After goung to bed early yesterday I slept really well until about 1am and then kept tossing and turning. The alarm went off at 4am, we packed our bags, ate some snacks and set off on the uphill climb around 5am. The first 30 minutes of the trek was a shortcut, basically quite a steep uphill climb. After that we joined the main trekking route which was actually still pretty steep.

We all had headtorches on and it was quite surreal walking up in the dark. Around 6am the sun rose and it began to get light and easier to see.

Here are some photos I took in the early part of the morning. Stopping to take photos was a good excuse to stop and get my breath back!

As we walked along the main path we all started to go at our own pace. At one point I was completely on my own which was a great feeling, with some of the group up ahead and some behind. It felt like I was the only person on the mountain.

Unfortunately after around 45mins of climbing Marlene felt really sick and couldn’t catch her breath. Luckily Mina was with her and helped her until they found Raquel. She then sorted out a donkey to take Marlene to the top. As we climbed up we had to stop a few times to let the donkeys past.

These are some of the views of the canyon as we climbed up. The paths were rocky, and stoney like yesterday. I preferred it when there were no steps as it was easier to climb then.

The climb is 6km straight up but as you zig zag up the path you actually walk around 8-10km. It took me around 3 hours to get to the top and I really felt it – more the lack of oxygen but my legs were also pretty tired. Probably the hardest climb I’ve done on this trip.

But I made it to the top and it was a fantastic view.

Once we were at the top we then had to walk around another 2km to the town of Cabanaconde where we had a well deserved breakfast.

At Cabanaconde we caught the bus for the drive back home but on the way we stopped at several places.

The first stop was a viewpoint so you could look out over the pre-inca terraces which are used for agricultural purposes. They look a bit like rice fields.

At this stop thete was a little house / shop and a pet llama who was very friendly and also posed for a photo.

After this we continued driving towards Chivay, stopping off at La Calera hot springs. The temperature of some of the springs was almost too hot and you couldn’t stay in some of them for too long – I think one was around 40 degrees. Apart from Marlene, who wasn’t feeling great, and Mina, who had a wound on her foot, we all got in.

It was a good way to relax after all that walking.

Then it was a short bus ride into the town of Chivay where we stopped for a lovely buffet lunch, I ate loads of vegetables and tried 3 different deserts.

The next stop was at around 4,900m to get a view of the volcanos in the area. You could definitely feel the lack of oxygen here, and it was also pretty chilly. There were a lot of offerings to Pachamama in this area as the mountains and volcanos are regarded as sacred places where the mountain gods live.

The very last stop on the way down was at the national reserve of Pampa Cañahuas where you can see vicuña (wild llama), llama and alpacas.

It was then a 2 hour journey back to Arequipa. On the way though some of the scenery was stunning – we missed it on the way up as it was too dark. This photo I took below looks like someone just painted the mountains.

After saying our goodbyes I went back to the hostel and had a lovely shower.

In the evening I met up with Mara and we went to Las Gringas for some delicious pizza!