arket stall, and spend a night out on the town with Daniella, the Dutch bartender at our hostel, and a few other backpackers. We decided that our next destination would be Arequipa, an historic mountain city in the Andes Mountains of southern Peru, with an elevation of about 2,500 meters, or just over
8,200 feet above sea level. The elevation was crucial in our decision-making process, as we wanted to take our time in gradually ascending the mountains of Peru on our way to Macchu Piccu, with hopes of avoiding altitude sickness. But alas, going from sea level in Lima to more than 8,000 feet in Arequipa was still a bit of a jump, and we both spent a couple of days battling headaches and fatigue. The local coca tea helped a lot with our altitude symptoms though, and before long we were up and running again. Coca tea is made by steeping coca leaves in hot water, then mixing in spoonfuls of sugar and slowly sipping – unlike the processed drug (cocaine), use of the leaves for tea or chewing is very public, and we often enjoyed glasses of coca tea in sidewalk cafés around Arequipa’s beautiful Plaza de Armas. 
We stayed at a great little hostel in Arequipa, where we met a few fellow backpackers who became amazing friends and travel companions over the next few weeks. There was even a go-cart race track near the hostel, where we spent more than a few evenings with our new friends, drinking warm beer and chasing each other at break-neck speeds around a tire-lined track – it’s amazing no one ended up with permanent injuries!
From Arequipa, we decided to endeavor a three-day trek into Colca Canyon with two of our new friends – Clare from S
outh Africa and Steve from Australia. Most travelers undertake this trek with a local guide, but Clare had spoken with some folks just returning from the trek and, with a little help from their hand-drawn maps, felt confident that we could do it on our own. Steve, Jax, and I were easily convinced. The trek would involve pretty significant changes in elevation, along with extreme physical exertion over a short three-day period, so we carried coca leaves with us to compensate for our bodies’ expected reactions to the altitude. While we were hiking, the leav
es were used by softening them in one cheek, then tucking them behind the bottom lip with a tiny quantity of llipta (a dark, bitter, ash-like plant derivative), which acts as a catalyst for the alkaloids in the leaves. It helped a lot in battling the headaches and fatigue of altitude sickness, especially on the last day, when we ran out of water on our long hike out of the canyon – as it turns out, the leaves help to relieve hunger and thirst as well (go figure)!The trek was very difficult, but amazing – definitely an unforgettable experience! I’ll tell you more about it in my next post. For now, here’s the next email I sent out from the road, and a little more about Arequipa...
Hello from Arequipa!
Date Oct 22, 2006 1:06 PM
Hello all!
Jax and I are now in the moutain city of Arequipa, at about 2500 meters (I think one meter is equal to 3 feet and 3 inches...at least that´s the conversion I´ve been using!). We´ve been here for a few days now, acclimating for ventures to higher ground. I wasn´t feeling too hot the first day or so, but now my body s
eems to have gotten used to it. Jax was even quicker to adjust than me. Arequipa is actually the second-largest city in Peru, next to Lima (although when we were in Trujillo they told us the same thing about that city).
This place is very beautiful - from the roof of our hostel you can very clearly see El Miste which is an active volcano, snow-capped and all! True to its name, there is mist soaring around the volcano´s peak. Arequipa seems far more calm (tranquillo) than Lima and Trujillo - the other big cities we´ve been to. The streets are made of cobblestone and most of the buildings are made of stone and brick. The buildings here are less colorful than in Lima, but the stonework has a very different and distinguished charm to it. The streets are relatively narrow and many of the buildings are several stories tall. Walking around town, it´s fun to look up every now and then to
realize that you´re surrouded by stone walls!
There is also a famous monastary in Arequipa, which is several square blocks in size and entirely surrounded by MASSIVE stone walls. Apparently inside the monastary is a separate little city, complete with a market, school, security, and everything else that the surrounding city of Arequipa has! We wanted to go in for a tour, but the hours for touring are very restrictive and we seem to miss them every time we´re in town.
Most cities in Peru have a ¨Plaza de Armas,¨ which is the town square. The Plaza de Armas in Arequipa is bordered to the north by a HUGE cathedral with two spires - one at each of the northern corners of the square. The west side of the square is lined with little restaurants and cafes, along the south side is a drug store and other shops, and along the east side are dessert (postres) shops. Delish! :) Unfortunately I have´t taken many photos around Arequipa - up until today, I´ve been feeling pretty low-energy (typical altitude symptom) and I also finally got hit by the dreaded travel bug, wherein one of the primary symptoms is a strong desire to know where t
he nearest toilet is at all times. Ick. But I´m better now - perhaps will get some photos before we leave town tonight.
