My trip to colca canyon was definitely interesting... The bus driver was ranked one of the top 5 drivers tourstico, or at least so they said. The tour guide was great, speaking both English and Spanish. Within the first hour we had seen vicuñas in the reserve outside Arequipa (a wild south American cameloid, related to llama and alpaca). We climbed to 4900m (with a stop for matte de coca), and on the way, the guide gave us a lesson in how to chew coca leaves. I tried it (how scandalous!!) but mostly it just makes your mouth numb. Supposedly it helps with the altitude as well.
The scenery was amazing--deserts covered in grass and rocky outcroppings, not too unlike Eastern Washington, although ringed by snow-capped volcanoes.
And then we actually started climbing. Holy god. El elevatión no es mi amigo. I was huddled in the bus, light-headed and ready to puke my guts out by the time we traveled all the windy roads to the 4900m/16,000ft point. Coca helps, eh? Pffft, my sick ass it helps. At most of the stops past the pass i stayed in the bus. I think the driver and guide were minutes from giving me oxygen, but my fingernails weren't too blue. When we got into town for lunch, I stretched out in the minibus and napped, ate some crackers, and thanked my lucky stars that I brought my Nuun along.
I was feeling better, and managed to go to the hot pools (probably not the best idea, but oh such an "experience" and the warmness was lovely) and managed to eat some soup and share some stuff with another American girl on the same tour for dinner. Then I took advil for my caffeine headache since I didn't have coffee and went to bed at 8pm. I'm such a party animal.
Waking up at 4am to body pains, an awful headache and the realization that I had definitely eaten something wrong over the previous few days is not the way to enjoy a vacation. At this point, I realized there is probably not going to be a "treck" in me anytime soon, thus meaning that I don't get to go to Mach Pichu the fun ways. However, the inclusion of chewable pepto-bismal was easily the best packing decision I made.
However, I managed to rally. I got myself moderately capable of walking downstairs, grabbed one of the hollow rolls they have here for breakfast, and avoided the jam. The long, bumpy, unpaved ride up to the canyon was not perfect, but breaks along the way made it bearable. We got to the condor point, and almost immediately two adult condors buzzed us. That was as good as it got though, and taking photos of animals that blend in rather well is hard. The guide offered a short hike along the rim of the canyon and I bucked up, went slow, took deep breaths, and went for the hike without incident.
Lunch after the rickety bus ride back to Chivay seemed impossible, but soup here is usually really good, and they had chicken noodle on the menu. This time it did seem to make me feel better. I slept over the high elevation pass thanks to some of our tour-mates taking a different onward route. They had the bulk of the luggage, and without it I claimed the back of the bus bench seat, to no complaints. I think everyone understood.
Now I am back in Arequipa with my tour friend for one more day and take the night bus to Cuzco tomorrow. Hopefully I don't get another round of altitude (or food) related fun.
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