Arequipa and Colca Canyon

After an endless bus ride with what felt like a thousand detours, we finally arrived at the terminal in Arequipa. Despite being about an hour late, the hostel owner was expecting us. We shared a taxi with about 100 liters of water and got to Marlons House, our hostel, very cheaply.

We explored the city center and the Mercado Camillo on foot. The market is located in a covered hall and you can find everything from fruits to bread and meat to bags and sweaters. The storage of the meat was a bit unusual, but we enjoyed the bustling atmosphere. In the afternoon, we visited the Museum of Juanita, a 12-year-old Inca girl who was sacrificed on the volcano and is still perfectly preserved thanks to the glacier.

We spent Sunday morning at the Monasteriea Santa Catalina. It is the first monastery in the Spanish colony in Arequipa, a huge complex with many little houses inside. We were surprised by how much the whole order had been ruled by money. We had lunch at a Picanteria, a typical Arequipan restaurant. To try all the specialties, we ordered a huge plate to share. The food was excellent. After that, we visited unknown parts of the city with the Free-Walking Tour.

We spent the following three days in the Colca Canyon. We drove into the canyon with a randomly mixed group. First, we observed two condors gliding through the air and then we walked into the gorge. We spent the first night in a small accommodation in the middle of the canyon. Our guide told us a lot about the Incas and their predecessors. On the second day, we hiked to Oasis, where we stayed at an accommodation with a pool and palm trees. There we could relax and prepare for the ascent to Cabanaconde. Early in the morning of the third day, we started the ascent and were rewarded with breakfast in Cabanaconde. On the way back, we stopped several times at different viewpoints of the Colcavalley and the active volcano Sabanacayo. We also made a short stop at hot springs, so we didn't even get sore muscles.