Peru #4: Colca Canyon trek - Brutal but Beautiful...
Is it real? From trekking over mountains to hiking through canyons in Peru. Our trek with double depth of the famous Grand Canyon was crazy. We spent night in Oasis located down within the canyon and hiking back up next day.
My Colca Canyon trek was the first thing I did in my 3 weeks in Peru and it was my absolute favourite. Yes, better than Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is Peru´s number one attraction and trekking the Inca Trail is so popluar that permits sell out months and months and months in advance (in main season). But If you are active (like me), independent (like me) and would rather not sleep on the ground in cold forest (but rather on the ground in lagoon village), trekking in Peru´s Colca Canyon is the best choice.
Trek started in the town of Cabanacone, home to the region´s famous Andean Condors. I visited the Cruz del Condor viewpoint before trek and I was watching the largest flying birds in the world with an average wingspan of 3 metres. I was amazed by these magnificent birds.
Andean condors have a deep conection with Incas. Condors represent the upper world (hanan pacha) connected with the sky.
Colca Canyon, this Peruvian wonder is the second deepest canyon in the world. Furthermore, Colca Canyon is more than twice as deep as the famed Grand Canyon. And I didn´t know it .. Haha.. We started at 8 am in the morning ( woke up at 3 am) from our base to the oasis town of Sangalle on the canyon floor. It was looong, looong day full of pain. First hours of our trip were so nice (because I had an energy), I took so many pictures, selfies and I was playing with my camera, talking to other people from group.. :D but than … Mix of jet lag, lack of sleep and altitude sickness was´t nice combination for this trek. 1 step = 3 long breaths .. And again …
After a whole day we came to the oasis and we realized we have to climb right back up again after this very long, very hard day. I was exhausted, not amazed but I did it without any help of donkey. :)
I was glad there was no need to carry a tent or food since there are villages with at least basic facilities. We spent hours on trails without seeing any other trekkers. Everywhere is this rule > Pack right and pack light. Whichever route you take, you’ll be hiking up and down steep canyon walls which is challenging enough without an over-stuffed pack on your back. Some people told me that I look like a Dumbledore with hat and bamboo (my third leg helped me so much!). I didn´t care.. :D
Do you ever look back on your adventures and wonder how you´re still alive? Tell me guys!
Do you ever look back on your adventures and wonder how you´re still alive? What about your experience?
Wow, what an epic hike! You took some stunning photos up there :)
Btw, feel free to use the #travelfeed tag here, they manually curate quality travel posts like this ;)
Díky za radu :))
Tomu říkám výlet ;-) Krása.
Wow :O also, adding up on @phortun 's knowledge, add #sentisteem and #travel-digest..both are as well being scanned by curators :) and your entry might end up being featured in #sentisteem book (at least that's what I understood from somewhere, that they're gonna make a book from 1000 collected high quality posts)
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Také děluju za rady :)) Možná to přispěje k tomu, ze dostanu víc jak 20 upvotes za článek :D kniha? Fuuu...:))
Vidíš, @travelfeed tě vybrali a rovnou za plnou palbu a resteem :) To dělají jen u těch nejlepších postů dne ;) Gratuluju!
Btw vies ako funguje #steemitworldmap? Bo pozeram, ze mas ten tag, ale nemas tu odnich koment a ani lokaciu vlozenu v poste.
Chod sem (https://www.steemitworldmap.com/) a skopci ten text ktory ti to da ked kliknes na miesto kde si bola. A vloz ho do postu. To zavola ich bota a on prida/pinne ten post na tu stranku :) A niekedy ti da aj upvote :)
Ještě že se tady tak o mě s @phortun hezky staráte. .) zlatí děkuji
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Looks like a great alternative indeed for the Inca Trail. How high does the path lead? Glad you did not get really sick or anything. I met people who got really sick due to altitude sickness, especially if they just arrived by plane and went hiking almost immediately without getting used to the elevation first.
The high of the path is about 3,650 meters above sea level (12,000 feet). It was difficult but I was fine. Coca leaves helped me a lot! :) Thank you:) I´m not sure if we can call it "alternative" of Inca Trail because it doesn´t finish with Machu Picchu but.. Price is less than Inca Trail (60 soles = 18 dollars), Inka trail is 600 dollars (good price) - 1000 dollars... it depends on the company (train is the same price) .. But if you have plans to go there I highly recommend Colca Canynon :)
Absolutně nechápu co mě to vždycky napadne, kam se rozhodnu odjet, kde tam spím, s kým se bavím, co jím, jak se tam dorozumím rukama nohama no takže tak :) vlastně celý rok 2018 byl plný cestovatelských dobrodružství :))
Pokud si mám zrekapitulovat v tomto směru rok 2018, vůbec by mě nanapadlo, kam mě cesty všude zavedou :)
To je dobře... ;)
Dear @nikollettesunday,
Your story attracted our attention and we would like to introduce our tag #archisteem that could provide you with some extra support. For your information, we are currently running the project – 1001 Places to Remember. Your content is a fit for the project and could be qualified for the 10 Steem reward biweekly contest.
It would be great if we can have this story of yours included in the project. If you agree, please reply to us.
Do drop by and take a look :) Hope to see you around soon.
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Hello @archisteem, I like your project 1001 Places to remember, you can include my post in the project. .) Have a nice day. :))
Awesome, thanks @nikollettesunday! We look forward to read more of your stories :)
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I went there in 2015, such an epic place!
Yep, I agree! And.. I would like to thank you for selecting me .)
No worries, great post! :)