COLCA VALLEY - CHIVAY, AREQUIPA, Peru - 4th, 5th & 6th September

4th September Monday - An awful early start today - sadly Letay had a high temperature all night. She did not complain but was certainly not feeling well...possibly a cold. We had to catch an early tour bus (absolutely detest tour groups) to take us to the higher regions of Peru and to Colca Canyon-Valley. As we were going for the night, we left all our bags with the Casa de Sillar, and took only a backpack. Thankfully the group was small with only nine others besides us in a minibus. The guide was an efferverscent, intelligent, young Peruvian lady - Irene. The Colca Canyon is second to Machu Picchu as Peru's major attraction, and is almost twice the size of the Grand Canyon - great for trekking and rafting. Much of its attraction though is also in the journey getting there, the fourteen little villages & churches within the Valley, the finest pre-Inca agricultural terracing, huge herds of llamas and very traditionally dressed Andean villagers.



Irene's commentary was always informative and also passionate and poignant, touching always on the socio-political implications of "things today". For instance she pointed out that the almost never completed Peruvian house; most houses and buildings always had the reinforcement steel rods poking out the top as though they were still being built. This was primarily to pay less tax - an incomplete house attracted less tax.

Irene's first stop was to help us all buy Coca Leaves and the chalk-like catalyst to be chewed along with it. This leaf has been used for over a 1000 years as a remedy for altitude sickness, and to help counter fatigue. We all followed Irene's demonstration of the proportion of leaf-to-chalk to be used and how to just let the leafy-ball sit at the side of your mouth. In Arequipa and Lima we did see some interesting satues of people dating back to Inca and pre-Inca times, that had this lump carved at one cheek (coca chewing models ?). The coca leaf certainly did help cope with the altitude, especially at the near 5000m mountain pass. Besides the three of us on the tour, there were six Canadians from Toronto, Bruce from Minnesota, his brother Tom, and wife Karen from California.

We passed some very different terrains. Irene showed us how to recognise the various altitude zones we were at, from the plants and moss. One very distinctive moss-like plant called the Yapat or llareta, grows only between 3500m to 4500m and looks like a lime green brain-coral but feels extremely hard lumpy cushion to the touch.

We also passed herds of wild vicuna & guanaco (relatives of the domesticated llama and alpaca) in the grassy pampas of the Reserva Nacional de Aguada Blanca. The softer wool from the smaller Vicuna is extremely rare (yielding only about 250 grams every 2 years - once collected exclusively for the Inca King) and thus is very expensive ($600 a sweater ??).


We stopped at some high altitude wetlands formed from the melting glacial ice, which were now a protected wetland area as they formed a natural habitat for some duck, Andean geese, and even Ibis. The Andean Geese are quite interesting to watch, always in pairs, keeping the same partner all their lives and bringing up their young as a shared responsibility.

Just before the road turned dusty and branched off between Colca Valley and the old Cusco road, we stopped for a tea made of Coca leaves and a herb called Chachacoma. Letay who had been sleeping until now, woke up for this and was much better for it. We were also entertained by a single very inquisitive and coca leaf-loving young llama, who almost stuck his head in your face (or your tea-cup) trying to get some of the leaf. There were also some very cute Andean children around but we refrained from photographing them as their parents demanded a fee for each photograph (the corruptive effects of tourism).

The scenery around was always magnificent ; high mountains, and plains with snow capped volcanoes around. At the high pass, there were a sea of piled rocks, initially done by Andean travellers as a prayer to the mountain gods but now added to as a tourist fetish to make a wish. From here all the various peaks and volcanoes were in view.

We then began the slow winding decent into the Colca Valley to the town called Chivay. Got in by lunch and had a great spread of traditional food, including llama meat and lots of local cereals (like Quinuoa), grains and potatoes that have no english equivalent. We then got alloted to our various hotels - we got the cheap, cold one, like the rest of the backpacker groups, and Tom-Bruce-Karen.

Letay slept her fever off in the afternoon at the hotel, with Deepa, whilst Rossini, joined a trek to see some pre-Inca burial sites another 200-300 metres higher. (Rossini met Marcel & Sayaka from Switzerland, & Emma and Paul from the UK here - we had seen each other at Pisco too). At this altitude of almost 3500mts, climbing up another 300 metres was a tremendous challenge for Rossini and he felt out of condition. Luckily many of the group felt the same, and Milagros, the super-fit guide, mercifully included a stop ever so often. She could have done it in one go - and does this almost everyday. The climb, and view of the terraced slopes was spectacular. When we got to the burial sites, Milagros ensured all were respectful of the graves and that we each left an offering of Coca leaves (which she gave us) within, and poured some water just outside the graves too.

Got back to Chivay around 6pm and all went straight to the Hot water Springs - one of Chivay's main attractions. These bubbling boiling brooks which emerge from the mountain side at an average temperature of 85degC, are channeled into clean well laid out indoor and outdoor pools. These were well organised, with lockers, showers, etc. We sampled both the indoor and outdoor pools, but with the night temperature dropping to near zero, it certainly felt better being indoors. Letay absolutely loved being in the hot pool and it did do her a lot of good too.

There was a dinner and a traditional dance organised for the night but with Letay not feeling to well, we decided to skip it and go for a small meal at a local restaurant called the Casa Blanca. Great food but with the cold and altitude we were not feeling too hungry. Took our Coca tea from the restaurant back to the hotel and tried to sleep. The hotel certainly did seem to be getting colder and colder. Each bed was too narrow to sleep more than one, and was piled high with 5-6 blankets. With the difficulty in breathing because of the altitude, this pile of blankets made it even more difficult to breath. Sleepless night due to the altitude. This was the only time we felt like this during the holiday.

