THIS IS WHAT ADULTS DO

Day 22: Currently in San Pedro de Atacama. We arrived earlier today by bus and are ready to get the hell out of here. This little tourist haven has US-prices (just about). We did manage to book a couple of trips for tomorrow--to the El Tatio Geysers and to the Valley of the Moon. The big news today, however, is that I have had a change in plans. I will not be going to Bolivia at all. Mom, you can breathe easy now. After Eden leaves me on the 26th, I will stay here and visit the local Chilean (and much smaller) salt lake: Salar de Atacama. Then, its off on another long distance bus to Salta, Argentina on the 27th. I´m a little disappointed, but not much. This isn´t the best season to visit the Bolivian Salar d´Uyuni anyway so that--and Bolivia as a whole--will just have to wait for the next time I´m in South America. Details on the new plans and what this bird will do by herself in Argentina to come...

First, a review of Arequipa and Colca Canyon:

Day 17: Eden and I are in Arequipa enjoying delicious, delicious crepes! As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Zig Zag creperie on Santa Catalina is YUMMMMY. In our time in Arequipa, we basically ate there every meal.

Day 17: At the creperie...

Day 17: I also mentioned that while in Arequipa, we visited this convent whose name escapes me. It´s definitely worth the trip even if it´s a little pricier than one would expect. Eden paid for my ticket as a birthday gift. Thanks girl!

Day 1 of Colca Canyon (Day 18): We woke up at 2:30am in order to get our asses downstairs by 2:45am for our 3 day trek through Colca Canyon. From our hotel, we´re taken to the bus terminal and stuffed in a local bus. As you can see, people get all up in your biznezz on the local busses in Peru. Standing is mandatory. The bus ride to Cabanaconde (starting point of the trek) is about 6hours. I sleep most of the way. Eden, apparently, does not. She is pissed.

Day 1 of CC trek: We descend into the Canyon from Cabanaconde. Here, Eden attacks our guide, Roy.

Day 1 of CC trek: Here is Elinor (Elle) our new best Aussie friend and the other member of our CC hike.

Day 1 of CC trek: Our first night is spent in the Llahuar Lodge where two rivers meet. This is the ¨Llahuar Route¨into the Canyon, and we would later learn, Llahuar is also the harder route of the 3d/2n options. This first day was pretty easy as it is all downhill. Thing is, downhill literally kills my knees. I have bad knees. I fall quite a few times coming down b/c the roads are filled with rocks and my knees are weak. All in all though, no serious damage. Eden, however, is definitely ready to kill me for signing her up for yet another few days of hellish trekking. While in the photos Llahuar seems like a quaint little place to spend a night, the accomodations made us think of what it must be like to live in Vietnam as a poor rice paddy farmer. No electricity. Dirt floors. Bamboo shacks. At least there was a flushing toilet.

For dinner we have fresh trucha (trout) caught by Roy from the river. Eden is not amused. Elle and I love the fried trout and gobble ours up, bones and all.

Day 2 of CC trek (Day 19): We begin a 800m climb out of Llahuar at 6:30am and head to the ¨Oasis¨. The 800m up is followed by another 1,000m down. It seems like such a futile climb as the net result is us back where we started (even lower than where we started). Eden is definitely pissed.

Day 2 of CC trek: We are at the top of our 800m climb. Take a right for Llahuar. We go the opposite way.

Day 2 of CC trek: From the top of our little climb, we can see the Oasis down below. See the zig zags in the mountains? Those are the ways in and out.

Day 2 of CC trek: The downhill seems to take forever. We pass a river and finally make it to the Oasis. We take a dip in the cold water and relax in the sun.

Here at the Oasis, we also run into a group doing the traditional CC trek. Their first and second day were both downhill--unlike our second day which included a climb. This other group is kind of weird though. It included: Annoying German Girl, Strange Slovenian Guy, Snooty Belgian Couple. Eden, Elle and I resolve to beat the meek looking Belgians going up the canyon for the following day.

Day 2 of CC trek: Again, accomodations may seem nice in that photo of the pool, but rest assured, it´s another bamboo shack with dirt floors! This bamboo hut was nicer than the one at Llahuar Lodge. Eden sobs on her bed and damns me to hell.

Day 3 of CC trek (Day 20): We begin trekking at 3am! The moon is peeking out over the side of the canyon as we embark on our 1,100m climb out of the canyon.

Day 3 of CC trek: Slowly, light is filtering in!

Day 3 of CC trek: Sunlight! And we made it to the top of the canyon in an amazing 2h 30minutes! And we totally kicked Belgian ass!!! Woohoo.

I am seriously proud of myself because a) I hardly needed to rest. Compare that to Salkantay which was also an 1,100m climb where I needed to rest every 5 steps; b) I carried my pack all the way up (hiring a mule was an option); c) I felt like I could go on for another 1,000m if needed! It´s just amazing how quickly the human body can adapt to harsh conditions.

Day 3 of CC trek: You might be wondering why we had to wake up at 3am to start the final hike. Well, it´s because that way, you could make it to Cruz del Condor around 8am--the ideal time to spot condors. Alas, there were no condors--only local women peddling their wares. Eden is again, pissed. ¨Fuck the condors,¨ became her mantra.

We head back to Arequipa on another horrible 6hr bus ride and intended to party the night away with Elle. Unfortunately, we were all effing exhausted from having woken up at 230am and from the hike that we all pooped out by 9pm and headed back to our hotel after stuffing ourselves full of crepes. Too many crepes.

Day 21: Elle and the two of us separate. Eden and I catch the 730am bus out of Arequipa to Tacna, the border town with Chile. See ya Arequipa! See ya crappy Arequipeña beer! Day 21 is a wasted day as it is spent entirely on travel. Tacna, Arica, and onwards to San Pedro de Atacama.

Day 22: Another overnight bus takes us deep into the Chilean deserts by morning. People actually live in those huts out there. What the hell do they do out there????

Day 22: TODAY. We are in San Pedro de Atacama, as mentioned earlier. One thing that San Pedro does have is delicious empanadas!!!!!! Off the main Plaza there is a little marketplace. In the middle of the market place is an empanada stand (Empanadium) run by a cute little old man. He makes everything from scratch!

Seen here is my second empanada of the day: Quinoa, queso, chorizo, and mixed veggies. SOOO GOOOD. Eden and I will probably have empanadas again tomorrow.

Now, the new plans: Go directly to Salta. Do not pass Bolivia. Do not collect $200. In Salta, I plan on doing some horseback riding, mountain biking, and all in all relaxing. Then, I will need to figure some way to get to Puerto Madryn along the southern Argentinian coast. There, I plan on scuba diving with the sea lions, orca watching, and waddling with some penguins. Thanks very much Elle for the tips on what to do!!! Then finally, I´ll head back to Buenos Aires by February 10th in order to meet up with my fellow Canadian friend Gabe. Then it´ll be Iguazu Falls, Mendoza wine country, and finally Santiago & Valparaiso before heading back to Chicago.