So, plans change...

Second post in a day...whew. Trying to catch up a little bit. So, when planning (i use that term very loosely) our trip we didn´t plan on spending more than a night in Arequipa and weren´t even sure we´d venture to the Colca Canyon. We´re now going into our sixth day here. A few days in Arequipa, some time in Chivay getting to the Canyon, and a little town called Cabanaconde to see the endangered Condors flying in the canyon. There´s too much to tell, but here´s a glimpse into Chivay:

• population of 4600 people
• stuck in the mountains...cold, cold moutains
• there were no cars, what we think of as restaurants, or buses until 20 years ago
• women wear these traditional, colorful dresses, skirts, and hats everyday. I´m still amazed that it´s daily dress for them...it´s really like the guide books.

Our experience in Chivay:

• got there Saturday night to an empty bus station.
• find out that it´s empty because the ENTIRE town is at a party in the center for the town´s 184th anniversary.
• find a hostel and put on every single piece of clothing i brought with me to the town--seriously, so cold.
• walk down to the center to the party: traditional dances going on in the plaza, probably 5 bonfires in the middle of the streets burnuing evergreen-like trees, people passing around homemade bottles of pisco (traditional Peruvian alcohol- like Mexico´s tequila), and people literally wrapped in wool blankets because it´s so cold (did i say it was cold?).
• dance for awhile still wearing 17 layers and chacos with wool socks
• meet a tour guide who offers to bring us on a tour to the canyon the next day--we agree on a price and to meet him at 7:00 the next morning to leave.
• Sleep...it´s loud, and cold.
• wake up at 6:30 to meet said tour guide dude.
• the dude never shows...shouldn´t be shocked.
• Meet a better tour guide who will go with us on the public bus and will prove to be reliable and SO helpful.
• He says we´ll meet at 2:00 to take the 2:30 bus to the canyon.
• We meet him to find out the the 2:30 bus was cancelled because the driver apparently had too much fun at the fiesta the night before...we´re in Latin America, folks.
• With the extra time, we go to a bull fight which was basically a bunch of normal guys teasing some bulls in a ring...too funny.
• Finally get to the bus station around 5 to go to the canyon...

Okay, I´m getting long winded...sorry. One more thing though. This bus experience was amazing:

We got to the bus station a half hour early, and our guide (thank God we had him...) told us we were going to have to stand in line. Everyone was just chilling waiting for the bus and all of sudden everyone stood up and ran to make a line. Everyone just knew to do it at a certain time. We then stood in this line for maybe 20 minutes. The bus came, practically plowed into the line and everyone literally rushed the bus. We were pushed so tight and this crowd literally pushed us into the bus. At one point, I realized that I was pushed against a BABY on her mother´s back...poor thing. Once on the bus the pushing continued...we stood for the couple of hours it took to get to the canyon town. Crazy, but so amazing...

I´ll stop for now. If you made it to the end of that, I appreciate your perseverance :)

Right now we´re back in Arequipa waiting for roads to open up to Cuzco/Machu Picchu...there´s some unrest and a whole bunch of travelers waiting around to get where they want to go. There are definitely worst places than Arequipa, so no complaints here.

Hasta pronto.