Colca canyon

So at 2.45 my alarm goes off as a duck quaking and generally can't work out what it is to begin with, then as I remember, and get up to turn it off, the doorbell rings! And I'm just like mierda I am soo not ready to go. So grab all my stuff together and shove it all in my bag. Also had another bag of stuff I left behind at house, so just put it in someones room hoping it wouldn't get lost! Then phillipa hadn't heard her alarm. So was trying together ready aswell. Then all her stuff like fell outof her bag onto the stairs! Lol but we made it onto the bus only a couple minutes late! However the other like 6 peole we picked up were all really late so didn't actually leave Arequipa till like 4ish. Then was another 4 hours to the canyon on a freezing cold bus. Arrived in chivay for breakfast where it was soo cold and breakfast was such a joke. Bread and the most minuscule slices of ham and cheese (could basically see through them!) which we had to pay 4 sols for aswell! Then went to condor viewpoint tho didn't actually manage to get any pictures of condors! Then was another lil ride to where we were being dropped off to start the trek.
The first day was supposed to last 4 hours and be relatively easy, it lasted 5 and was insane! Like really steep downhill the really steep uphill, all the time up and down. Most ridiculous part was when we came to a bridge and guide was like yeh u can't actually cross it u have to climb this cliff instead! Needless to say, we all thought he was joking! But no, he was dead serious! So eventually we arrived at our hostel which did have an amazing view but we had been up for 12 hours so all anyone wanted to do was eat and go in the fabled hot springs! Lunch was like lentils with veg, an egg and rice so wasn't exactly something I like but was so hungry I ate it all anyways, and actually wasn't that bad!
Then we headed to the hotel hot springs which were actually just a tiny, dirty, Luke warm pool! By the time we got put we were freezing and had to walk all the way back up to our rooms. Then there was still like 2-3 hours left till dinner so we just had to chill to then but we got spaghetti for dinner which was pretty good tho in a massive portion!
Everyone went straiht to bed after dinner tho I woke up 2 hours later with the most excruciating stomach pains that I just couldn't shake so just spent the next two hours in the bathroom and walking around eventually got back to sleep tho when I woke everything hurt! Surprisingly we got pancakes for breakfast but I was still not feeling so great so couldn't actually eat it all! Left by 8 to begin the days walking. First 15 mins were so hard just going up really steep! And we continued upwards for the next 1.45 hours aswell before reaching the top of the hill. Everyone was seriously knackered by the top but there was still another 1.20 hour until lunchtime stop. We thought we did it in really good time, but our guide kept telling us we're really slow. Also lunch was like veggie heaven so wasn't too happy with that. Did buy myself a snickers and some Oreos tho, but unfortunately had already Eaten them a couple hours later! Was another 1.5 hours to the oasis after lunch all steep down until the end which was like vertical up! Also we were staying in the place with the smallest pool out of everywhere here! Arrived and managed to get in an hour of sunlight before that disappeared at 3.30! Also dinner was originally at 7.30 tho we managed to get it changed to 6.30 meaning only 3 hours hanging around as opposed to 4! Lol we did some yoga to try and stretch off everything, as we're all a lil stiff then just killed time till dinner with cards and reading!
Had to get up at 5 the last day to hike up 1000m before breakfast! Woooo our guide said in our condition we might make it up in 3 hours which is basically an invitation to beat that time (that's the averse ascent time).
managed to get up late again then was pitch black for first 30 mins of climbing. I did it in 2 hrs 10 mins ish tho so not that bad really! And view from top was awesome cause you could see just how far we'd gone! Breakfast again was a giant disappointment considering what we'd just done, two hollow bread rolls and a small fried egg was not sufficient. And I was deco feeling deprived as ate egg and had coffee for breakfast, due to absolute lack of alternatives and an inability to drink more boiling water on it's own! Lol however later that day we wentto the hot springs which were just amazing and so relaxing and then for this awesome buffet lunch where we all totally pigged out! Also saw a condor really close up on the way back when we stopped off at a view point!
Unfortunately we'd had several issues with our guide and parts of the trek over the three days so all had quite a few comments to leave. However the organization were really good about it and apologized profusely then actually refunded some of our money!
Soo that my friends was colca, and whilst we had some issues and it was seriously tiring, the canyon itself is spectacular!