El Canyon del Colca

Our trip to the Colca Canyon last weekend certainly had a very interesting start.
First of all, Beth and I both overslept through various alarms and had to run out of the house to meet Pat, a friend from home who happened to be passing by Arequipa... we missed the 8 o'clock bus, bought a fare for 11 instead and killed a couple of hours having a very long breakfast.
But we did get on the bus, and all was good. About 2 hours into the bus ride, the bus starts stopping a little too often and for a little too long each time.
'Wouldn't it be funny if we broke down?' Yes Beth, it would be funny.
In the middle of absolutely nowhere in the desert, with no phone reception, nothing for miles and miles, nada.

They told us they were getting another bus to take us, a bus coming from Arequipa which was 2 hours away.
It was actually kind of nice to start off with, sitting in the sun, playing games, playing with rocks.

And then, 2 hours later, they send not a bus but a mechanic. I am not going to pretend to know anything about autos but something was wrong with the cooler, and this mechanic could definitely not fix it.
This is when, along with everyone else, we lose faith in Reyna (the bus company) and walk up the road to try and hitch hike. However, as soon as we decided to do this cars just stopped coming. It was like magic. And the one truck which did come and was willing to give us a ride was going the wrong way.
Also it was really cold. And we only had a bit of water and 2 packets of crackers left. I think if we had brought proper food everything would have been fine. Or if we had tea.. But we didn't.

We waited some more, and after at least an hour a bus came from Arequipa! It was already full so we had to stand up for an hour in the tiny aisle and I am pretty sure sleeping heads got elbowed but we got there in the end! After a scary journey along a loopy road down through the mountains down to the tiny town of Chivay. I think a good al paca bifstek was deserved that night.
The hostel owner sneakily lied about there being ample hot water so after a nice cold shower we enjoyed the fantastic tv variety of spanish dubbed american movies.

Things do get better though.

In the morning, absolutely frozen, after an al paca and tater sandwich at 7 we got to the bus station and got offered a tour of the canyon and villages on the way for half price, perfect!

One village, Achama, was named after an Inca's expression of disgust when he tried their chicha. When we got there, at 8 in the morning there were a few ladies dressed up in traditional cholita dress with dressed up llamas, an old guy carrying a falcon and a little girl dancing , trying to make a bit of money from tourists who want to take photos with them, as well as loads of people selling the same jumpers, keyrings, al paca hats, scarves and gloves, purses wallets pencilcases notebooks... in a tiny village at 8 in the morning, probably earlier still as some tours leave at 4-5am. It's so crazy.

sneaky

But yeah! The Colca Canyon; absolutely beautiful! I can't remember the number but it is lots of metres deep, absolutely incredible, with thousands of tiny terraces built up the sides by the Incas and the very occasional house or village lost in there somewhere.

The main place people go is Cruz del Condor, a view point frequented by condors. We got there at half past 8, just in time.

Looking triumphant as if we have just accomplished something 

We made friends with a group of elderly folk from England doing a tour round Peru. I really felt like I was back in Malmesbury for about 20 minutes. Things like 'oh yes that is a jolly good one' and 'absolutely spiffing canyon' and 'oh cripes!' you just take for granted at home.
At about 9.30 the real big birds started circling up. Someone nearby had put some drum and bass on which fitted perfectly! That's apparently what makes for the best condor action. As soon as the music came on there were more and more birds, about 15 circling up and swooping above us. We were stood next to this guy who know so much about birds and so we also enjoyed a running commentary on the exact purpose of their behaviour. Here they are, jolly good show:

The tour was really good, as well as being truly knowledgeable about everything to do with the canyon our guide also had a great set of classic jokes (p.s. anyone that is reading this that doesn't know me personally should be informed that I am a very sarcastic person) including a toy snake which he pretended was real.

In the afternoon we went to a place abut 10 minutes away from Chivay to La Calera to the thermal baths, and spent all afternoon there. One of the lifeguards took a photo that is possibly the worst photo possible;

Then we went home.
The End

La vida en Arequipa

Entonces, hace una semana he llegado aca en Arequipa.

The city, 'la ciudad blanca' is full of beautiful colonial buildings, churches, fine foods and lovely people, all overlooked by Misti the volcano, see below.

Cheery chums

It's really interesting to hop from one NGO to another and see how differently stuff is done.
Intiwawa has several different projects all over the place. They help in a local primary school with English classes (one of the actual English teachers couldn't speak english!), in a kindergarten in San Isidro, which is an hour out of Arequipa, and there are Interculturalidad projects in 2 villages way out of town, teaching a group of kids about other cultures, teaching them about their rights and also a bit of English.
And the main project, tareas, where I go every afternoon is in San Isidro, a tiny village an hour away on the bus.
Buses here are mental. They cram so many people in, like 20 people in a pretty small aisle and it is very rare to get a seat. There is just no limit to the amount of people you can fit on, there will be people hanging out of the doorway, and if you are at the back getting off is always a mission. Then we have to walk a mile or so to the house, or sometimes we get lifts in the back of pick-up trucks, living on the edge.
About 30-40 kids from age 3 to 14 come every day after school to la Casa Intiwawa, a big house where they can come and do their homework with our help and all of the books they have there and have fun and just be kids. Which they are really good at!