Tonight we´re catching a bus up to Cañon del Colca, which is supposed to be deeper than the Grand Canyon and the second deepest canyon in the world, although there is apparently a debate about that. Suffice to say that you wouldn´t want to fall in! We plan to head through the town of Chivay (3700 meters [~12,200 feet]), which is the southern-ost town along the canyon rim, and instead stay (at least the first day or so) in the town of Cabanaconde (3290 meters [~10,800 feet]), a couple hours down the road, in order to ease into the altitude. From there, we can trek down to the canyon floor, where apparently there is an EPIC series of hotsprings and a bungalow-type hostel - fun fun!! :) Perhapos the not -so-fun-fun part will be the t
rek back up....although I hear there are mules available for folks who get down there and can´t make it back up. I wonder how many people feign incompetance for a free mule ride! Ha ha.
Our plans from here have developed a bit over the last couple3 of days. Whereas originally we were going to head southwest, through Chile, when we get out of the moutains in Peru, it looks like we will now we will head southeast, through Bolivia and Argentina, entering Chile in the very south. We´ve been talking with a lot of other travelers who have spent time in South America and the general consensus seems to be that the Bolivia route is preferable for backpackers (not to mention cheaper)! I´ll send more info as our plans develop.
Before I sign off (there is a line waiting as usual) --- we heard that there was a big earthquake off the shore of Lima recently, although we were in Arequipa at the time and didn´t feel a thing. So don´t worry - we´re fine! Also, just so you know, we won´t have any internet access for the next 3 - 4 days while were on the Calon del Colca adventure. Take care, and I´ll write again when we get back from the canyon!
Hasta luego,
Aubrey
Jax and I are now in the moutain city of Arequipa, at about 2500 meters (I think one meter is equal to 3 feet and 3 inches...at least that´s the conversion I´ve been using!). We´ve been here for a few days now, acclimating for ventures to higher ground. I wasn´t feeling too hot the first day or so, but now my body s
eems to have gotten used to it. Jax was even quicker to adjust than me. Arequipa is actually the second-largest city in Peru, next to Lima (although when we were in Trujillo they told us the same thing about that city).This place is very beautiful - from the roof of our hostel you can very clearly see El Miste which is an active volcano, snow-capped and all! True to its name, there is mist soaring around the volcano´s peak. Arequipa seems far more calm (tranquillo) than Lima and Trujillo - the other big cities we´ve been to. The streets are made of cobblestone and most of the buildings are made of stone and brick. The buildings here are less colorful than in Lima, but the stonework has a very different and distinguished charm to it. The streets are relatively narrow and many of the buildings are several stories tall. Walking around town, it´s fun to look up every now and then to
realize that you´re surrouded by stone walls!There is also a famous monastary in Arequipa, which is several square blocks in size and entirely surrounded by MASSIVE stone walls. Apparently inside the monastary is a separate little city, complete with a market, school, security, and everything else that the surrounding city of Arequipa has! We wanted to go in for a tour, but the hours for touring are very restrictive and we seem to miss them every time we´re in town.
Most cities in Peru have a ¨Plaza de Armas,¨ which is the town square. The Plaza de Armas in Arequipa is bordered to the north by a HUGE cathedral with two spires - one at each of the northern corners of the square. The west side of the square is lined with little restaurants and cafes, along the south side is a drug store and other shops, and along the east side are dessert (postres) shops. Delish! :) Unfortunately I have´t taken many photos around Arequipa - up until today, I´ve been feeling pretty low-energy (typical altitude symptom) and I also finally got hit by the dreaded travel bug, wherein one of the primary symptoms is a strong desire to know where t
he nearest toilet is at all times. Ick. But I´m better now - perhaps will get some photos before we leave town tonight.Tonight we´re catching a bus up to Cañon del Colca, which is supposed to be deeper than the Grand Canyon and the second deepest canyon in the world, although there is apparently a debate about that. Suffice to say that you wouldn´t want to fall in! We plan to head through the town of Chivay (3700 meters [~12,200 feet]), which is the southern-ost town along the canyon rim, and instead stay (at least the first day or so) in the town of Cabanaconde (3290 meters [~10,800 feet]), a couple hours down the road, in order to ease into the altitude. From there, we can trek down to the canyon floor, where apparently there is an EPIC series of hotsprings and a bungalow-type hostel - fun fun!! :) Perhapos the not -so-fun-fun part will be the t
rek back up....although I hear there are mules available for folks who get down there and can´t make it back up. I wonder how many people feign incompetance for a free mule ride! Ha ha.Our plans from here have developed a bit over the last couple3 of days. Whereas originally we were going to head southwest, through Chile, when we get out of the moutains in Peru, it looks like we will now we will head southeast, through Bolivia and Argentina, entering Chile in the very south. We´ve been talking with a lot of other travelers who have spent time in South America and the general consensus seems to be that the Bolivia route is preferable for backpackers (not to mention cheaper)! I´ll send more info as our plans develop.
Before I sign off (there is a line waiting as usual) --- we heard that there was a big earthquake off the shore of Lima recently, although we were in Arequipa at the time and didn´t feel a thing. So don´t worry - we´re fine! Also, just so you know, we won´t have any internet access for the next 3 - 4 days while were on the Calon del Colca adventure. Take care, and I´ll write again when we get back from the canyon!
Hasta luego,
Aubrey
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