Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Colca Canyon Trek Day 2

Up at 6:00am. We wanted to beat the tour groups to the oasis. We had breakfast at 6:30, pancakes, yummy. We noticed that the tour groups got crepes for breakfast, whereas Lisa and me and the other independent couple got pancakes.We were the first to leave at 7:00am, paid or bill (118 soles for the both of us, including the room, lunch, supper, breakfast, two beers, two pops and three bottles of water), about $40US for both of us.When we left, the lady gave us both big hugs.The hike to the oasis was up, up, up, about 2/3 of the way up the canyon wall before descenging back down again. Saw another Andean Condor.Got to the oasis about 10:45, 3.75 hours of hiking. The map showed it as 5 hours.The oasis is actually four different resorts at the valley bottom. From high above, at the top of the canyon,you can see the swimming pools. The oasis is also, literally, an oasis. Waterfalls emerge right from the rock of the canyon wall, everything is green, in stark contrast to the desert surrounding it. The resorts are set on a more flat area just a bit down from the waterfalls. We picked a resort called Paraiso, which had good rooms and a nice pool, only 10 soles, including use of the pool.When we arrived, we were the only ones at the whole resort. Around noon, tour groups started to arrive and invaded our serenity.We relaxed by the pool and in the large grass area for most of the day, soaked up some sun. Lisa and I played some chess.There's a stark contrast between the greenery of the oasis and the red, dry walls on the other side of the canyon. It's very remarkable.Supper was at 7:00pm, vegetarian spaghetti. Yay, no rice!Lisa and me are going to get up about 4:30 tomorrow morning to start the long trek back up the canyon, before the sun comes up.

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