I kept waking up during the night but finally I overslept. What woke me up was a van collecting people for a trip, thanks god not it wasn´t mine. In the next 10 minutes I was packed and ready. I was totally smashed so I felt asleep in the car as soon as I sat in my seat. I woke up just for a minute, when an orange waif of sunrise poured inside the van.
This is how I got to Canion del Colca – the second deepest cannon in the world (3191m). 3 days, 2 nights and a bit of walking. The first stop – not including breakfast – was on a hill of which we could spot condors. My watchful eye missed one sitting on the precipice right next to me, but after an hour of waiting I saw two from distance.
Crossing the cannon itself was definitely worth the effort. First we had to go down to its very bottom, which did not give too much difficulty, but it lasted. It was a pretty long hike, but as with these kind of outings, it was well worth the effort. It was a pretty rocky trek, and many of the people with us complained that it hurt their feet through their shoes. Most people even had what I would observe as decent shoes for hiking. I had no such issue because I was wearing alpaca socks which are quite comfy, so it added an extra layer of padding. I might just make a mental note to keep doing so in future hiking trips.
The next day – I can say – I woke up in the morning, but as a colleague accidentally locked me in a room from the outside, I slept a bit longer. A walk through the canyon is a sandy road through the pebble path, and then a 40 minutes climb, during which I met an old woman with the mules listening to the salsa on the radio on her shoulder and calling me her daughter.
In the village located on the top of the path we visit the museum of the local culture, organized by one of the families. The exhibition includes a number of stuffed animals, farm tools, textiles and corn (source of chicha). A daughter of the owners told us – with her fluent english – how it works in the field with chichi – they like to drink the strong one (fermented for 4 days), because it brings more fun. The Museum has a profile on Facebook (a museum in the canyon has a profile on FACEBOOK !!!!! I’ve also met a jewelry artist from US and he doesn´t even have an e-mail account, he gave me his business card and asked to call him in 4 months when he is back and switches-on the phone again).
Women who lives in the area has very distinctive clothes. Apparently they wear such clothes in every day, but there is always a chance they´ve put it on just for us.>
While walking I can feel the surrounding space, it’s easier to breathe. For a night we stopped at an oasis, which looked like a scene from a movie. Located at the bottom of the canyon, all green, with blue water in the pool, to which we are all relieved to jump. Warned about mosquitoes we sprayed around. Unfortunately I did not predict that attack at night in the toilet, so I ended up with bitten buttocks.
The last day we wake up at 4:30 and march without breakfast 1200m up. For several days I am sick and breathing through the nose is not an option, so I stay a little behind, what allows me to frequent stops and to look down. Several people took the mules to the top, while others gave their backpacks to porters. I was caring all my luggage, and felt like I lost 2 kg on the way. At the end I kept being taken over by mules.
