Peru Budget

We decided the budget for Peru really deserves it's own post. Peru is much more on the "normal" tourist trail because of Machu Picchu. Combine this with some unexpected expenditures and we spent just about the same amount for a month in Peru as we did for a month and a half in Ecuador.

Including absolutely everything during out time in Peru, we spent $3,651.36 for 31 days. This comes to $117.79 per day. If you'll recall, our budget is $80/day, so we were well over that. I'll discuss some of the large expenditures that were out of the ordinary below, but first I wanted to point out our largest expenditure (assuming the hospital charges go away): Machu Picchu. We spent $450.33 on site tickets, rail tickets, a collectivo, taxi, bus to the site, lodging, and ridiculously priced ice cream and water just for Machu Pichu. However, how could you visit Peru and not see Machu Pichu? Thus, we never ever looked at what our budget would have been excluding this expensive remarkable site.

We had a number of unusual expenditures that we thought artificially increased the budget. I had to go to the hospital, that was $584. We assume we're going to be reimbursed for the full amount by our insurance, so we expect the daily expenditure will come down to $98.76. We also bought a Jambox in Lima for $280. This was a nice to have and will be discussed in further detail when we do our updated packing post, but without that we'd be at $89.73/day. Also, It was very cold in Cusco and we expect it to get colder, so Jordan and I both bought base layers and gloves. Total cost for the new gear was $192 and without that in the total, we'd be at $83.54 for all of Peru. Finally, I lost my prescription sunglasses in an unfortunate seafaring accident (aka swimming with my glasses on in the ocean) in Montañita. We bought replacements in Lima for $110.48, without this final cost, we'd be at $79.97.

In total that comes to $1,166.48 in weird expenditures. We're pretty happy with the total, Peru was more expensive than Ecuador, but we were able to keep within 25% of our budget even with the gear, Jambox, and glasses included. We're hoping to make up some ground in Boliva, we've heard it is quite cheap. However, it will cost us $270 just to enter the country and there are a number of activities that will require us to join tours to experience.

HOWTO: Colca Canyon

Most tourists visit Colca Canyon with a guide or as part of a tour group, but it is fairly simple to do independently. Visiting on your own gives you more flexibility with which sites you want to see and how much of your time you want to spend on trekking. Here's the "how to" breakdown and cost of how we did our trip. Bus from Arequipa to Chivay (4 hours, S/12, $4.59 each) - Busses leave from Terminal Terrestre, and it is recommended to buy tickets a day ahead to ensure you have a seat. Our bus was over an hour late, so don't plan to go too late in the day.

Spend the night in Chivay. We stayed in a private room with bathroom at a random hospedaje just outside the plaza area (S/30, $11.48).

Catch the 7:30am bus from Chivay to Cabanaconde (2 hours, S/4, $1.53 each). Arrive at the bus station and get in line immediately, even if there is nobody else standing there if you want a chance at getting a seat. The bus will be crammed full with people bursting out of the aisles for the entire duration. Someone in a green vest will board the bus to sell tourists their ticket into the canyon (S/70, $26.79 each). You have to buy it, and they check that you have it at various points along your trek.

Get off the bus at Cruz del Condor. You can't miss it, as it will be the first major stop where a lot of people get off. They say at the bus station that it takes only one hour, but it is actually almost two. Walk around and take lots of pictures of the condors and take in the views of the canyon.

Walk to Cabanaconde along the road. It is 12km and took us around 3 hours with our bags. It is a beautiful walk without many cars and the road is in great condition. Once you get there, immediately buy your return bus ticket to Arequipa, if you want to have a seat during the seven hour journey (S/12, $4.50 each). Note: The cost of the ticket is more if you wait until you are on the bus to buy it.

Spend the night in Cabanoconde. We stayed in a private room at Pachamama (S/50, $19). They have a decent restaurant which serves wood fired pizzas, and breakfast is included in the cost. The staff are very helpful and give lots of good tips on where to go and how to get there.

