Today I had a plan. Walk from the hotel in Cabanconde down to the bottom of the Canyon to a place called Sangalle and then walk back up again in the afternoon. The map says it’s only a 5km walk down. 3300m at the hotel and 2100m at the bottom of the canyon. That’s a 1.2km descent. They suggest it takes 2.5 hours to get down and 3.5 hours to get up again.

So I had my nice breakfast and packed up all my stuff because when I returned I would be in a different room. I was actually moving to the nice part of the hotel with bike views. I have a little fold up backpack which had some sunblock and a couple of bottles of water and I was off. The first km was pretty flat and goes through some terraced fields. You then get to a lookout where the descent starts. At first glance I looked at a path and said to myself that can’t be it, its too steep. But after a look around it was obvious that the steep path was the right one.

You can hire walking poles from the hotel and I’d just taken one and was very glad I did. The path was well marked and basically just zigzagged down the side of the canyon wall. The views were pretty amazing. Just the size of everything. I stopped and took lots of photos. I could see the little town of Sangalle looking like a green oasis, way down the bottom and it never seemed to get any closer. Eventually after 2 hours and 40 minutes I made it.

It wasn’t actually a town but a ramshackle collection of 4 hotels, each with a pool and a restaurant. There were no roads, just donkey tracks and the layout of the place was pretty chaotic. It was quite warm in the bottom of the canyon. I had been recommended to spend the hot hours of the day down the bottom and then leave by 2:00pm to go back up. So for a couple of hours I just wandered around all four places having drinks and snacks in each one until it was time to leave.

I gave my hat a good soaking and set off. I had decided that I wouldn’t need to stop for photos as I had enough already. That lasted about 10 minutes. I put my brain into marathon mode and kept a constant pace with short steps. It was about 30deg and dry and I probably put more water on my hat than in my mouth. As I neared the top I had to backup against a wall as a team of donkeys zoomed past. What a tough life those animals must have. I ended up making it back to the hotel in 2 hours and 40 minutes. The exact time it took me to get down. The ascent was fine but as I walked into town my legs said they’d had enough and started to cramp up and I had to hobble the last few hundred metres.

My timing was perfect and I had time for a nice shower, a couple of beers and a nice alpaca pizza. A very enjoyable day.

Next day I left Cabanaconde to head about 40kms in the wrong direction to look at a remote lake called Laguna Mucurca which had flamingos and a nice view of the active volcano Nevado Sabancaya. I think. There’s quite a few around but I think that’s the only smoking one. But before that I had to go about 8kms in the right direction to check out the condors. Between around 7:30 until 9:30 several condors soar around on the thermals and watch all the tourists. Hard to photograph with a phone but I tried. They are quite a majestic bird.

There are two types of condors. The American variety and the Andean condor, they are similar sizes and have a wingspan of 3 metres. Actually three types. The guy is in the bird suits scaring the children. I forgot that one. Obviously the ones I was watching are the Andean ones. They can live up to about 60 years of age but only lay one egg every second year so they are quite vulnerable. Fortunately they have a special place in South America and are well looked after and respected. They mainly eat carrion and some of the ancient cultures down here used to have sky burials where they would put the deceased up on a high platform or cliff as an offering to the condors and to take the soul of the person to the spirit world above. Cheap funeral and eco friendly. Maybe we could do that in Australia with crows or seagulls?

There is a whole circus that comes with the morning condor show but it was nice to just ignore that and watch them just soaring around with ease. I smiled as I got on my bike which I was able to park in a great spot and then leave when I was ready and not have to board a bus. I then headed back through Cabanaconde in search of the lagoon.

It was down a gravel road heading off into nowhere so I turned on my inreach in case something happened to me. The road was a bit better than I expected and easy enough to follow and then I was at the lake. There were flamingos but they were a bit far away to photograph and I didn’t really want to disturb them by going closer with the bike or the even walking. Unlike the Condor Lookout, I was the only person there, but like the condors, I just admired them for what they are. And from a distance.

And of course the smoking volcano on the horizon. I was tempted to mount my trusty bike and head closer to it but I know my skill level is still not as good as the bikes. And I really needed to get going back to the town of Chivay at the start of the Canyon and find some food and accommodation. I made it back to Chivray without having to stop too many times for photos and parked across the street from the Restaurant where I had eaten the lovely hot meal on the day I had arrived. I thought I should find some accommodation first so I could get out of my riding gear because unlike the first time it was already warm and I hadn’t just come down from 5000m.

I looked at the options available on booking dot com and one stood out so I tapped the directions button but and it didn’t seem to work. It showed my destination and start point as the same place? I then looked around behind me and I was already there. Haha. You can be lucky sometimes. They had nice room available and the guy was great as was the parking. Once I’d settled in I went for a walk and found an interesting cheap looking restaurant and decided to eat there. I went for the menu of the day option but I could have gone for the dodgy looking chicken or the guinea pig. The posters of them on the wall were a bit short of appealing.

The town was surprisingly dead that night. I had expected a bit more action with all the backpackers that come to visit the canyon but I guess they are all suffering from getting up early to catch buses and go on tours and squeezing as much into their day as they can. And also the altitude I found and Irish pub and had nachos and beer by myself. A bit weird. Next morning I had a simple breakfast with a lovely sunny view and an interesting chat to a young couple from some former eastern bloc country in Europe. Then I packed up and was off. Destination. Lake Titicaca.

KMS 10525