UUHOLO blog: Arequipa and Colca Canyon

From the lake Titicaca we went deeper to Peru, to Arequipa, 2nd largest Peruvian city. We have spend day relaxing, walking around and getting informations about Colca canyon, believed to be 2nd deepest canyon worldwide. Because it was Tuesday, there was evening tour in the Arequipa Santa Catarina Convent [http://www.perutravels.net/peru-travel-guide/arequipa-santa-catalina-convent.htm] which was really nice experience.

Following day we took bus from Arequipa to Cobanaconde and from there we started 3 days treking in the Colca Canyon [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colca_Canyon]. First day we took first morning bus a to the Cruz de Condor wievpoint, where we watched Condors until late morning and from there we have taken unmarked route (30 minutes on the road, then following the water channel around the hill and finally some path down) to San Chuan de Chuccho and then another 1/2hr up to Cosnirhua. Second day over the hills to the Llahuar lodge. This day we also choosed (this time by mistake) less used path, too much to the left, and I must admint that balancing on snady ramps through slips maybe hundred metres above the ground was on several places not very pleasant. But finally in the lodge we went to termal pools just next to the river and after more than 3hrs in the water and good dinner was the day considered good and nice. Last day we had to wake up early and walk quickly up around 1.500 meetres of altitude difference to get on the bus from Cobanaconde at 2pm. Having Jana almost running up, the mission was accomplished and we even made the earlier bus at 12pm. Which means that we got to Arequipa on time for the night bus to Cusco.

Od jezera Titicaca jsme jeli hloubeji do Peru, do druheho nejvetsiho mesta Peru - Arequipa. Prvni den jsme stravili relaxovanim, prochazkam mestem a zjistovanim informaci o moznostech trekingu v Colka kanonu, udajne 2. nejhlubsiho na svete. A protoze bylo prave utery Santa Catarina Konvent v Arequipe [http://www.perutravels.net/peru-travel-guide/arequipa-santa-catalina-convent.htm] poradal vecerni prohlidku, cehoz jsme vyuzili a opravdu to stalo to zato.

Dalsi den jsme prejeli autobusem do Cobanaconde a odtamtud jsme uz zacinali 3-denni treking v Colca Kanonu [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colca_Canyon]. Prvni den jsme nasedli nma prvni ranni autobus a nechali se dovezt na vyhlidku Cruz de Condor, odkud jsme az do pozdniho dopoledne sledovali a fotili kondory krouzici pod nami ale i kolem nas. Odtamtud jsme se po neznacene ceste (30 minut po silnici, pak podel vodniho kanalu okolo kopce a nakonce dolu pesinou) dosli do San Chuan de Chuccho a po dalsi pulhodine nahoru do vesnice Cosnirhua. Druhy den jsme sli pres kopce do lodge Llahuar. Ten den jsme si take vybrali (tentokrat omylem) neznacenou cestu, sli jsme prilis nalevo, a musim priznat ze balancovani pres odtrzene svahy po uzkych a pranych rampach mozna sto metru nad rovnou zemi bylo na nekterych mistech velice neprijemne. Nakonec ale po vice nez 3 hodinach v termalnich bazenech dole u reky a dobre veceri, byl den prohlasen za povedeny. Posledni den jsme stavali brzo abychom stihli vyslapnout vyskovych 1.500 metru vcas a abychom stihli ve 14:00 autobus z Cobanaconde. Jana pelasila nahoru jako motorova mys, takze jsme nakonec ukol splnili a dokonce stihli uz drivejsi bus ve 12. Coz znamenalo, ze jsme se dostali do Arequipy vcas nato abychom chytli nocni autobus do Cusca.