November 21th
Last night, Clever told us to be ready to start hiking at 5 am. That was actually slightly lucky in that all other groups were starting at 4:30. To recap my last four days, I’ve had to get up at 2:30 am twice, 6 am and now 4:30 am…I’m going to need a holiday from my holiday!
Our group
of four of us left the Oasis and began the 1200 meter climb out of the canyon. As we climbed higher and higher, the early
sun rays started to light up the peaks of the mountains on the opposite side of
the valley. Clever played some pan flute
music on his phone which kept the group moving at a nice and steady pace. We passed group after group and hardly took
any breaks.
Looking back at the Oasis:
About three
quarter of the way up, Geraldine was beginning to slow down a bit, wanting to
go at her pace. Clever offered that I
could go on ahead, but to wait for them at the top. I didn’t feel like I was racing up the
mountain but I kept a good tempo going.
As I climbed higher, I could see the groups below including a train of
donkeys bringing up some tourists.
Getting higher:
I reached
the top at 7:10 am, two hours and ten minutes after starting. There were a few other guys who had been
there for about 10 minutes but they had left at 4:30 so I was surprised and
pleased that the only trekkers who climbed out of the canyon faster than me
were the donkeys, who did it in just under 2 hours…those asses! 😉
The rest of my group arrived twenty minutes later and after a few celebratory pics, we walked along a relatively flat path towards a small town for breakfast in a small, dimly light room. When I first woke up, I had a bit of a headache and now it was back and getting worse. After I ate, I had to step outside to wait for Clever to let us know when we are moving on from this town. About half an hour later, we walked about 4 blocks through the town and were picked up by a small tourist bus. We bid good-bye to Clever who was about to guide a 2 day trek so he was going to do the whole circuit in one day…no thanks!
Our bus drove
for a couple of hours and then stopped at a tourist looking restaurant (for
Peruvian tourists too) for lunch. My
head was pounding by now which I assumed was from dehydration so I had been drinking
a lot of water and felt bloated. The
last thing I wanted to do was sit in a noisy, stuffy, large, packed restaurant
eating a big meal, so I opted to stay in the bus.
After lunch,
we stopped at some hot springs. What a
great idea after a trek! Even though my
headache still persisted, it felt nice to soak my leg muscles in some hot water
with the occasional dip into a cold pool.
We stayed for about an hour and after a ten minute bus ride I bid adieu
to Eric and Geraldine as they were taking a different but to head to Puno, on
the shores of Lake Titicaca, where I would be heading the following evening on
an overnight bus. They were a fun couple
to share this little adventure with.
I stole this pic from Reinier and Sibel, who were at the hot springs the day before:
Au revoir Geraldine et Eric!
We stopped at a lookout of the volcanos around Arequipa on the way back:
And also said hello to some llamas and alpacas:
It was a great little trek into Colca Canyon…highly recommended.
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