This morning we caught a bus leaving Arequipa going up into the mountain. Arequipa is at about 7,800 ft. We went over a 16,000 ft pass eventually ending up at the town of Cabanaconde on the edge of the Colca Canyon. We are at 10,780 ft tonight. The mountains, the villages, the terraced fields, and the road were all pretty amazing as you can see in this picture taken from the bus window.
We are staying at a nice hotel called Kuntur Wassi. Our room is round!
We had a great dinner tonight. I had alpaca medallions with a quinoa risotto.
And Duke had alpaca with Andean herbs.
Colca Canyon is 3,182 meters (10,440 feet) deep which makes it one of the two deepest canyons in the world. From where we are the hike to the bottom is about 3,500 feet. Our plan is to hike to the bottom tomorrow,spend the night and hike back out on Saturday. That means no internet for the next couple of days.
Marion's Blog 
OK- hike in, spend the night, hike back out? That’s it! No elaboration/explanation as to whether or not you have a Guide/a tent/a freaking coffee maker!?!
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:-). No guide. There are lots of tourists here and the trail is supposed to be straight forward. We are staying at a guest house at the bottom so we only need to take water. No internet for next 2 nights. We have instant coffee in case we need it !!
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