Trek from Cabanaconde to San Juan de Chuccho (about 3.5 hours, mostly downhill). Bring plenty of water and snacks, as both are very expensive once you are down into the canyon. Once you cross the bridge at the bottom, follow the signs painted on rocks for "Roy", and eat a wonderful lunch. Spend the night in a private room with a gorgeous view of the mountains. (Lunch and dinner: S/10, $3.83 each, Breakfast: S/6, $2.30 each, Lodging: S/20, $7.66 each)

Trek from San Juan de Chuccho to Sangalle el Oasis. Brush up on your Spanish to ask locals for directions when you inevitably take a wrong turn, as there are no signs anywhere. It is supposed to take 4 hours, but took us a little over five with our "detours". There is a good mix of up and downhill.

Spend the night in Sangalle. We didn't like it at all, but many people do. All of the "resorts" are similarly priced at between S/10-15, $3.83-$5.74 per person, with meals being S/10, $3.83. Make sure you bring your bathing suit and headlamp, as there are swimming pools, but no electricity. Also, if you have one, bring a silk sleep sack. The bed sheets are very rarely changed.

Make your ascent from Sangalle back into Cabanaconde. It is best to leave early in the morning, because it gets very hot with little shade in the late morning and early afternoon. It is a very demanding climb, so be prepared!

Spend the night in Cabanaconde (S/40, $15.31), and take your return bus to Arequipa the following morning. Make sure you bring snacks and use the restroom before you go... the journey is around 7 hours with no bathroom breaks!

There are many other routes that you can take, from single day trips to multiday hikes. The nice thing about the canyon is that you don't have to camp if you don't want to. Water was one of our largest expenses, because you need a lot of it and it was relatively expensive at S/10, $3.83 for a large bottle in the canyon. Make sure to bring small bills, because the locals are mostly unable to make change. Also, sunblock and a hat are a must!

Colca Canyon, Peru

Colca Canyon will go down as one of those trips that was phenominally beautiful and great fun, followed by a giant disaster. There are many tours that go to the Colca region out of Arequipa, but being the DIY enthusiasts that we are, we decided to plan our own itinerary and go about things on our own. I researched how to get there using public transportation and decided on a relaxed paced four day, three night trek. I didn't exactly give Daniel all the details from the get go. In fact, I think the conversation went something like, "Wouldn't it be fun to trek down a canyon?" "Sure." I may have left out the bit about the trek being four days, the fact that the canyon is more than TWICE as deep as the Grand Canyon, and the law of "what goes down, must come up" (you know... us.)

We boarded a bus from Arequipa to Chivay, a small town along the rim on the canyon, arriving just in time for dinner. We spent the night, then boarded a morning bus to Cruz del Condor, an area where Andean condors can sometimes be seen flying along the canyon walls. The andean condor is the largest flying land bird in the world, with a wingspan of 10.5 feet and weighing in at up to 33 pounds. We were told that the best chance of seeing the birds was between 7 and 10am, and we were not disappointed. We ended up seeing around twelve condors at close range and thankfully, managed not to get pooped on. They were amazing to watch... they rarely flap their wings. Instead, they glide gracefully for up to several hours along air currents rising over the canyon walls.

Once we had our fill of bird watching, we tackled our first day of hiking. We were told in Arequipa that it was 8km from Cruz del Condor to Cabanaconde, which is where the trails descending into the canyon begin. We walked along the road with our backpacks for what ended up actually being 12km. During our three hour walk, we took in some stunning views of the canyon and enjoyed how peaceful and quiet it was. As we got close to Cabanaconde, we ran into a local family with two kids riding on donkeys, being chased by their pet baby lamb. We walked the rest of the way into town, settled into our hostal, and got ready for the morning ahead of us.

We woke up and began our descent from Cabanaconde (at 3287 meters / about 10,800 feet) into the villiage of San Juan de Chuccho (2300 meters / 7,500 feet). The trail started out very well maintained, but quickly turned into a mass of rocky, zig-zazgging, uneven "stairs". The descent was more difficult than we had anticipated, mostly because of the rough terrain and the steep drops, but we managed to make it to the bottom of the canyon in great time. We didn't see any other people until we made it to the bottom of the canyon, and the only sounds came from the wind, plants rustling, birds, and the river at the bottom. Once we got to San Juan de Chuccho, we stopped for lunch and to spend the night at a place recommended to us called Roy's. I don't really know what to call the place we stayed... it was a not a hostal, hotel, guesthouse, or restaurant. It was essentially a family who had a few freestanding rooms on their property with big windows that overlooked the mountains.

