Tuesday 8th April
Well, its been a while, sorry... been a bit carried away with all the recent excitement...
Nasca was pretty cool, although not quite what I had expected. The flight over the Nasca lines was fun. Saw the whale and monkey and flamingo and condor and spider and candelabra and... there are alot of lines!!! Managed to hold onto my breakfast as well which I was pleased about.
The pilot then did zoomy up and down-ness on the way back to the airport for fun... well I found it fun, the other 3 girls didn't! I then managed to get a 'motorbike' backie back to town cos our bus was late... I like to think of it as my Top Gun moment. The pilot, in his white shirt and aviator sunglasses drove me on his harley davidson (ahem, actually it was more of a big scooter). Still, it was fun.
So I spent 4 days in Arequipa... which was nice although I started to go a bit stir crazy as there wasn't so much to do. I get a bit bored in towns/cities. I was waiting for a friend to join me from Cusco. However I did visit the museum which shows exhibits from the Inca child sacrifices which have been found on the nearby mountains... that was interesting. Unfortunately the famous Juanita wasnt there as she was busy being poked by scientists in a laboratory but I did get to see her friend Sirita. It was actually quite fascinating, although felt a tad strange looking at a dead child.
When Neil, one of my trekking buddies from Torres del paine, arrived we headed straight for Cabanaconde in the Colca Canyon. We spurned the tour agencies in favour of hiking independantly... so glad we did cos it was ace. We stayed in a tiny hostel in the village the first night, which was a little bit like a stable as we dozed off the to sound of donkeys next door!!! Man, they make some of the strangest noises I've ever heard.
Next day we started our 6 hour trek. First we zig zagged down the canyon... boy, oh boy it was steep (I guess thats a canyon for you) and the odd slip on the stoney paths certainly got the adrenalin pumping as the next stop would have been the river over a kilometre below! However we made it hurrah... And the locals were all so friendly, it was lovely. We chatted briefly (as it could only ever be with my spanish) to most people we passed.
Well, its been a while, sorry... been a bit carried away with all the recent excitement...
Nasca was pretty cool, although not quite what I had expected. The flight over the Nasca lines was fun. Saw the whale and monkey and flamingo and condor and spider and candelabra and... there are alot of lines!!! Managed to hold onto my breakfast as well which I was pleased about.The pilot then did zoomy up and down-ness on the way back to the airport for fun... well I found it fun, the other 3 girls didn't! I then managed to get a 'motorbike' backie back to town cos our bus was late... I like to think of it as my Top Gun moment. The pilot, in his white shirt and aviator sunglasses drove me on his harley davidson (ahem, actually it was more of a big scooter). Still, it was fun.
So I spent 4 days in Arequipa... which was nice although I started to go a bit stir crazy as there wasn't so much to do. I get a bit bored in towns/cities. I was waiting for a friend to join me from Cusco. However I did visit the museum which shows exhibits from the Inca child sacrifices which have been found on the nearby mountains... that was interesting. Unfortunately the famous Juanita wasnt there as she was busy being poked by scientists in a laboratory but I did get to see her friend Sirita. It was actually quite fascinating, although felt a tad strange looking at a dead child.
When Neil, one of my trekking buddies from Torres del paine, arrived we headed straight for Cabanaconde in the Colca Canyon. We spurned the tour agencies in favour of hiking independantly... so glad we did cos it was ace. We stayed in a tiny hostel in the village the first night, which was a little bit like a stable as we dozed off the to sound of donkeys next door!!! Man, they make some of the strangest noises I've ever heard.
Next day we started our 6 hour trek. First we zig zagged down the canyon... boy, oh boy it was steep (I guess thats a canyon for you) and the odd slip on the stoney paths certainly got the adrenalin pumping as the next stop would have been the river over a kilometre below! However we made it hurrah... And the locals were all so friendly, it was lovely. We chatted briefly (as it could only ever be with my spanish) to most people we passed. 
Crossed the river past the man i nicknamed the troll who tries to make you pay park fees even though its not in the national park but we managed to get past him (well acutually Neil's far superior spanish managed to get past him and I followed) then we ascended a bit before the path flattened out (hurray) and we walked through villages, over more suspension bridges, round river gorges... it was beautiful.Saw a few condors too, circling on thermals. They are pretty big innit! It was almost impossible to get a sense of scale in the canyon as it was so huge. We werent even at the bottom, yet we were looking at over a kilometre up on the other side.
Anyway, we stayed in a stick hut which we shared with a number of huge black bee things. It was possibly the coldest most uncomfortable night I've spent... ever. So thankfully 5.30am came and we got up. This was easy as we had both gone to bed wearing all our clothes!
Two and a half hours later we got back to the top, phew. It was quite a struggle actually as I was under the weather and Neil had a dodgy knee... a right pair we were. Still we did a good job seeing as the estimated time for the climb is 3.5 to 4 hours. We got lost on the way back and ended up having to climb over walls and nip through the odd garden. Neil could resist jumping onto and into the odd cactus which are pretty vicious, he has the little spike holes in his leg to prove it.
So, then back to Arequipa we headed. I got a bus to Puno the next day (yesterday) which is where I'm writing this.
T
P.S. GOOD LUCK ON SUNDAY JAMES... I will be thinking of you and your shins. I can recommend trying some valium washed down with a beer afterwards... you'll forget about any achey bits!!! Go, go goooooooooo.
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