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Colca Canyon

So, unfortunately, the raging torrents of my sickness continued for the next 3 days!

Remarkably fortunately, there was a reprieve on the second day for a 8 hour bus ride to Ariquipa which had neither of the 2 toilets promised by the agent - a potentially disasterous situation!!

Arequipa turned out to be a great place to be sick. Nice climate & the 30 metre radius (The distance I permitted myself to stray from a toilet) surrounding our hostel was also extremely beautiful.

Once better, I searched all the agencies looking for one with a group that was wanting to trek the Colca canyon for a few days (since Iris is still out with a damaged knee). I finally found one that said it did, but it turned out that the only difference between them and the other agencies were that they lied about having a group.

So, we set off, just me & the guide & descended into the quite spectacular canyon. It is arguably the deepest in the world - twice the depth of the Grand Canyon & it really did feel imense - particularly with the giant Andean Condor soaring high above!

In contrast with the sparse, cool top of the canyon, the inside was lush & near tropical making for a pretty relaxing environment. The second day, we treked 2 hours (The agent told me it was 5 hours!) to reach a place called 'Paradise'. Hanging there was a lot of fun. People passed thru all day making for a pretty social time & the guys working there were all a good laugh. At one stage, I gave an impromptu boxing lesson for an hour or so which they all loved!

This morning we got up at 3am & steamed up the canyon for 2 hours without stopping & then to a place called 'Cruz Del Condor' where about a hundred or so tourists were crowded around a lookout spotting condors which made a brief appearance - a bit of a contrast to my condor experience in Samaipata!! I met up with Iris there, by chance as she had decided to do an overnight tour to the canyon, and came back here together to Arequipa. We fly off tomorrow (hopefully) for Cusco.

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