We arrived to our hostel (Pirwa) around 9:30 in the morning, changed our clothes, and walked to Plaza de Armas in order to book a biking trek going down the Volcano El Misti. I had to translate and bargain for the group, which was at times exhausting, but really helped me improve my Spanish.. We had a nice lunch, and were in the Jeeps bumping up the trail of El Misti with the bikes on top.
When we (the first jeep with 6 people) arrived at the biking starting point, we had to wait 30 minutes for the 2nd jeep to catch up. To entertain ourselves during this wait, we swatted and ran from BOUS (Bugs of unusual size) fearing that if one were to sting, we might die. The driver (who had already returned to Arequipa) had not informed us about the bugs, so there was no way to be sure. Every guide we asked after that gave us the same reaction:
"Señor, are these bugs venemous? If they sting us will we get sick?"
Guide:: *Shrugs shoulders* "Ehhhh.... isaaa Not going to hurt.... Ehh.. I have had no cases yet..."...
Reassuring...
So, finally, jeep #2 arrives, we get our bikes prepped, put on our helmets and knee pads and get ready to roll. **I must note that the last time I had ridden a bicycle was a year prior, where I was trying to get used to a bike a friend had given me for free... I was riding it in the parking lot outside of Jackson's Java (my work place in Charlotte) and after some ungraceful maneuvers, I landed myself into a tree trunk.... but the bike was safe** So, needless to say, I was a bit nervous about riding down a mountain path with gravel, sand, cacti, holes in the path.... But I only fell one time, right at the beginning trying to get used to the bike.
The ride was incredible!!! We rode for an hour just going down the skirt of the volcano on the mountain path. We continued on the paved road going down farther with deep curves and slopes, and then biked up another mountain to a village... Out of the 10 in our group, 7 of us are women and 3 guys. The 3 guys, the guide and I were the only was that made it to the top (yes... I walked my bike up the hills) the rest hopped into the emergency jeep to just enjoy the view.
When we returned to the hostel we were all exhausted. We ate, booked our tour of Canyon Colca for the next morning, and went to bed early, knowing that we would have to be ready for the tour bus at 3:30AM.
The tour consisted of 3 hours riding in the bus until the town of Chivay, which is the entrance to Canyon Colca. Here we had our breakfast, drank Coca Tea to prep ourselves for the very high altitude, and tried to wake up.
ANother 1.5 hours of bussing up winding roads, watching the beautiful scenery of terraced farmland and valleys pass us by. We stopped at the Condor Landing, where tourists come to watch the condors fly while the sun is out.We trekked around this area for 2 hours. Each person feeling a bit weak and dizzy, short of breath, and heat. All but the heat are some symptoms of Altitude Sickness.. Only one from our group suffered worse much later, but during this time we just took our walking slowly.
We bussed back the 3 hours, after eating a very late lunch in Chivay, returning to Arequipa around 7:30PM. Again, too tired to really do more than rest, we all packed our bags preparing for our buses the next day.
Sunday was our last day together. We had left this day for touring the central area of Arequipa. We visited a Colonial Convent which is still being used today, and also saw the Ice Princess Juanita (archaeological find) in her museum.
After Melissa and her friends left for the bus station, I met up with my friend Martin, whom I had not seen in 3.5 years, also studied at UNCC. He showed me around his part of the city, and we ate lunch together. It really was great to reconnect with him!!
(The hat I am wearing in this photo I bought in Arequipa)
Next....Cuzco!!
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