Arequipa and Colca Canyon

I spent 11 hours on the bus from Cusco to Arequipa. There is night buses that most backpackers take to save a night expenses, but I intentionally took the day bus because I wanted to see! It was worthwhile, the views were absolutely amazing and I gazed out the window for the entire length of the trip. We went through the Andean highlands, all around 4000-5000m altitude. Arequipa is the second largest city of Peru with about 1 Mio inhabitants. It is located between a bunch of 6000m high volcanoes and has a gorgeous colonial old town with heaps of restaurants and bars to hang out and chill. It’s also the gateway to the Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world (the worlds deepest is also in that region but not that famous). So I went on a three day trekking trip into the canyon.  The tour was really nice, we slept one night in a village inside the canyon and a second night all the way on the bottom in the oasis. Walking in the canyon was tedious though because the sun was just boiling us. So we were actually not walking much, the entire trekking time for the three days was around 7 hours, but we were pretty much on our limits anyways. The second day treated us with half a day off in the oasis, which had a pool where we hung out the whole afternoon. It was the first time in my 3 month travelling time that I got to do that---sunbath and lazing in the pool, so it felt very good. On the third day we started walking out of the canyon at 5 am to avoid the sun, and we got back out before 8 am after accomplishing 1200m of altitude difference and back to 3800m. Obviously the altitude adds always another level to the challenge. On the way back we visited the Aguas Calientes (hot springs) in Chivay (the City of Love!) to relax our sore muscles. We headed back to Arequipa and stopped at the highest point of the road pass at 4900m, a moon-like landscape with breathtaking vies all around the volcanoes. And saw heaps of lama herds on the way.

Back in Arequipa I had the chance to enjoy some Peruvian nightlife with my travel group, it was a long night out and lots of fun. I also finally managed to have my first proper salsa dance. Of course, everyone in Latin America thinks that he can dance salsa but usually that only includes the basic step. So I was happy to dance with a salsa instructor that whirled me around like I am used to from Switzerland and I enjoyed that heaps (gosh I miss my salsa routine a lot!!!!). Arequipa was my last stop in Peru. I only spent around 3 weeks in Peru but I really loved every single day of it! It`s an amazing country that has everything to offer from desert, endless beaches and coastline, Andean highlands with super high volcanoes and cloud forests, jungle, canyons and much more. It’s a magical place, the people are amazing and I definitely need to come back to explore more. Thank you Peru for everything you offered to me! It`s been a huge journey in all dimensions!  For now, my next stop is el Lago Titicaca, on the Bolivian side.