Colca Canyon - What Goes Down Must Come Up

Introduction

Found a short distance away from the Peruvian city of Arequipa, lies one of the deepest canyons in the world. Often skipped by travelers in South America as they rush off to Machu Picchu, the Colca Canyon boasts excellent sights of its own. I myself did a 3 day trek here and for the most part found it both enjoyable and accessible to beginner hikers.

The Depth of the Canyon is a sight to behold.

Introduction to the Colca Canyon

Often overlooked by travelers as they rush off to the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu, the Colca Canyon sits a few hours away from the beautiful city of Arequipa. Yet, it is not a trip to be passed up on, as it certainly holds its own in terms of views and ecology. The trek can be done in either 2 days or 3 days, while some tourists just choose to make a day trip to the area to spot condors. The difference between 2 days or 3 days options is that the 2 day option requires you cover the distance of day 1 and 2 together. Alternatively, you could plan to do your own trek here as the paths are clearly marked.

Overview of the Trek

The Colca Canyon trek mainly involves a walking in a circumference around the canyon. On one side of the canyon lies several remote villages, each found near the river that flows through the canyon. On the other side, features somewhat steep paths that zip-zag down the face of the canyon, allowing one to enter the depths and cross the river over to the other side. As such, much of the trek involves long stretches of ascend or descend rather than flat land. Additionally, as it is a circuit within an enclosed area, you often see the same sights throughout the trek but from different angles.

Day 1

The trek starts off with a steep descend down into the canyon, ending at a bridge. Personally, I found day 1 to boast the best sights of the trek as you have ample opportunity to look up and take in the views. Be it the twisting paths, spots of vegetation or the never ending twists and turns, there was certainly more than enough to feast my eyes upon. The only real challenges here were the pressure placed on my knees and the loose soil that threatened to throw me over the side. While I did not use any, I would highly recommend anyone attempting this trek to use a walking stick for this portion in order to increase stability and reduce force on their knees.

Day 2

Day 2 is considered by most as the easiest day of the trek. Note of course that this is only valid if you are doing the 3 day version. If you opt to do the 2 day version, you would be covering both day 1 that I wrote about above as well as this day’s distance within a single day. Day 2 mainly features a flat walk through multiple villages, thus offering you a glimpse into life in a remote village. Peacefulness and serenity are all around here. Nonetheless, it does feature a section of tough uphill that will probably leave you slightly short of breadth. The reward for this day is the ‘paradise’ at the end, a band of lodges which feature swimming pools and grass patches in the middle of the canyon. Brilliant.

Day 3

Day 3 is tough. Well anytime I have to wake up before sunrise and trek, is tough. But day 3 involves a 1.5hr-3.5hr ascent, depending on how fast are you. My legs were definitely feeling the burn by the time I got out of the canyon, and I was pretty worn out after having awoke at 4am. Mentally, this part of the trek can be difficult as you zig-zag up a single face of the canyon, without ever feeling that you are close to the top. In fact, many people opt to pay for a donkey ride up to the top. Nonetheless, it was pretty nice to walk in the moonlight and a good opportunity to catch sunrise.

Returning to Arequipa

The return trip to Arequipa was a highly unpleasant one for me. I was unfortunate to have hired the services of a highly incompetent agency and needed to enlist the help of another agency on this day. Long story short, I along with other travelers who I had not met until this point, were firstly separated form our trekking groups, then kicked off our buses multiple times, having to join a new bus each time. Poor logistics and transportation planning left us exasperated and annoyed. Lucky, there were a few good sights to see here, which somewhat kept my spirits afloat.

Up Next

I am most excited to say that my next trip will be to Chile - Pantagonia. It probably is going to freeze my ass off, and I will likely cry about the cold. But opportunities like these only come around once in a blue moon. So I look forward to writing about that experience soon and sharing it here! Stay tuned!