Colca Trekking Mayhem!!! Part 1

Hello true believers.

Yes its me, the lovable and yet, amazingly awesome, John. I have escaped the clutches of the Colca Canyon after a death defying 5 hour trek today, after an 8 hour trek the day before.

But I shall begin from the start.

Only Sean and I went on the trek. We left our hostel around 12ish, and got on a bus to Cabanaconde at 2pm. We arrived in Cabanaconde by 8pm I believe. Our choices of hostels incuded the VALLEY OF FIRE and Valla. We chose the non death sounding one.

For dinner, I had Apaca steak with chips after whooping Sean in a game of Chess two times. This was followed by a huge debate of whether Sean ate my Apaca or not. We literally could not tell the difference between a beef steak and an apaca steak. This issue was resolved later on however.

We left for trekking at 7am, and by Jeebus did we get lost. It is extremely fortunate we decided not to go to the Cruz del Condor, or we be stuck in the town for much longer than we would have liked.

The start of the trek was fairly easy. Sun scorching, rocky paths filled with mule poop...yep, it was the trekker life. Until the blisters appeared. Then the horror started. Every step was filled with foot numbing pain, severely delaying my progress whilst Sean whizzed ahead, leaving me behind. To suffer. In the canyon....

We eventually reached a river after 3 hours of downhill marching, where we soaked our feet in the freezing cold, most likely, glacial melt water. It was divine and worked wonders for my blisters. Until they started hurting again of course.

Throughout the day, we became lost many times as there are no directions at all. I am also positive I came to death several times due to my fear of heights combined with the possibility of falling down to my death. We kept trekking higher and higher, crossing bridges, tiny paths, aqueducts, and passing by villages and trespassing in gardens we wern´t aware off (Due to Sean´s terrible sense of directions). I also had to fight off a few wild evil dogs that tried to kill us. I do recommend the apaca stir fried with vegetables and chips in Cosni something village. Good value, as it was only 10 soles. But do not buy the cold drinks, as it is a rip off.

 

Now, the perils I experienced was terrible indeed. I had to fight off fire ants, stalking tree branches, mule poop, wild rabid dogs and the possibility of falling to my death. It was not a fun time. But I believe it was easier than Mount Cerro Torco due to the many rest points along the way. 

After reaching the highest point, Malata, we then had to bloody descend the Canyon again. This resulted in more mind numbing pain for me as we descended to the Oasis. I eventually arrived, after Sean took the wrong direction (lol). We quickly paid for our beds, I took a swim in the pool, had dinner and went to sleep.