Colca Canyon Decent

Our day started early at 7am with our 4x4 being dropped off for us at the hostel and we hit the road straight away to Colca Canyon. Although the trip was only 200kms it took us nearly 6 hours due to the poor roads and the volume of trucks on them. The last section was just a dirt road. We reached over 4000 meters above sea level during the trip and were privy to some spectacular views.

When we finally arrived and started our trek down into the canyon it was after 2pm. The hike down took about 4 hours and it was pretty tough going, going downhill is just as tough as uphill when the terrain is rocky. The views were spectacular and something I´ll never forget.

On our way down we passed various locals who make the trip up and down on a daily basis (one carrying a parrot on her shoulder) plenty of mules carrying supplies to the villages below, we even met a student from one of the villages who was hiking up the canyon, then taking a 7 hour bus to Arequipa to take an exam! To think I used to give out about having to cycle 15mins to UCC in the rain...

When we reached the bottom, after relaxing by the riverside for a short while we headed on to a nearby village where a local family put us up for the night. It was a bit like an unofficial hostel, they have hikers staying with them all the time. They had no electricity but stil managed to cook a fantastic spaghetti bolenese which we ate by candle light. The house looked directly at the canyon wall, it was hard to believe we´d come all the way down it. As there was noth ing to do in the dark and we were nackered, we were all in bed by 9am with alarms set for 6am again the following morning where we´d hike 3 hours along the base of the canyon then 4 hours back up it.