Day: 370
Colca Valley is the worlds deepest canyon, even more so than the Grand Canyon, unfortunately after spending two days getting on and off the uber-touristy tourist bus non-stop, I am not really up to writing much. Needless to say, to have such a vast canyon you need great altitudes (upwards of 5000 meters), to deal with the constant gains an losses in altitude our guide shared with us some coca leaves to chew on. I don’t really think the coca leaves helped with the altitude sickness, but it did significantly numb my tongue, which left me slightly too preoccupied to be concerned with the lack of oxygen in my brain.
On another note, the entire valley seemed to have sold out most of it’s indigenous culture to tourists, which left me sort of ashamed to be on this bus; which constantly dumped you (with about 5 other buses on the same route) in front of “locals” who just wanted to sell you an alpaca beanies and blankets. Unfortunately, the valley is spectacular and the transport options in and out are limited, causing most people to be forced into these tours if they want to catch a glimpse at all of this astounding canyon.
