Puno - Arequipa, 6 hours of bus, 310 km, from 3800 to 2330m above sea level.
I arrive in Arequipa at night, after a long six hours bus with a woman on my side that apparently was very scared of getting sick because everytime I would sneeze or cough she would put a small towel on her noze and mouth (I got quite sick since the nice rain and wind on top of Michu Picchu...). It was even to the point that to sleep she would put her little towel on top of all her face, just in case, you know ...
So, once there, I buy myself a few breads to replace dinner, but unfortunately they are nothing like the wonderful ones of Puno and are awfully dry.
In the morning I have breakfast and meet a very nice mexican girl who originally went for a ten days vacation but that was seven months ago. We go take a free city tour, where I meet again Laura, the french I had met in Cusco. After the visit, our little team (in the mean time we went from three to seven people) go to have lunch at a french restaurant recommanded by other french people, where the lunch is at eight soles (about two euros). The chef is french, just opened his restaurant and is really successfull. The food is absolutely delicious and it feels good to finally eat something french after almost seven months !
Arequipa is a beautiful city, she bears the name of the White City because of the color of its buildings but mostly because after the colonization only the spanish were living there. And this wonderful city is surrounded by a breathtaking landscape: the Misti volcano that is close to 6000 meters high (we are at 2300) is only a few kilometers away from the city, and a big chain of mountains with eternal snows completes the view. But this beautiful situation has a price: like almost everywhere in Peru, the region suffers of frequent earthquakes (the last strong one in 2001 broke one of the two towers of the big cathedral, today rebuilt but slightly whiter than the other one), but the biggest danger is the Misti, which is still active today... Its last violent eruption was in the 15th century and since then it frequently explodes lightly (the last one was in 1985) but the day it will decide to erupt for real again, all the villages on its sides will be covered in lava, and Arequipa will be a new Pompei, as it will be covered by up to one meter of ashes.
The next morning, Laura, Maxime (a friend of Laura) and I are off for two days in the canyon nearby, the Colca canyon, known for its majestic condors. Being with a tiny budget and not really willing to walk two days at 3000 meters above sea level, we decide to take a bus tour, the most touristic thing that exists, but that will enable us to see many lamas, alpacas and vicunas (nope, they look alike but they are very different!) on the road, to bath in thermal waters up in the mountains, to learn more about folkloric dances in the region, which are quite sexual although their dresses don't show much, and last but not least, to see condors fly above our heads in the middle of the canyon. The place where we can observe them is a cliff one thousand meters deep, but from its bottom to its highest point, the canyon is 5000 meters deep, which makes it the deepest canyon in the world. We are actually quite lucky and can see almost ten condors in total, and from quite close.
Once back to Arequipa, we go get our stuff and run to the bus terminal to do the 10 hours to Nazca during the night.
But in spite of the beauty of the canyon and the city, I would like to point out one small problem: the gringo prices... A detail that did annoy us quite a lot, there is an entrance fee to the canyon, no problem with that, except that foreigners need to pay 70 soles, so almost 20€, even to only stay there one day, even for Europe this is quite expensive to enter a natural site. But worse than that, is the national prices. In a way I agree with the idea that the people living there should be able to enjoy their lands without paying too much but the price difference is impossible to that point. A peruvian student pays only 5 soles to enter, so just like 1,5 euros, a peruvian 20 soles (so about 5€) but on sundays a couple of peruvian can enter for 20 soles (so 2,50€ each) and a south american only pays 40 soles (so 10€). A foreign student? Who has an international student card? 70. The difference is huge and inexplicable. We also met a couple, the woman from Switzerland and the man from Peru. To go to the Machu Picchu, the swiss woman has to take the touristic train which is awfully expensive (although she has been married for 30 years with a peruvian), but her husband can take the local train that is almost free. If he wants, of course, he can take the touristic train as well and pay a lot but he is still not allowed to travel with his wife, because as a peruvian, he has to sit in a specific wagon in the train...
Tourism is essential for this beautiful country but it tends to poison any kind of logical sens just to make money on the back of the foreigners, unfortunately.
The flight of the condors!
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