After leaving Arequipa we headed north traveling higher into the Andes mountains. Nestled in at 11,200ft is the historic city of Cusco and our home base for the next few days.

We had a couple days before Erin was due to arrive and used that time to explore the city. We stayed at Kokopelli Hostel Cusco where they had plenty of coco tea (to help with the altitude) available. While walking around the city we would occasionally see Alpaca’s roaming free wandering into courtyards and grazing on the grasses.

It was a nice treat to be in a tourist town, because there was an extra large variety of food available! We kept seeing Guinea pig on the menu’s but we never actually ordered this local delicacy.

La Bodega 138

Sara found this tasty pizza joint where we enjoyed the craft beer, La Bodega Pizza (leek, mushroom, bacon), and the Large pizza with leek, mushroom, red pepper, and pepperoni.

Green Point

We had carrot soup, stuffed sweet potato with mashed peas, grilled veggie sandwich an a strawberry shortbread cookie to finish the meal.

Sumaq

This tiny restaurant was a delicious surprise. The oven was practically in the dining room! We enjoyed a set menu: Pisco Sours, Quinoa and Cuscuina soup, chicken in cream sauce, grilled alpaca, and Chocolate and caramel pancake for dessert.

Pachapapa

We had a surprise hail storm on our leasurely walk which made us have to run! It was worth it for: Stuffed pepper with potato and cheese salad, Oven roasted pork with potato and cheese salad

When Erin arrived we switched hostels to Kurumi Hostel where we could stay together and figure out the plan for Machu Picchu. Sara and I learned that there was a nearby hostel that planned really good tours, so we decided to book through Loki Travel. When talking with the agent we learned that the usual Inka trail tours book up months in advance, but of course they had other options for us! We decided upon an “Inka Jungle Trek” to Machu Picchu which was to include Biking, White water rafting, hiking a portion of the Inka trail, and finally a hike up to Machu Picchu. With that booked we had some more time in Cusco to get acclimated to the altitude before our adventure!

It was fun to explore Cusco with Erin. She had different ideas on things to do than what Sara and I usually do. We spent our time strolling the plazas, finding delicious cake, walking the endless steps to different viewpoints, and people watching in Plaza de Armas.

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Arriving into Arequipa we knew that we wanted to make our way to Colca Canyon. Colca Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world, 6600 ft deep in places! In our research we found a 3 day trek to explore the canyon. But first we needed a good meal prior to the trek and we chose Hatunpa. This restaurant was need the historic district so we did some sightseeing along the way to dinner. We had a Peruvian meal of Lomo Saltado with alpaca, and Cauche de queso. As will most Peruvian meals there were plenty of potatoes to satisfy our hunger! The next morning we re-packed our bags with the essentials for the trek leaving our packs at Park Hostel while waiting for the tour to pick us up.

Colca Canyon is quite a bit outside of Arequipa, but with no trees to block the view it was a pleasant ride. Before starting the trek we first stopped at a few canyon overlooks; Mismy Viewpoint and Cruz del Condor. We had hoped to see Condors soaring, but it was not meant to be. Finally we arrived the the starting point for our trek, waited for our guide and our group started off down into the canyon.

The hike down was easy. Starting off we could just barely see the river way below which was our destination for the day. As we slowly descended into the canyon there were new views to admire every step of the way. We regrouped at the bridge crossing the river before setting off following the river downstream. A short wile later we arrived at our guesthouse, La Casa de Rivelino, for the evening. We all relaxed and got to know each other over more potatoes and drinks. At one point we could see condors soaring high overhead. Our guide told us they used to next close but the human activity had scared them away.

La Casa de Rivelino meals:

• Lunch: Potato soup, alpaca sailta
• Dinner: spaghetti cream soup, veggie sailta
• Breakfast: banana pancake.

That evening while sitting in bed I saw a scorpion crawling on the wall! I didn’t know what to do, but I knew if Sara saw it she would make us leave that minute. I distracted her with some nonsense while I took my flip flop and tried to kill the scorpion. I missed the first time, but my second hit did the trick. Sara finally figured out what was going on but we were ‘safe’ and had an uneventful rest of the night.

The next day our guide took us on a winding path down the canyon meandering past small villages and isolated forests. She talked about traditional medicines and different uses for the local plants. After a full day making our way down the canyon we were treated to an oasis in the canyon. Tropical Lodge was surprisingly nice, right near the river and there was even a pool to relax in.

The final day was a long slog up and out of the canyon. Once we made it to the top we could rest and enjoy the good views a bit longer before continuing on our tour. The trek ended at Cabanaconde were we could explore a small local market. Along the way back we made a stop at some local hot springs to sooth our tired muscles. Our ride back to Arequipa felt much longer than the ride there and we arrived back at our hostel tired and ready to sleep.

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