Hey Folks,
So, I´m a disaster at this keeping this travel log thing up to date. I just checked and saw that I haven´t updated it since I was back in Barilioche for the second time. After that, I was in Mendoza, the wine district of Argentina. It´s a really beautiful city. Drank way too much wine and ate way too much beef. After that I was in Tucuman and Salta. They´re cities in the north west of Argentina. Real gems. After spending too much time in Argentina, I had to leg it up to Lima to meet my Aunt so that we could do the Inca Trail.
We had a mighty three weeks. It was so cool, really nice to have Margaret here. Nice to have someone to share some of these great memeories with.
We spend a few days in Cusco - to aclimatise and then off we trotted to begin the Inca Trail. It was really beautiful. We had a great guide, very chilled out. It was a beautiful few days, walking along at our own pace, taking in all the sights around us. That trail is really some feat. 350km of paved road and it´s really high too. It´s easy to see how it took generations to build. And the landscape changes constantly too. On the final day, as you approach Machu Picchu, the vegatation turns more tropical. There were so many beautiful flowers growing along the way. There were every wild strawberries growing on the ditches. I could have been in Coolderra!
After that we went to Puno to visit the Islands on Lake Titicaca. That was beautiful too. It really is very rural there and so interesting to see the way these people live.
After that, it was onto Arequipa. The White City. Arequipa is beautiful. We did a 3 day trek out to see Colca Canyon. That was one of the best tours I´ve done so far. The Colca Valley is almost as impressive as the canyon. I have pictures attached. The first day, we visited a Stone Forest - really cool, formed by the wind. That night, we stayed at the end of the valley in a village called Cabonconde. The following morning, we hiked down into the canyon. It was so hot and when we arrived below, there was a swimming pool waiting for us. It was the business. While we were relaxing, our guide (Jaime) was making our lunch. We chilled out for the rest of the evening and climbed up out if the canyon the following morning at 5am! And ye think I´m on holidays. Later that day, we had a quick tip in the thermal springs in one of the villages on the way back. Just heaven.
We spend the rest of our time in Arequipa. We visited the Santa Catalina Convent. It´s mental. These nuns came from very weathly families and had SERVANTS. Crazy or what. Since 1970, the convent has been opened up to the public and it´s a great way to spend an afternoon. It´s still a convent, the nuns are just a little more humble.
We also went to see ¨Juanita¨, the Ice Princess. She´s a mummy that was found on the top of one of the mountains around Arequipa in 1995. That was really interesting too.
So, after 3 weeks of adventure and great company, it was time for my aunt to go home. I´m attaching the pictures of Colca Canyon and will get around some time to photos of the Inca Trail, Puno and Arequipa.
Lots of Love
Sarah.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahmkeane/ColcaCanyon?authkey=_Vn576l_B9k
