day 07 - visit madrigale and back to Arequipa

Went for a trip this morning to the ruins on top of a hill near the village Madrigale.

It was a quite difficult climb of 2:30 ... I was with a guide who was willing to stop from while to while ... poco a poco ... and this is what we found at the top ...

A seat for the chief ...

then a view of the ruins ...

and of course what a view ...

The way down was done in 1 hour with a stop half way down where some more tombs where situated. Even textile and rope to wrap the mummy ...

Then back to the hotel to fetch the lugage and hop to Chivay to fetch the bus to Arequipa ... all went well until at we heard a noice and ...

the car went broke ... in the middle of nowhere at 3800 altitude sun going down and getting colder and colder ... we just passed the highest point where it was snowing ...

so after an hour wait there was nothing else to do then to get the next bus (already full-seated)

and stand up in the middle ...

luckely after an hour bumpy ride we were transfered to a more comfartable bus where - not all of us but I did- whe could sit ... after a few hours drive and a realy good shower I went to Arequipa centre and had a real good meal...

pisco-sour, tuna-carpacio with a glass of white wine, a trio of andian meat with a glass of red whine ... total 110 sol = 25 €

day 06 - Tombs & Ruins of Coporaque - ruins of Uyo Uyo

Went for a long walk in the morning to the village of Coporaque nearby ...  first passed by the chuch of Yanque

One of the dog of the hotel followed me for a long time to the village Coporaque (1 hour 30 walk)...

we went over the Colca-river

To the next mirador where I saw Inca-terracces still used by the people today ... they where masters in irregation

View from Coporaque to Yanque

and view up the hill where the tombs are ...

After an intensive climb ... to have the same amount of 1 breathtake in Belgium you need to breath 3 times over here ...

even a big tomb with a whole skeleton in its original position ... I did make some offers of real coca-leaves ... you never know !

Below the tombs are the ruins of an old village ...

On the way down ...

Have to climb over some stone walls before I got to the road though...

Back to the hotel to fetch some sleep and at 3pm a car with 35 loudly peruvians came to the hotel. As in the price of the room a little visit was included I got with all those people in their bus (with some other tourists) and went to the pre-inca ruins of Uyo Uyo... some pics... the main sacral house was rebuild ...

The little house of the current guardian ...

some irrigation-structures

On the way back we stopped at a natural spring for bathing 35degrees  ...it would have been very nice ...without 35 loudly peruvians. I have a pic, but as it was night the quality is not so good ...

day 05 - Arequipa - Canyon de Colca

HAd the bus at 3:30 and went up to the high planes of the Andes ... and the first sunrays...

High peaks over 6000m the road goes over a pass of 4000m ... before we see the Conyon de colca

This bus got to the end of the conyon to a village called Cabanaconde ... where I went for a little walk to a viewing-point they call over here mirador

with some breathtaking views

and ... yes ... i ddn't hope to see some ... they came from a little further using the hot air to go up .... a couple of condors !!

Afterwards taken the bus back to the begin of the canyon to the village of Yanque where I was to stay for 2 nights

day 04 - Nasca - Arequipa - Canyon de Cola - part 1

Hi ...
Just to say I change a bit my program.
It is now 11:00 local time and in half an hour I will take the bus to Arequipa. The trip takes 9 hours so I will arrive late in the evening. Instead of staying in Arequipa I will try to take the bus to a village at the end of the Conyon de Colca where I will arrive early in the morning.
The Canyon de Colca is bigger than the well known Grand Canyon in the US.
Tomorrow morning I will then go to Yuanque along the Canyon where I will stay overnight. Next day visit some inca-ruins and tombs and perhaps relax in hot springs in the afternoon .... We will see !
It is possible that there is no internet connection over there... so it could take a few days before I can update this blog.
Have a nice time over there.
Servaas

day 04 - Nasca - Arequipa - Canyon de Cola - part 2

Before I tell further what happened today .... first a few pictures of Nasca ...

the next one is the dry river (only flooded during e few weeks) used as garbish-disposal

Then I had a little problem ... I had bought a ticket for 11:30 PM and not AM ... so I changed my ticket to the bus of 3:30 pm which left me a few hours more in Nasca ... went to the barber and left to Arequipa with 1 hour additionnal delay

The bus goes south the desert along the coast of the pacific ocean (first time in my life I have seen that one)

and had a beautifull sunset

Arrived one hour to late in Arequipa and my next bus was at 3:30 in the night ...