Arequipa & the Colca Canyon

I took an overnight bus from Cusco and arrived in Arequipa last Tuesday. It only cost 40 soles on the Flores bus, and even though I'd heard of a bad story from them from another traveller, the ride went without incident. Got some food on board and got to practise my Spanish watching Happy Gilmore.
Didn't really do much on the Tuesday, I caught up with Christel, a girl I met during the Inca Trail, so we decided to do the Colca Canyon trek, which is the deepest canyon in the world...or the 2nd..so I've been told.(it's twice as deep as the Grand Canyon)
We started on the Wednesday, getting picked up at 5.20am by taxi, then taken to the main bus station with millions of other Peruvians.
There were 6 others on the trip, a Dutch couple, 3 French blokes and a Swiss dude.
Anyway we made the 6 hour bus ride with few difficulties...we went over unpaved road for at least 4 hours of the journey, and a whole bunch of Peruvian women jumped on with a couple hours to go, they were pretty smelly....I don't think a shower is a big part of their custom and they wear so much clothes for the conditions...I would hate to see what they'd wear in cold weather!
After having a small lunch with rice and potatoes included...they use them in every meal over here...we started the downwards trek at 2.30pm. We arrived at the first site around 6pm, just before dark. This was all downhill...which isn't the easiest on the legs, small rocks and sand abound. The scenery was a stark contrast to Machu Picchu, cactus everywhere instead of orchids.
Our first night was spent in a very small village, we stayed in rooms made of mud-brick and a tin roof with a dirt floor, with the beds made of tree-stumps and bits of reed like material as the base. Thankfully they used a normal mattress and bedding...and surprising enough I had a great night sleep, except for the bird dancing on the roof at 6am in the morning. Even though the place was basic, I should be thankful, only 5 months before they didn't even have electricity.
We left at about 9am after some pancakes and some coca tea. Coca tea is pretty good, they love drinking or chewing the leaves over here...unlike the rest of the world who prefers it up the nose. The 3 hour walk to lunch was pretty crusiey, we stopped in to check out the local doctor, who's range covers about 8kms over various mountains. It was pretty basic, just glad my Mum isn't Peruvian..because I don't think I would of made it 30 years ago! One other interesting thing we learnt...Peruvian women from this area will likely have their babies standing up and crouching...because they tend to be shy...the husband might wrap a blanket over her so no one can see her godly bits.
After this we stopped in a very small (closest really) little Inca museum where this old lady showed us various things. We also tried Chicha, which is a corn beer that they brew. The taste was pretty interesting, let's just say I didn't ask for the recipe.
The lunch was at the Oasis, which is just like the name suggest...greenery right at the bottom of the canyon where the rest of the area was sandy and brown. After 3 hours of having another carbo fuelled meal and a dip in the pool, we did the hardest part of the trek, 2 hours...for me anyway..of climbing from 2000m to 3200m of Cabanaconde. It was great to reach of the top after 2 hour..not have to worry about dust flying around anymore.
We had dinner at the same place as the first night, and once again it was nothing special, more rice and potatoes, but they had a DVD of rock videos from the 80's, so that kept us entertained for the night. After a good night sleep in the hostel, we checked out the condors, which was OK, then we had a few moments of adventure..the mini van got a flat and we got pulled over by the transport police for some paper that wasn't in order..it didn't matter to them that we had 11 people in a van that should of only held 8. The day was completed by a buffet meal included cuy...better known by little girls as Guinea Pig, yummy...actually it was OK, but it doesn't have that much meat on it. Lastly we went to a near by hot springs to soak our weary bodies. The day was capped of by one of the French guys leaving his jacket and credit cards behind at the springs after we got to the the bus station, that kind of misfortune is usually left to me!