Peru
Canyon Country
TGIF fellow travelers! What are you up to this coming weekend? Today, we're taking a challenging trip to a higher plane. Off to the Canyon Country!
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| Reserva Nacional Salinas Y Aguada Blanca |
(Day 6)
"Bus Trip for a Tour of the Caňon del Colca"
The bus picked us up at 8:30 AM at our backpackers in Arequipa to go to Colca Canyon. Majority of the passengers in the bus spoke Spanish and there were only 4 passengers who doesn't. Dad and I were two of them. The tour guide then tried it in English afterwards, but I could barely understand his gibberish translation. Since Yohann speaks Spanish fluently, he translated it in English for me and French to Dad.
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| El Misti Volcano |
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| Vicuňa |
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| Free to roam.. |
"From the fertile valley of Arequipa, our bus climbed the mountains with an average elevation of 4300m above sea level upwards. Past the beautiful volcanic view of El Misti and Chachani, we discovered the National Reserve for the Vicuňas. Moving on, we found Alpacas and Llamas."
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| Group pic |
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| Turista (I like this photo very much) |
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| Peruvian Girl |
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| Peruvian Boy with his dear buddy |
As we ascended through a bleak antiplano over a high point of 4800m , I started getting dizzy, with my head spinning, I didn’t know whether I would throw up or faint. I could hardly breathe and felt feverish. That was my first taste of Altitude Sickness.
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| Cool rock formations |
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| Canyon Country landscape |
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| Typical hut |
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| Each rock formation signifies a wish from a local |
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| Vendors lined up the roads |
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| Huge array of sweaters, ponchos and souvenirs |
"The locals say that the best cure is a cup of Mate de Coca (Coca Tea). We had a stopover for a cup of the famous herbal tea and it made me feel a little bit better. What made me forget about the sickness temporarily was the Peruvian Lunch Buffet at Chivay."
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| Mate de Coca (Coca Tea) |
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| Eat all you can- Lunch buffet at Chivay
I temporarily forgot about my illness while I was enjoying the traditional Peruvian cuisine listening to beautiful cultural music.
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| Musicians played Peruvian tunes during lunch |
There were a handful of us who decided to stay in Yanque. We thought of staying with a local family in a traditional hut to experience what it's really like.
To be continued...
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