On not great photo of the house

I have seen some crazy homework. One kid in the 6th grade had maths homework which took 4 of us to work out. Maths is definitely different in different countries... Really often they have to copy pages and pages of text book, even if they don't understand it! Or like 20 times the letters 'ma' then 20 mu's mi's and mo's. I don't miss homework.  Then we do games, try and keep them under control and then they have dinner which is cooked by a local mama.
All the work is done by volunteers which is amazing but a wee bit precarious, as numbers must change so much throughout the year, so I am going to help with advertising also. The week before I came there were 4 volunteers, but now there are 14 of us! As well as a lot of Peruvians who help once a week or co-ordinate the projects.
Have a looksie;http://www.intiwawa.org
The house is surrounded by hills and it is so beautiful at sunset....

This week has been really lovely and chill. We have been enjoying the hostel and the beautiful patio with coca leaf tea, where I am sharing a rom with the lovely Beth my friend from home. We also spend a lot of time in the volunteer house, as well as a lot of time walking all the way there, cooking, and eating a lot of pasta with pre prepared veg you can buy in the market in little bolsitas, which I am already a bit sick of, and lots of eggs. Arequipa is full of tasty treats, such as queso helado 'cheese ice-cream' which sounds suspicious but is in fact delicious, ceviche; seafood and lemon juice, which I have mixed feelings about, granadilla my favourite fruit which looks like slimy frogspawn...

 The city is really nice just to walk around; I could happily wander all day long. There is a beautiful plaza with a cathedral and a fountain, a million pigeons who ain't scared of no-one and people who without fail ask me if I want to buy sunglasses despite the fact I am actually wearing a pair. By night:

We also found the most beautiful cafe ´cafe y vino´ which is on the balcony of this courtyard right in the center but is so quiet, you can sit on the sofa outside and see over all the rooftops. It's a french place and I could very happily go on my own and listen to the one lady who is there absolutely every night talking with the french owner and chuckle at the et euuuuuuhhh et bof et bref. Golden.

Beth y yo also joined a gym which is really out of character as I would never join a gym in England, but it is 11$ for the month so I am deeming it acceptable. Entonces we have both been aching for the last few days, my pain is in the abs so every time I laugh or cough or try and pick something up it means serious pain!

Last weekend we also went to see Amy Winehouse which was an interesting experience. Here she is in person;

And even got the karaoke face out...

Cracking. I am going to go bed and then to the biggest canyon in the world tomorrow! I will bring y'all some photos!

Peraahh

The last couple of weeks in Cochabamba were so so busy, with finishing stuff off for work, seeing people for the last time, showing new volunteers around, the last few errands, and some very teary goodbyes. Which is why I haven't managed to blog so much.

I wrote some things for Proyecto's blog about some of the things we did with the kids right here:

http://proyectohorizonte-volunteers.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-trip-down-to-river.html

http://proyectohorizonte-volunteers.blogspot.com/2013/03/dia-del-mar.html

On my last day, the kids each brough in potatoes, eggs, carrots, peas and mayonnaise to make a huge pot of potato salad for my goodbye meal. They also made me a little plate with all of their fingerprints and a class photo on, it was really sad saying goodbye, even though I know I will definitely be returning one day...

With my host family I also had a final meal with some relatives and Eliza and some friends... I will miss my ma Chuly so much!

Then I hopped on a bus one night to La Paz. Everyone in Cochabamba always say they hate it there because it's so cold, so I was expecting the worst, but by England's standards it is pretty warm. Those Cochabambinos don't know cold!

La Paz is so bustly, there's even more going on than Cocha and there are a lot more cool little places to discover. I went to el museo de la coca, la amazing iglesia de San Fransisco, and other than that mostly just walked around the markets, bought the last camera I am going to buy on this continent I promise (I lost my last one, and having searched absolutely everywhere it has dissapeared), as well as some unusual articles such as a llama bottle opener and a beautifully carved wooden spoon. Found some really cool little areas, hidden streets and definitely got lost searching for the Rocklets shop (smarties but better) that I had seen on the way in. I also found a really nice little cafe, Sol y Luna, which was on the perfect corner for people watching. Also went to some crackin bars, one which was designed like on old rusty train, had old train parts  and rusty trumpets hanging from the roof, everything made out of metal, and a warm coal train fire. Also Ttkos this funky reggae place in a basement where I met loads of Germans.

And then, time to leave this wonderful country I have so many feelings for.

Here are a couple of out of the window shots from the journey, playing with the settings on my new camera;

View over La Paz on the drive up to el Alto 

La Paz 

Titicaca, bloomin huge!

I arrived in Lima at about 6, after having seen the sea for the first time in months! Lima is huge, really developed compared to Bolivia and it felt a bit wierd really. Drove through the whole city through rush hour and saw Macdonalds and Starbucks which I haven't missed. 

It was really perfect timing; I only had to wait an hour for the bus, and, ooohh boy was it an incredible journey. It was one of those luxury buses where you get your own tv screen witha choice of movies, music, games with internet (that only worked in the cities) and blankets and magazines and hot dinner and breakfast... and I felt like a queen!

When we got on they had this introductory video with a beautiful Peruvian bus attendant waiting on her equally charmed and happy guests, even explaining how exectly to open and close the bathroom door and how to put your things in the overhead compartments.

It was so nice. I very almost slept well but I think thats an inability I have even on the most comfy bus seats. And the landscapes were amazing, desert, mountains, huge valleys, and again, the sea. This doesn't capture it at all:

Arrived in Arequipa I was met by the lovely Kerryn and showed me to the hostel, El Patio de Elisa. It is so so nice, and they have a deal with Intiwawa (the project I will be working with here) to give cheap rates to volunteers. Perfect. Here is a photo:

it's even nicer in real life

It was so nice to have a shower with hot water after so long! and the room I am sharing with Beth (who arrived this morning) is really nice and it is just great. There is a rooftop you can climb up onto for sunsets:

So in conclusion Arequipa is lovely.