WHERE TO START!? WHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEERRRRRREEEEEEE to start.
AMAZING! To sum it up in just a few words... No, first I think I will tell you all about it, then afterwards I can summarise into the best fitting, few words. Now, to begin...
asdfghjklñ¨´! AMAZING.
Day One:
What we thought was going to begin as a 3am start, actually turned out to be a 4am start when the mini bus (combi) finally arrived to collect us for the 3-4 hour ride to Chivay, a small town in the mountains. If it wasn't luck, then what was it? Because I had to sit in the most uncomfortable seat in the whole combi. Right up front, without a headrest. This meant I had nill oppertunity to sleep, as well as having to hop out when we stopped at Toll Stops so that the Organiser could pay for us to pass. This, however, was only a minor prickle as the view of the mountains against deserts, salt plaines and streams that turn into icicles definitely over-powered anything negative.
At 7am, we had reached the last peak of a hill, to which we could see the small town of Chivay. As I had to sit in the worst chair, I think I was probably the most excited. You see, being able to look out the windscreen, I was able to see where every curve and bend in the road was. Now, whoever built this road was very cruel. They like to play tricks on your eyes. What looked like a 15 minute drive, turned out to be a good 30 or 40 minutes. Eventually, we reached Chivay, hopped out for a quick bite of breakfast, then headed up to see El Condor.
*El Condor*
I just thought this should have it's own special little section, I mean, it was pretty impressive.
So, two hours later, we reached the clifs of the condors, the largest birds in the world (apparently?). Wow, what a sight. So many tourists who flocked to one sight. Hah, no, but really, the birds are amazing. Swooping in this gigantic valley of chissled rock cliffs, surely something to see before you die.
After the encounter with the condors, we drove (2 hours) back to Chivay and had a quick lunch before setting off on the 3 day trekk, down into Colca. This was gulped down alongside a mug of Coca tea, a drink/method used to prevent Altitude Sickness, and then we were off on our way, with our heavy packs and sunblock covered skin. Always have to be safe in the sun, kids.
To estimate roughly the length of walking on this day, it would have been roughly 3-4 hours, which going down hill seems easy, right? Well down hill is so much harder when you're on slippery, thin tracks that are hardly even sketched into the cliff face, walking with a bag and you have little, chicken legs like I do. Thankfully we were able to take breaks every so often, and I figure I probably took more, not just because I was tired, but I believe that when you set out on a trekk in somewhere so beautiful as The Andes, the most important thing to do is to stop and take in as much of the scenery as you can.
At about 3pm, I suppose it was, we reached the river. This, thankfully meant we weren't far from our first night's accommadation. We walked down on the pebbled rocks and the girls, Juliette and Fanny, took their shoes off for a dip in the water. I chose not to, because I figure it would have been more releaving to reach the final stop of the day and take my shoes and stinky socks off there. For me, good idea, though, I did forget to bring my jandals with me, and hell, how did I forget, seriously?
More or less 4pm, we had made it to our bungalo, where we were to sleep our first night. If you think of the feeling when you've had a really long day at work or school, and you take your shoes off, sit down with a nice glass of something, (no, no, not necessarily alcoholic) and esentially couch out for the evening, then multiply that by about 60, that is how good it felt. We had a glass of something. This was the life. Despite the fact I had to shower in this duddy thing that didn't have a proper, closing door. Depsite the fact that my pillow was essentially full with rocks or, stone-llama wool, I slept well that night, and thankfully I didn't eat the Alpaca meat that was served for dinner.
Day Two:
After what may have been the best worst night's sleep in my life, I felt ready and rejuvinated for the second day of trekking. Possibly more so than the day before, because I knew the second day was mostly flat, walking in the canyon itself. After a few bangs and booms as the locals were knocking away bits of the cliffs further back with explosives, we made our first pitstop. Our guide, Ivan, showed us a traditional method from the Inkas, where you collect these bugs, similar to aphids, that live off of cacti. When you have a bunch, you squash them in your hand and use them as a sort of paint, or in a way, like sunblock, and apply it as if you were applying war paint. Soon after, we ended up meeting up with a few other groups who had set off on the same journey as us with other guides and we knew they had stoppe dat the same place, as they had red markings on their foreheads, some on their noses as well. I believe we looked like Genuine Inkas, with the strips across the cheeks.
blah blah, I need to speed this up a bit.
So, during this day we stopped off in a few small towns, one where we went into a small museum of local traditions. This was very interesting as we learnt lots about life at home, Quechua traditions and the animals that lived within the area, including a snarky looking fox ;)
Like the road I mentioned earlier, the same deal went down with the tracks. You see it bend, then you see in some completely different place, another track, and at first you think, " Oh, well I will stay on my track, thank you very much", until you realise that you're in a place so isolated, there is ONLY going to be one track. Once I saw the specs of blue, that was my motivation to kick-start and make my way down as fast (and of course, as 'safely') as possible, as these specs of blue were more than that, they were the swimming pools at the resorts - what I had been looking forward to the whole trip.
FINALLY, we got there, had a quick lunch, and yes, I waited a good 15 - 30 minutes after lunch before swimming. When I got into the pool, I looked up to see blue sky, cut off by these enormous cliffs of red and grey. Incredible.
At night time, we sat at a candle-lit table (because they don't have lights down there) next to some Faroesh girls (from the Faroe Islands if you didn't get the first hint). Very interesting language and very interesting people. I say, don't judge on their eating of whale, it's completely normal when you think about it. Tonight we were in need of a decent sleep, as we were to embark on the journey upward, at 5am. We retired to our bungalo, where I was soon to find... A FREAKIN' SCORPION! NAH UH I AM NOT SLEEPING WITH THAT ABOVE MY HEAD!
Thankfully, Juliette squashed it, and I slept fine, more or less scorpionless, bar the remains.
Day Three:
5am with a cup of Coca tea for the Altitude, a banana and some cookies for breakfast. Not necessarilly ideal, but you have to make compromises, I mean, the only way out was up.
There was the choice of taking a mula (mule/donkey) up instead of walking, but the difference between the two wasn't only the S/50 for a mula, but also losing the beautiful views of landscapes and not having the chance to stop and look back, so I took on the climb, along with Juliette. We made it up in 2.5 hours, as appossed to a 3-4 hour climb. Legends or WHAT?
Never in my life have I felt such a feeling of accomplishment. I mean, I got to Peru, and that was pretty close, but nothing comes as close to nature and physical triumph. Later that day we headed back to Chivay, took a dip in the Thermal Hot Springs (smelt like Rotarua, but not as bad) then headed home, in the uncomfortable combi. I was, how you say, in need of a good night's rest, and I did just that.
(minor)SIDE EFFECTS: BOM BOM BOM!
FYI: About a day later, in the middle of the night, I finally got my altitude sickness, as well as the other two. It wasn't pretty, just saying ;P
Summary:
I think the best way I've put it so far is that, well, not if, but when you finally get the chance to trekk through The Andes, do it. You wont regret it. You get tired, but the views are something you can't capture solely in a photograph. It should be on your bucketlists.
Until next time...
Liam in Perù ;D
p.s. forgive me for any grammtical errors, you will find some somewhere for sure.
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