5th September Tuesday (Chivay) - Awful night and an another early 5am start in the biting cold. The cold and altitude induced sleepless night was certainly a topic discussed at breakfast the next morning by all who stayed at this hotel. Walked around the town whilst waiting for our group to finish breakfast. Was quite surprised to see an astronomical observatory with an impressive telescope. At this altitude star viewing must be quite good with less atmospheric interference.

We first drove to a small town called Yanque to see the colonial church. These churches were always a feature in every town, however small. It did seem absurd to see such enourmous, beautiful, carved church buildings in the middle of the mud brick small houses, in dusty towns.

Something we had noticed right from the churches in Huancayo & Ayacucho, and thru the Andes, was that Christ was always depicted very heavily wounded and super bloody. Irene said that this was very typical of the Christ in the Andes, perhaps so that Christ's suffering could have a greater impact on the poeple, with life already being tough enough for them in the Andes.

Then in the town square (plaza) of Yanque there were many women dressed in traditional clothes dancing the dance of love; done purely for tourists.




A few of them posed with a falcon or a llama for a photograph, for a fee. This was at 6.30am in the cold morning !! As we were with a tour group we had to stay and wait till it was time to go to the Colca canyon and then further to view the great condors.





Once close to the canyon we got off the bus and walked along the edge , the deep canyon just below us, the views all around most spectacular. The Canyon is not entirely formed by a river cutting through it through time but is really a large fault (crack) in the earth that was formed after a large earthquake millions of years ago. Although early, there were no condors in sight. They are usually out very early and soar majestically upward with the rising thermal currents. We walked upward to the condor viewing point. Letay did complain a bit but she climbed - we certainly feel for her, especially as she was not well the previous day and with the altitude......and was the only child. Strangely, she was the only child (tourist) we have seen so far in all this time in Peru. We stayed there till 10.00am and manged to see a few condors but not too close.

The condors here are almost 1.5m in length, with a wingspan of 3.5metres - certainly an impressive bird to see, especially as you do not see it flap its wings - just glide & soar. Condors too live with the same mate for life and share responsibilities - including teaching their young to fly.



On the way back we saw Inca maps for terracings and hanging pre-inca burial tombs high up on the cliff faces.







Stopped at a small town called Maca, which lies right on a fault line and is an extremely high tremor zone. The town had a brilliant church with one of the most beautiful gilded alters we had seen.



After another buffet lunch at Chivay, and Rossini making friends with this young kid and his baby llama on the street, we headed straight back to Arequipa and were back at the hotel - Casa de Sillar by 6.00 pm. We were tired so brought some empanadas, fresh from a bakery, back to the room and had that with tea.....with some great salami Rossini found in town. Was good to be back too - the young ladies wished us like we were long-lost friends, although we had been away just for one night. They had reserved a room for us on the terrace, which had glass all around, from which you could see two of the volcanoes. Had a very great nights sleep, after the cold, disturbed one the night before.

6th September, Wednesday (Arequipa) - woke up lazily. Rossini went down to the kitchen and made breakfast for us. As he used the kitchen more often than us, and spoke more spanish, he was more familliar with the ladies that worked at the Casa - knew details of their families, what they were studying and how their everyday lives were. Uliza who was there at breakfast had to rush to catch her morning accounting lectures, and would then rush back at lunch to clean the rooms. Monica would fill in for her and then go off for her lectures in the afternoon. They had a good system of communication, where they each kept notes for the others in a book, about what had to be done, and which Casa guest wanted what at what time.

Had a very relaxed, lazy breakfast in the garden, read, and Letay got right into her favourite pastime....drawing & coloring. Her present phase is drawing elongated women in very elaborately designed clothes. Some of them are quite imaginative and detailed that we shall have to save them. We then walked into town, walked around the plaza, to the quaint Cusco Cafe very near where Juanita (the Inca maiden) was. Found a place that served grilled chicken & sausage for lunch...with chips and had our months supply of grease. The Chicha Moreno (dark corn chicha) was brilliant though and served by the jugfull. Deepa and Letay took a taxi back to the room, whilst Rossini walked back, through the market to look for things to put into Letay's birthday present. She was turning seven, the day after (8th September) in Cusco.

We packed, and then just hung about the common room, where they had a TV and a computer. Deepa updated a bit of the blog when she got time on the PC. We then got ready to leave at about 7pm. Although we had only mentioned this in passing to Uliza in the morning, Monica was aware thru their communication book and called a taxi for us. Monica promised to keep in touch and let us know how her life progressed.

Very pleasant ride to the bus Terra-Puerta, past the Iron Bridge and thru the parts of Arequipa that Rossini had walked thru for 3 hours, days earlier. The Cruz del Sur bus to Cusco was at 8.00pm, and was one with sleeper seats for the overnight ride. The attendant was dressed very posh, almost in a Matador-like fashion. She was certainly very pretty but had a very mechanical manner about her service that she was almost comical - even her pleasantries and polite responses were studied and robotic, like she did not want to be there at all. Had a nice dinner served on the bus and went through the prescribed "Bingo" that the attendant managed to conduct with her very mechanical charm. Later, whilst we tried to sleep, the late night movie "Armagedon" was played super loud, but it was certainly funny to watch Bruce Willis speaking Spanish - there was even a Russian who spoke Spanish like a Russian. Rossini sat next to a doctor, who ran a clinic in Arequipa, and used Coca therapy as part of his regular treatment. He sincerely wanted us to enjoy Peru that he kept on suggesting things to do for the rest of our time in Peru. We were all looking forward to waking up in Cusco early in the morning, having heard so much about this magic city and its proximity to Machu Picchu.