Colca Canyon

PERU - DAY THREE - Colca Canyon

Previous Blogs:

Day 8 - Sacred Valley | Day 9 - Salt and Terraces | Day 10 - Rain Forrest | Day 11-12 - Rainforest/Lima | Day 13 - Paracus

Click photos for a larger image...

We were picked up at 6.30 am (this is killing me!) for our tour of Colca Valley and Canyon.

We first stopped in Yanque's town square (every village has one) to watch a ceremonial dance of the young children.

The drive to the Canyon was interesting to say the least! Last year while in Nepal we went on a mountain drive everyone warned us was terrifying - that was NOTHING compared to this. Not only were the roads dirt without any guardrails, but the driver did seem pretty intent on rounding those corners as fast as he could!

The drop next to the road was literally between 10,000 and 12,000 feet in places, virtually straight down. Cola Canyon is one of the deepest in the world topping at 15,000 feet in the deepest place.

The ride back down again was much better - only because I kept my eyes shut the whole way down! What the eyes don't see the heart can't freak out about!

The first part of Colca are the Inca Terraces. Not called Inca because they built them, they were already built when the Incas arrived. The Incas used their superior technology to improve and enlarge them.

Of course we had a flat along the way...

...which gave us time to play with llamas!

The lookout point is called Condor's Cross and the main purpose is to see condors, the largest flying birds in the world - 10 foot wingspan.	And we did indeed find them!

The following pictures kinda speak for themselves.


	We returned to Chivay for lunch after visiting an old Colonial church. Naturally we had beer with lunch and once again I was amazed that in Peru even though they take the beer out of the fridge it is barely cooler than room temperature. So far we have had only ONE cold beer the entire time we have been here. We were then taken to the bus station where we caught our minibus transfer to Puna which is a city on Lake Titicaca!
	The bus ride was 6 HOURS LONG! with two stops. Pretty scenery for most part but the road sure is bumpy in places. It took us back up to 14,000 feet above sea level. We finally arrived at our hotel at 7pm - a 13 hour day and tomorrow they pick us up at 6.45 am!! EGAD!! But it's a full day on a BOAT!! Lake Titicaca here wee come! And finally... If the hardware store is out of barbed wire for your wall, cactus is a definite alternative!!!