazy so I don’t think we got a lot out of the tour. But he took us to some nice areas nonetheless. After the tour we went to a Llama zoo lol Ellen was stoked, she got to feed some Llamas! At this place there was also traditional people weaving using traditional methods. A scarf takes 20 days to make using these methods! But the finished product looks so good. They also set you back 400 soles, $200 AUD.

After this we went and found some lunch and departed ways. Ellen went to a food/witch market and I went and enquired about some Colca Canyon tours.

For the afternoon we watched bulk Game of Thrones and drank some delicious red wine! Nice and relaxing.

We went to a nice restaurant for dinner, Ellen got a dish with 7 different types of potatoes! Woweee – bulk carbs! We then went and had a couple of drinks at a local pub, and watched some roller derby on the tv. Those chicks are crazy! They smash each other on roller skates! What a sport.

Day 71

More rest days! We love Arequipa! It is one of the few cities in South America that doesn’t smell like dogs piss. We chilled at coffee shops and ate good food for the day.

For dinner we had vegan sushi! I was a bit skeptical I will admit, like is it really called sushi if it is vegan? But oh my god, it was probably one of the best meals we have had here in South America – and for a good price. As an added bonus, the owner is Canadian and looked like a white walker. I wish I got a photo – dammit!

Day 72

Today we headed off to the Colca Canyon for a 2 day trekking tour! We left our hostel at the crazy hour of 3am and jumped on a mini bus. We slept for the 3 hour journey out to the canyon itself. You wouldn’t believe it, Ellen realised she doesn’t known where he wallet is. Not for the first time, Ellen has lost her wallet! What will I do with her.

Our first stop was breakfast, then followed by a viewpoint of the canyon which we could see amazing Andean Condors cruising along. They are so big, with wingspans as big as 3m, and can fly as far as 100km without landing! Apparently every morning they can be seen soaring here taking advantage of the hot air of the canyon.

Apparently this canyon is the second deepest in the world. However, they measure its depth from the top mountain to the bottom of the canyon, so I don’t think it qualifies! It is certainly beautiful nonetheless.

We then continued on to the start of the hike, our group had about 8 people in it and everyone is friendly! Our guide is crazy, like bizarre. I think it has something to do with Peruvians, so far our guides have been so loose.

From the start of the trail we could see little villages scattered everywhere at the bottom of the canyon. The only way in and out for some of these villages in by footpath – these people must keep really fit!

We headed off down into the canyon, over 1000m to the river at the base. The views heading down kept getting better and better, and my blisters on my toes kept getting bigger and bigger.

After around 3 hours we made it to the bottom, had a short break and continued on along the bottom of valley to a small town for lunch.

After lunch, we walked another 5-6km only a small trail towards a village called the Oasis. Our guide is so random, he stopped us a few times along the walk, thinking that he would tell us something about the scenery, he instead would talk about how it is happy hour and we should pick the pace up so we will make it. He also kept telling us he is rich lol I believe it too because he has travelled to a lot of corners of the globe.

After another 3 hours or so of walking we made it to the Oasis! It is the most random thing I have ever seen. The Oasis is a small village of resorts and pools surrounded by the harsh landscape, I can see why that call it an Oasis. It just doesn’t seem real.

We were checked into our rooms and I went straight to the pool! So refreshing after a big day of hiking. For the rest of the afternoon/night we just had some beers, dinner and got to know our fellow comrades. We were all a bit sleepy after the early morning wake up!

Day 73

Today we woke at 4:15am! We have to hike the 1000m+ out of the canyon without breakfast! A bit rude. Our guide told us his record out of the Canyon is 50 minutes, and the tourist record is 1 hour 1 minute!

We left at 4:30am in the dark, Ellen & I poked up at a steady pace. The hike progressively got harder the higher we got as we crossed into 3000masl and the air started to get thinner. We both made it in just over 2 hours and were one of the first up! We still have a little bit of fitness even after all the burgers and pizza, I have no idea how that is possible!

We all think our guide is lying about his 50 minute record, a guy in our group smashed it up the hill and it took him 1 hour 30 minutes. I should come back and try run up it though, it would be good training for Ultras!

We chilled at the top for an hour or so waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. The views were amazing.

We then went and had some breakfast and waited for our van to come and pick us up and take us onward for our tour. We stopped at a viewpoint on the way where we could see all the old Inca crops, 80% of which are still used today.

We then were taken to some thermal baths and we had a bit of a dip. It was very touristy though, and they have nothing on Iceland so we were both a bit unfazed by this. After an hour or so at the baths we continued on into a town for a buffet lunch. It was rather expensive, I think $15 AUD each, so I made the most of it! Ellen also started with the desert lol I have no idea how we haven’t gotten fat on this trip yet.

After this we headed back to Arequipa on the bus, I slept most of the way. We were both pretty tired after 2 very early mornings.

We checked back into our hostel, and again you would not believe it they have Ellen’s wallet! With all the money inside it! I don’t think she is going to be so lucky the third time!

For the night we watched Game of Thrones (standard), and went to a nice pasta restaurant for dinner. Back to relax mode we go!

Day 74

Tonight we travel to Cusco on an overnight bus. So today we hung out at the hostel, looking at random things in Canada & future treks to do in Peru.

More coffee and good food today. We are going to be doing a big trek in Cusco so we are making the most of cheap luxuries while we have them!

We headed to the bus terminal at around 8pm, and were on our way. We have so much Game of Thrones to watch!

More photos saved here.