Is 3 hrs away from Arequipa and shadowed by snow-topped volcanoes and possessing one of the best places to marvel at the flight of the Andean condor. I and my two friends negotiate with a travel agency to take a shorter hike and half of the regular tourist route.
We hiked 1100 meters down to the canyon to enjoy an oasis and it's beautiful pools in the afternoon, after a few hours bus ride and eagle watching. After a meal of ariparci meat and good night sleep in the oasis paradise, we hiked up from the oasis 1100 meters in 2 hrs to joint a tour group. We passed a market during the tour and took the photo of me and an eagle.
More untrammeled roads, such as those in the Cañón del Cotahuasi, await adventurous souls, passing ancient ruins, waterfalls, hot springs and even dinosaur footprints.
If inca trial 4-day hike was a piece of cake, this canyon hike was a piece of chocolate.
I run into a well-travelled young man who appareled to be in his 20s. He dropped from high school and worked informs in holland to save $ and travel around the world. He travelled more countries than I did and has quite accurate and independent views about different countries ad cities. He will continue travelling in the south/central America, etc. Until 2013, and then work in farms in Australia on 3-month extendable work permit until age 30. I feel he is more mature and knowledgeable than most people of his age or older than him.
Learning from life, world travel, and internet appear to be more effective than from class rooms and books in this case. He still can get a professional degree later if he so decides, but he is traveling much freely than me. Wish I started earlier so I can still try mountain Everest. I just got an email from my Patagonia hike organizer that an ice hike cutoff age limit is 45, which is pretty rediquious. I am as adaptive as most younger backpackers, and I hike as fast and far as 50% of them.
After traveling in dry Peru for 18 days, I have 2 deep (3mm) cracks on my fingers and 4 deeper cracks on my heels which breed from time to time yet I hike as usual. I applied cream on them but did not work. I reenforced the waist belt of my backpack and continue using it. I took hrs of buses without using any restroom (the ones on buses either locked/broken or stuffed with luggage). I am still traveling with high spirit and enjoying my time.
I am so lucky to realize my dream here, rather than being trapped in the city as a working mammy, although my hands are getting darker and dryer like mammy's. Here, I have time to feel myself breathing the dusty air and tasting the fresh fruit, while I was so busy doing my job, rushing to workout, etc. Without much time to feel anything.
Water is a very valuable asset here. I am thinking about importing simple, economic, yet efficient purification systems into Peru, to cut down the cost of butting and shipping bottled water in Peru. A 1-litter bottle water costs 1.5 in the city yet 12 in the oasis since they have to use mules to ship it down (no vehicle to there, only hiking or mules).
By the way, It was much easier to travel in group, and you can form it participate in a group by talking to other backpackers in hostels, hiking trails, buses, etc. It is very common to huggle for prices of tours, meals, surveyors, etc., and it is always easier to get bulk discounts. If you shop diligently, you may get the best price in town. For example, I paid for tours at 14/22, while others paid 35/45 for the exact tours in Cuzco. In term of Titicaca lake tour, we three paid for 27 per person while others paid 60 per person. In term of the canyon hike, we negotiated for a shorter hike DIY (without a guide, since pretty straight forward), the price dropped from 120 to 67 per person.
We hiked 1100 meters down to the canyon to enjoy an oasis and it's beautiful pools in the afternoon, after a few hours bus ride and eagle watching. After a meal of ariparci meat and good night sleep in the oasis paradise, we hiked up from the oasis 1100 meters in 2 hrs to joint a tour group. We passed a market during the tour and took the photo of me and an eagle.
More untrammeled roads, such as those in the Cañón del Cotahuasi, await adventurous souls, passing ancient ruins, waterfalls, hot springs and even dinosaur footprints.
If inca trial 4-day hike was a piece of cake, this canyon hike was a piece of chocolate.
I run into a well-travelled young man who appareled to be in his 20s. He dropped from high school and worked informs in holland to save $ and travel around the world. He travelled more countries than I did and has quite accurate and independent views about different countries ad cities. He will continue travelling in the south/central America, etc. Until 2013, and then work in farms in Australia on 3-month extendable work permit until age 30. I feel he is more mature and knowledgeable than most people of his age or older than him.
Learning from life, world travel, and internet appear to be more effective than from class rooms and books in this case. He still can get a professional degree later if he so decides, but he is traveling much freely than me. Wish I started earlier so I can still try mountain Everest. I just got an email from my Patagonia hike organizer that an ice hike cutoff age limit is 45, which is pretty rediquious. I am as adaptive as most younger backpackers, and I hike as fast and far as 50% of them.
After traveling in dry Peru for 18 days, I have 2 deep (3mm) cracks on my fingers and 4 deeper cracks on my heels which breed from time to time yet I hike as usual. I applied cream on them but did not work. I reenforced the waist belt of my backpack and continue using it. I took hrs of buses without using any restroom (the ones on buses either locked/broken or stuffed with luggage). I am still traveling with high spirit and enjoying my time.
I am so lucky to realize my dream here, rather than being trapped in the city as a working mammy, although my hands are getting darker and dryer like mammy's. Here, I have time to feel myself breathing the dusty air and tasting the fresh fruit, while I was so busy doing my job, rushing to workout, etc. Without much time to feel anything.
Water is a very valuable asset here. I am thinking about importing simple, economic, yet efficient purification systems into Peru, to cut down the cost of butting and shipping bottled water in Peru. A 1-litter bottle water costs 1.5 in the city yet 12 in the oasis since they have to use mules to ship it down (no vehicle to there, only hiking or mules).
By the way, It was much easier to travel in group, and you can form it participate in a group by talking to other backpackers in hostels, hiking trails, buses, etc. It is very common to huggle for prices of tours, meals, surveyors, etc., and it is always easier to get bulk discounts. If you shop diligently, you may get the best price in town. For example, I paid for tours at 14/22, while others paid 35/45 for the exact tours in Cuzco. In term of Titicaca lake tour, we three paid for 27 per person while others paid 60 per person. In term of the canyon hike, we negotiated for a shorter hike DIY (without a guide, since pretty straight forward), the price dropped from 120 to 67 per person.
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