South America Part 9 - Colca Canyon continued

We all had to get up at the crack of dawn to get ready for a bus pickup close to 6am. In reality - we were waiting around until 7am for the bus to show up.

We were taken to a couple of nearby town squares (including the one we had walked to yesterday). Instead of getting your picture taken with an alpaca or llama - you could get your picture taken with the Condor Man. If you partake with one soles - the man will let his condor grapple on top of your arm or head for a picture.

The bus ride to the Canyon was quite long (a couple of hours) and felt in parts to be even more scary than the trip down to lunch yesterday. At one stage - the bus entered a very long tunnel. Because the road isn´t sealed and there was something in front of us - you basically couldn´t see anything more than a meter in front of the bus. Elvis didn´t seem phased and just kept on driving (even tho the tour guide said - "can you see anything?").

Along the way - the bus pulled up to a "crack" alongside the road. Albert explained that this was infact a geological fault line and that there was an earthquake here in the 1990s that killed heaps of people. I was thinking - "great - why are we pulled up alongside it for two minutes... Let´s get out of here!!".

When we finally got to the canyon - Elvis stopped the bus about 1 foot away from a cliff. Thankfully he quickly reversed away from the 1km drop.

The Canyon itself was rather spectacular - it was incredibly deep (apparently it is the second deepest in the world) and was very steep. All of the tourist buses drop everyone up at a alleged ¨Condor¨ look out. I think I saw (in total) two big birds which I had thought were condors but someone told me that they were too small.

Ant managed to get off his sick-bus-bed and walk out and get some fresh air along the track in the canyon. I was feeling adventerous (and also busting for a number one) - so I ventured far down the track so noone could see me doing my business. On my return - I managed to dodge some Peruvian kids firing slingshots at people.

After 90 minutes we hopped back onto the bus - Ant was feeling a little less ill and Albert, our guide, wanted to take us to another lookout for the chance to see condors. We had to trek about 1/2 km off the bus (even though this doesn´t sound much - it is at the altitude and it is when you begin to come down with gastro!). Of course we didn´t see any condors. Albert kept claiming that their nests were around here - but he started to sound like a fool.

When returning to the bus - I (Nick) started to feel really bad. I had managed to pick up Ant´s gastro bug but unfortunately for me - there were no toilets until 2 hours away.

When we hit the town that we had lunch the previous day - the bus pulled up at a different resturant. I attempted to get off the bus first to use the toilets but alas - someone had beat me to it. I had to wait about 5 minutes before I could use the gents toilets. When I got in - the toilet was convientantly missing a toilet seat and toilet paper. I had to wait another 10 minutes before the waiter got some "paper" - but it was a tad embarassing - as the toilet was situated right smack next to the main dining room and noises from the toilet were definately audible from the dining room.

Because we packed lightly - we forgot to take with us on the tour our first aid kit (including antibotics and gastro pills). Thankfully - the aussies who were with us the night before donated some pills to make the 4 hour bus trip back to Arequipa a more enjoyable experience for all.

On the way back to town - Elvis had about 2 x 30 minute cassette tapes of various early 80s and late 70s western music. I think I had heard "Down Under" and "Eye of the Tiger" about five times. It was so loud - I couldn´t get any rest... Amusingly tho - I did hear "Staying Alive" about four times - considering Elvis´driving was so bad...

We finally got back to Arequipa well after 5:30pm... We both crashed at the Casa de Tintin again... I was so delerious that I watched the entire length of "Crocodilio Dundee Deus" on the movie channel. I can´t remember laughing once.

Ant bravely ventured out to town by himself (I just didn´t want to stomach any food) - and unbravely ate more Johnny Coyete! So ends another day on this glorious country...