Canyons of my Mind

We left Cusco heading south and aiming for Chile. But before we re-entered that country we wanted to visit the Colca Canyon, one of the biggest in the world. Apparently it´s just over 1,000m down, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and is famous for the condors that circle in the morning. But it´s a tricky place to get to. First, a three-hour bus journey on the highest road I´ve ever been on. It took us up to 4,800m, that´s three miles and only about 700m lower than Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa´s highest mountain! We both felt a bit light headed and were glad to descend. We were lucky to go on the old road and pass by Peru´s most active volcano, Ubinas, which was smoking for us.

From the town of Chivay there´s a two-and-a-half hour journey on an unmade road. But the bus is in demand and we stood in an orderly queue that convulsed everytime a bus pulled in.

The men and women, mostly in stetsons (the men) and delicately embroidered hats, skirts and waistcoats (the women) grabbed everything and threw themselves at the coach door. This happened about three times before we got on one. As it stopped in villages further down the road some men clambered on the roof (and this is a typical National Express-style coach). That night we stayed in a small town at the top of the canyon, sleeping in a converted barn and eating by candlelight in a small bar. We were up at 5.30am to walk to the canyon and hopefully see some condors. We saw a few but the canyon was the star, its steep sides home to impossibly isolated villages. We sat and looked upon the distant river as villagers passed us, leading their donkeys along ancient trails.