The story of a hard-core trekking!

Hey lads! We are back after the longest and hardest trekking we have ever done! We have been five days walking through the Colca Canyon and a Volcanoes Valley. This time we decided to organise it ourselves with the company of Dan, Grace and Jamie, all old friends from Sucre. It required a lot of thinking and preparations. We had to buy all the equipment; tent, mats, stove and the most important, the food.
The Colca Canyon is the second deepest in the world, with its almost vertical walls plunging down to 3,000m. It is a very touristy spot around Arequipa, but this time we decided to go off the beaten track and went on a alternative trekking through remote landscape and villages that rarely see many tourists. It has been tough and we had to deal with many setbacks as Jordi being ill with fever just one day before leaving, a skin reaction to the antibiotics that provoked some feet and hands inflammation and Nuria suffering altitude sickness on the third day at 5,000m, just to mention some...
At Cabanaconde, the starting point, we had to rest for two days to get rid of the damn sore throat and fever while arranging the mules. We got two brave mules and a donkey to do the job and carry more than 50Kg of stuff. They came together with his owner, Beto, a local guy who doubled himself as a guide sometimes.
The whole trekking was around 60Km long, passing through a varied landscape full of contrasts; from the bottom of the canyon at 1,800m we had to climb all the way up to a 5,100m. mountain pass, and then descend down to the Volcanoes Valley, a bizarre spectacle, a field carpeted of lava flows with small volcanoes scattered around. Obviously this involved different weather patterns, from extreme heat we went to freezing conditions with snow and wind. But guys, it has been the most fulfilling trekking we have ever done, and the one that required more effort, mentally and physically. An incredible experience!
The first started at 3,200m, at Cabanaconde and we descended all the way down to the bottom of the canyon to then walk it up to the other side to end up in Choco, a small village where we camped and were the attraction of the afternoon. Uff, this canyon is mind-blowing, impressive with its towering walls and the river right at the bottom. Just think that its depth is double than the famous Colorado one!
The second day was the easiest, we just walked 1,200 uphill to another village, Miña, really isolated and two days walking away from any other form of civilisation. Here, lads, we put the tent on the dusty town square, and cooked with all the kids playing around and inspecting our tent.
On the third day we kept gaining altitude while walking up a steep path to the first mountain pass at 4,600m. On the way we spotted many Condors, Wow! What an amazing bird, majestic! On top, the weather totally changed, it turned cold, windy and hail started to fall. Luckily a hut was nearby, so we squashed all of us in there, and when the weather cleared up we went on wood search to heat up the evening. That was may be the nicest night we had, while cooking outdoors around the fire.
The fourth day was the most difficult and hardest one. From 4,200m we had to climb up to the mountain pass at 5,1000m, and believe us, walking at this altitude is a different story, every step is a struggle and the lack of air is really evident. Here Nuria suffered of altitude sickness and could not make it by herself, stomach ache, dizziness, headache all combined made it impossible. But, here is when the mules came handy guys! She had to ride the mule all the way to the pass. Jordi was doing well and not suffering of the altitude, maybe the amount of coca leaves that he chewed helped! From top we decided to go as downhill as possible, as this was the best cure for Nuria, so we made it to Chachas, a village at the bottom of the Volcanoes valley. That was an extremely long day and ankle and knees killing. Here we bid farewell to the mules and his owner as we decided to do the last day to Andagua on our own.
On the last day we had to carry our bags and walk for a never-ending 20Km to Andagua, but the landscape was truly shocking, just lava fields everywhere and small volcanoes popping up here and there. Although the strength was running down and was hard to get to the final destination. But, hey, we made it! We felt so proud and happy upon arrival! Andagua is non-touristy village where we could not treat ourselves after the hard-core trekking. But at least we got a bed to sleep and some food.
The meals during the trekking where simple but quite tasty; pasta, rice, beans and lentils in tins, bread, tuna... heaps of boiled and treated river water and even more coca chewed!
And that is it lads, now we are back to Arequipa after 11 hours bus ride through bumpy roads and a mad driver who made us suffer more than the steep slopes of the Colca Canyon! Time to celebrate the succes with some pizzas and beers!
All the best!