We were the only people there, and the woman made us breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the time of our choosing. We played with her adorable one year old baby, Maite, and chatted with her about her family and their business. Her husband, Roy, built the room we stayed in himself. He is in the process of building a new guest room from the ground up, with the help of one or two other people. It will take him about a year to complete, and will enable them to have more guests stay with them. It was a joy to see the pride that they took in their work, from the hand laid stonework to the delicious lunch. It was the perfect example of people who live with very little, but see an opportunity to better themselves and work hard to make it happen. They were the nicest, most hospitable people imaginable and our night there was a highlight of the trip. The villiage does not have any electricity, so we relaxed in our room by the candlelight and enjoyed the most unpolluted view of the stars that I have ever seen in my life. We left the next morning feeling recharged and genuinely happy.

Next, we took a trail from San Juan de Chuccho to Sangalle el Oasis (2180 meters / 7100 feet). It was supposed to take 4 hours, but took us 5.5 hours after factoring in getting lost and a closed portion of the trail. It was a mix of uphill and downhill that took us past a few small villages that were overall uneventful, with the exception of seeing a woman walking along making thread by hand from wool and a man carrying a refrigerator on his back. We also saw a Giant Colibri, which is the largest species of hummingbird. It looked to be about the size of a robin, floating stationary in the air. For the mostpart, we managed well, but we were both ready to be done with about an hour to go. We were looking forward to reaching Sangalle, aka "The Oasis", for some relaxation. When we got there, it was more like about five faux-resorts, each with a swimming pool. When I say faux resort, I am being extremely generous. What they really were was a swimming pool, surrounded by a few huts made of stacked rocks with straw roofs, dirt or concrete floors, no windows, and a bed. The sheets are rarely changed because of the lack of electricity and the magnitude of dirt blowing around. Our bed came complete with hair, dirt, small pieces of rocks, and god knows what else. We ended up sleeping in our dirty clothes that we hiked all day in, and not taking showers because they were freezing and disgusting. The meals they served were terrible dual-carb concoctions (think white rice with potatoes on the side), and Daniel didn't end up eating much for either lunch or dinner.

The zig zag trail is our ascent.

The next morning, we woke up early and got the hell out of that oasis dump. I wish I could say that our troubles ended there, but it is truly where they began. We started our 3,600 foot ascent back into Cabanaconde early, with the mantra of slow and steady wins the race. Unfortunately, a mix of altitude, lack of eating, heat, and riduculously steep and long "stairs" wiped us out early on. Daniel was especially miserable, and we ended up stopping to take a break after nearly every turn. At one point, we were doing a ratio of walking 2 minutes to resting 5-15 minutes. I was a little worried about how he was going to make it to the top; surely I couldn't carry him, and there weren't any other people around. When we were about two thirds finished, we ran into a Russian girl who was just as miserable as us. Misery loves company, so we finished the climb together. What was supposed to take 3.5 hours ended up taking 6.5, and we have vowed that aside from this post, we will never speak of that day again. In hindsight, that ascent was a bit ambitious for us "suburbanites" after already hiking for three days. We didn't take a single picture that day, through our brains have been scarred with the memory. The good news is: we made it to the top (eventually), and we are still married.

We spent the night in Cabanaconde, and took the most ridiculously jam-packed bus to date back to Arequipa. We're spending a few days staying put and relaxing before heading off to Bolivia. Despite our misery the final day (though Daniel may disagree), the Colca trip was worth it. I am also glad that we chose to do it independently rather than as a tour, so we could take our time and go at our own pace. We would not have had the phenominal day at Roy's had we gone with a group, which ended up being one of my favorite days on the trip so far.

You can see the rest of our pictures from Colca Canyon on Flickr.