Today begins our trip to Colca Canyon for 2 nights. We were picked up by a bubbly guide Myra at 0845; a very civilised time as day trippers and some overnighters depart at 0300. We called at a touristy shop near the airport to pickup some coca leaves for the altitude. As we already had some we didn’t get any but learnt that the version there came with a small dollop of stevia and mint or stevia and quinoa. So many food items originate from Peru and the nearby regions (eg. Potato, avocado, stevia …)
The drive normally takes about 2.5h but with the pickups and stops it took us over 4h. Upon entering the national park area we stopped to see some vicunyas. These are the wild cousins of the alpaca; smaller with finer and more valuable fur. They cannot be farmed without degradation to the quality of the fur. Hence, the fur is harvested once a year by surrounding the animals with a human chain of many hundreds of people (so we were told).
Next we saw some alpacas and llamas by the roadside. At the highest point of 4910m we made a brief stop. It wasn’t the most photogenic viewpoint but it was a point on the journey worth marking. It probably contributed to how we felt later in the day with pulsating headaches and neckaches from the altitude.
We descended into Chivay and called into a buffet lunch restaurant around 1330. As we didn’t feel like anything heavy, we wandered around and found a light lunch of chicken, salad, rice and potatoes.
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- Windy roads of the Colca Canyon.
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- Scenery along the road in the Colca Canyon.
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- Scenery along the road in the Colca Canyon.
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- The Vicuña is a smaller cousin of the alpaca.
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- At a snack/toilet stop.
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- Llamas and alpacas belonging to local farmer.
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- With llamas and alpacas.
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- Llamas and alpacas belonging to local farmer.
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- At the highest point (4910 m) on the road to Chivay.
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- At the highest point (4910 m) on the road to Chivay.
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- Alpaca goods for sale at 4910 m.
Our rest in the Keros hotel after lunch was brief. We were picked up at 1530, about an hour after being dropped off, to go to the hot springs at Yanque. Descending the steps to the complex, we saw there were three pools. The two outside ones were barely warm while the one undercover was just warm enough. Even with the last one, we could walk straight in, which normally suggests that after a while it wouldn’t be warm enough.
Nevertheless, the warm soak plus the panadol/orphenadrine I had earlier seemed to have eased my headache and neckache.
From the springs, we were once again taken to the hotel for a brief rest before being picked up for dinner. The restaurant was a tourist trap but we knew it. The set meal was pricey to make up for the traditional music and dance. I enjoyed the costumes and the entertainment. There was one particular dance where the man whips the woman with a long tassle from his outfit and then she repays his “kindness” after by doing the same. Not sure what that was all about!
We retired at 2200 feeling relatively good considering the altitude of 3630 m (11,910 ft).
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- At the hot springs.
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- View from the hot springs.
