Peru: Arequipa and Colca Canyon

Arequipa was meant to be just a starting point for Colca Canyon but ended up having a few interesting sights of its own.  The city itself, at an elevation of about 7,800 feet, is overlooked by three volcanoes - El Misti, Chachani, and PichuPichu.  It is often referred to as the white city because many of its buildings are made of sillar, a white volcanic stone.  We visited the cathedral and toured a monastery, founded in 1549 (Monasterio Santa Catalina.) 

Tiny doorway

Monasterio Santa Catalina

 We also visited a museum which houses "Juanita," an Incan mummy found in 1995 after a nearby volcanic eruption melted the ice caps that had preserved her body for nearly 550 years.

"Juanita"

Arequipa was also where we had our first introduction to the traditional Peruvian attire as many of the locals (even ones who were not just trying to have tourists take pictures with them for a price) dressed in traditional clothing.  It was easy to find alpacas and llamas in the main square (the Plaza de Armas) with their owners eager for photos. 

Traditional clothes and pet pigeons

Plaza de Armas all dressed up for Peruvian Independence Day

In Arequipa we booked a two day tour to Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world.  The canyon is quite a ways away and we spent about six hours on a hot, cramped bus.  The bus did have air conditioning, but why use it?  At least there was some relief when we ascended to the higher, colder elevation.  At one point, we reached almost 16,000 feet where we stopped for an awesome view of the area, which included at least four different volcanoes.  

Our awesome ride

Mirador de los Andes, 4,910m

We stopped several other times, mainly so that the locals could sell their crafts and alpaca wool scarves and hats to us.  

Alpacas

Locals selling crafts in the middle of nowhere

We spent the night in Chivay, a very small town in the Colca Valley.  The room was better than expected but did not have heating and at night temperatures dropped below freezing.  We actually ran the shower for a while hoping that it might heat up the room a little bit.  In the morning we left bright and early for Colca Canyon.  Of course, we again had to stop several times in different towns so that the locals might sell more crafts or be given a sole or two for a picture with their alpaca.  Even though it was quite a trek to get there, Colca Canyon was worth it.  We had just over an hour to sit and take in the beautiful scenery and watch the huge condors soaring through the canyon.