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After arriving in Arequipa a city of 1 million we found ourselves a nice hotel for around 8 pounds a night - fully equipped with Cable TV and excellent shower. First point of call was coffee and black jungle cake sitting in a cafe overlooking the central plaza. Life is relaxing at the moment. Some nice Italian food followed by a comfy bed.

Volcanoes and Valleys

James and Anne Walkington
2006-09-11 11:37:11

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and dry following a switch backing road we descended into the airy confines of one of the deepest canyons on Earth. A little unsure of the route as we got lower we thought that some local teenagers were pointing out our path contouring across a slope which was where the guidebook was saying we should be going. After scrambling up through rocks and shrubs we arrived at the traversing path. Although it looked a little dubious (being narrow with large drops on our right) we set off along it. Annoyingly after about 30mins we arrived at a section of path which had been taken out by a landslide. The teenagers had already crossed this but with heavy rucksacks on and a daunting 100m drop we thought better of this and decided to back track and descend to the river by a road. a much safer option.

Lunch at the river was followed by a bridge crossing (half the planks were missing and it swung dangerously in the wind) and a steep climb up to another contouring path towards Choco our first nights stop. Although this path was steep and narrow it was at least all there and eventually around 5pm we arrived in Choco a small friendly village who allowed us to stay in their town hall. They still had electricity and street lights despite the only access to the village is via the path which we had just traversed.
Thinks she is going to die, exhausted on top.

Again setting off early we walked with a local girl on the first of two hard days of climbing towards Paso Cerani. Today we were stopping at another small village called Miña. Walking up the river for most of the day passing through sheer gorges and plantation of wild flowers. The Miña terraces eventually came into view and we were greeted by a young lad who offered to carry our bags on his donkey the following day upto the 5100m pass. We found a nice campsite just outside the village in someone's donkey paddock and passed the remainder of the day soaking up the fantastic views back to the Colca Canyon. ...