Arequipa To Chivay And Colca Canyon To Cusco

Was very hot leaving Arequipa and it took us nearly 3/4 hour to get to the city edge, the road out was mint winding up to 4889 meters now the highest point on our trip, still can’t crack that 5 tho .



Wasn’t long and the typical afternoon thunderstorms crept in firing hail and rain at us and chilling us down but we had stopped prior to the black bit and geared up so saweetas.

The heat and the cold blended to make a pretty cool airy look or hovering steam.





Dropping off the tops down into Chivay at 3500 metres raised the temps and no more rain, we also saw two dudes on BMWs so we stopped for a quick chat but they didn’t ....we must have needed a shower.

Setting up we decided to stay two nights in Chivay with the view of Colca Canyoning it the next day all day.

Chivay is a very nice town with a lot of street art showing there history with hats and costumes

Ellen sitting on a hat



I liked this costume



Colca Canyon day, spirits high as was the sun, perfect.

Well, almost ... we took the road in through the archeological sites which was great, then out into the main canyon, so we rode in and were waiting for the big hit.

Now they want $70 Soles ($25 US) to go there, hmmm.

So Condors?? none, good views of the canyon, ...not bad but Peru has far better and far more spectacular to offer and for free or very little .... $70 Soles hmmm.

There were three check points trying to get money from us and the entry is nearly double what Peruvians pay and they say it is steep too.

While the Canyon was big, we really felt that for the money it was disappointing, we felt we had made a mistake and not gone to the correct place but we did have it right.

So, this is our take only here and at the risk of sounding like whiners will keep it down but unless you actually get to see the Condors or are hell bent on seeing them Peru offers much much more than this (Note Huascaran National Park, $10 Soles or Kuelap for $15 Soles, Canyon De Pato, gratis) for a lot less or free and you don’t have to get off the beaten track too far to find them.

While we enjoyed our day we felt the canyon was over rated.

On that note no pics of Condors sorry guys.

Heading through to Espinar was a neat ride through the back blocks



Again there is plenty to look at with wild rock formations keeping us amused and interested



Staying on the dryer stuff was also important cos the darker stuff was like ice



In Espinar we spotted this, quite cool with portal axles and all including a big gun mount on the top.



And the spooky shot for the day, aliens .. well baby Alpacas anywya ... but they still looked spooky



Capping off our ride is the entry to the hostel down a bendy plank.