Itinerary

Thu 7
	Breakfast
08:30	Early morning departure for a two-day overland trip to the Colca Valley.  Drive across Pampa Canahuas within the Aguada Blanca National Reserve.  Habitat of herds of Vicunas.  Admire beautiful pre-columbian terraces still being cultivated by native Collaguas.  Box lunch.  Overnight at Colca Lodge.

Let me first say - BUS RIDE FROM HELL!!!!  We boarded our death trap - not that it was in poor condition - ok the brakes did squeal and there were a few missed gears, but all and all it was road worthy.  We spent 8.5 hours (yes 8.5 hours!) on this contraption.  The drive started out fine enough until we hit gravel - 8 hours of it!!  These "roads" or "highways" (as I use these terms loosely) were one lane and bottomless potholes everywhere.  Besides climbing up further and further and yet again further - about 4800 meters (15744 feet), they were very small - you could hardly get any person and one vehicle side by side - let alone two vehicles.

Of course we were driving in the Andes, so one side was the rock face (rocks just waiting to drop) and straight down cliffs on the other side.  I tell ya this trip is definitely no for the faint of heart.  Mom would never make it and Ross would have a heart attack.

And you would think that with terrible road conditions like that, our driver would be careful - HA!  He enjoyed passing big trucks on hills, zipping around corners and then driving almost to the cliff edge and turning suddenly.

I  have such a sore body!  My neck hurts, my head is just pounding and I feel dirty.

So to make the trip even worse, I had to keep drinking water as it was dry and dusty.  Needless to say after 3 hours we had our first break - THANK GOD!  We stopped at this little cantina and I stood in line to use the toilet.  It was not really a toilet though..  Of course it did not flush and stupid me forgot kleenex.  Needless to say I was not very happy.  At least the sink had some running water.

Don't get me wrong - the scenery is just beautiful.  It is amazing that anyone can live in the first leg of this trip.  I got to see some wild Vicunas - I don't think my pictures will turn out though as they were a bit far away.  The wool from these animals is very expensive.  For a small scarf you can expect to pay $1000.00 USD.

After driving and driving and driving and driving, we stopped and had lunch at a nearby creek.  It was very peaceful and you almost forgot about the bus ride.

We got on the bus again and drove some more, saw some Llamas, alpacas and sheep and kept driving.  Our group got split into two groups for our overnight stay.  We dropped the first group off and I almost died.  They are staying in such a hole!  I just hoped and prayed the Colca Valley Lodge was a lot nicer.

Well low and behold we had to drive another 40 minutes to our lodge and by God it was worth every sore and aching muscle I have.  I could live here.  The place has more pre-Columbian terraces than I could ever imagine.  The only bad part was the "road" to the lodge.  It was the scariest we've had so far.  The lodge is built on a terrace and just looks so natural.  There are 2 rivers, hot springs and such beautiful scenery.  The bridge that we drove over was creaky but at least it was not the one next to it.  That bridge was built in about the 1600s and is amazing.  I hope to get a picture of it tomorrow.

The Peruvians are very talented people when it comes to the use of stones.  They build stone walls that go up sides of cliffs, simple but very solid houses.  It is truly amazing.  And to think they did this all before becoming "civilized".

Tonight's entry will have to be short as I've got to be up by 05:30 (what!!??!?) as breakfast is at 06:00 and we leave for our second day of hell at 06:30.

I picked up an alpaca scarf today.  It was only $12 soles - about $3 USD.

I need a quick nap before dinner.  I just have a headache but don't know if it is from Altitude Sickness or not.  Tomorrow I will definitely go prepared.