Hiking in the deep Colca Valley

In the south of Peru lies the country's second largest city, Arequipa, which is also one of the most beautiful cities. Also known as the "White City", you walk past numerous churches, monasteries, and mansions during a tour.

Since the city is also located in the Andes, I started a 2-day hike from here into one of the deepest valleys in the world: the Colca Canyon. There are many theories whether the canyon is the deepest, the second deepest, or maybe just the fifth deepest valley in the world. In any case, it is deeper than the Grand Canyon in the USA, and the hike was unique for me.

But before we started hiking, we made a stop at an observation point for condors. And we were very lucky. After a short wait, the large birds took off and glided smoothly through the air. Through the valley, very close to our heads - it was a great experience to observe the animals.

The hike started at 35 degrees Celsius and strong midday sun. We started at the highest point and marched downhill for the next few hours, into the valley. I made friends with a girl from Colombia and we told each other many stories from our travels, so time passed quickly.

And of course, let's not forget: the nature around us, especially the canyon, was super impressive!

In the evening, we arrived at a small oasis in the middle of the valley, and after cooling off in the pool, we fell into our beds early and tired.

The next morning, the alarm clock woke us up at 4 o'clock from deep sleep, and the toughest part of the hike awaited us. We had to climb back up, uphill for 2 hours. With a headlamp on our foreheads, we started, each allowed to walk at their own pace. Under the sunrise, we continued, and in the end, we arrived completely exhausted at the top. At the "summit", we were greeted with tea and coffee, and every hiker who arrived at the top was welcomed by the others with loud applause. That was a really beautiful and very special moment!

In the end, our team made it too!

After breakfast, we were able to rest our legs in natural hot springs before we set off on the return journey to Arequipa.