Colca Canyons

Okay, it´s official. I hate tours.

But before I get too much into that, I finally found more street food. Oddly, street food, which is generally common in developing countries is relatively scarce in Peru. I´ll take it where I can get it. This stand was outside of my favorite internet cafe in Arequipa.

I remember hearing on Bizarre Foods w Andrew Zimmern or No Reservations w Anthony Bourdain that street food is characteristically cheap and easy to make, and is always in the form of comfort food. This is a prime example. Ramen noodles, fried rice, a piece of fried chicken, all covered in ketchup and mustard. All in all, not bad, but I wouldn´t make this at home. My doctor would kill me!

Well, since I last blogged, I went to and returned from the Colca Canyons tour. Like I said before, I am really starting to hate tours. They have a way of getting in between you and connecting with that which you have come to experience. Unfortunately, in many cases, they are your only option if you want to see something without having to secure your own Jeep, insurance, international license, etc. So I will quit moaning. I would say I would not do another tour before the end of my adventure, but that would be silly talk. Larger cities can be enjoyed without interference of a tour guide and that will be enough for me for now. Next time I travel abroad, I will be more prepared with an international language (and some knowledge of the local language).

One thing that is nice about tours is that they pick you up where you are staying usually. My tour bus arrived bright and early at 8:45am having already picked up most of the other patrons. It was about 4 hours to Colca Canyons, but we made stops along the way to look at interesting stuff.

Our first stop was to have some Coca tea and to see some very strange natural rock formations. I stood an marvelled at the formations seen behind me in this photograph for nearly the entire time I was there. Suffice it to say, I didn´t drink my tea.

This area of Peru, Colca Canyons and Arequipa is pretty breathtaking when you have a little silence and are able to really take it all in. Where I stood in this photo, I was surrounded by these fantastic rock formations, active volcanoes, and miles of desert. It was surreal.

There was a cute baby alpaca at one of our stops. I was tempted to take a photo with it, but not wanting to get infected with some kind of bacteria, I decided to just take some video of a fellow traveller holding it. Despite being a potential carrier of infectious disease, the baby alpaca was very cute.

The trip was an overnighter. The drive there was beautiful and we stayed in a cabin at Chivay, the base camp for the Colca Canyon tour. We had dinner together at a Peruvian pizza shack. I was invited to join the a very nice Peruvian family who were touring their own country. We were treated to some live traditional Peruvian entertainment.

The next day, we continued our tour of the canyon. The climax of the tour was a visit to ¨Cruz de Condor," as stated in Wikipedia, "the pass where condors soar gracefully on the rising thermals occurring as the air warms." Seeing wild condor up close and personal was pretty cool; I did enjoy this quite a bit.

Today, I am off to purchase a ticket to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. After that, I may just head straight to Buenos Aires. From what I hear, BA is a place that I want to give myself at least a week to enjoy. Thanks again for reading and the comments!