Day 437 – Arequipa to Chivay
Last night we had met a German couple who were travelling towards the Colca Canyon. They were also staying at Holiday Backpackers Hostel. We had breakfast before checking out of the hostel together.
We had left most of our personal belongings in the hostel’s lockers. Therefore, we were only taking one day pack and one large backpack with us.
Getting from Arequipa to Chivay
We tried to catch an Uber, but no drivers were around in the morning. Therefore, we caught a taxi from the street. The taxi ride cost 8 PEN ($3.81 AUD) for all 4 of us. We told the taxi driver that we were going to the town of Chivay, and he dropped us off at Transportes Centella Terminal.
At the terminal, we were able to buy tickets for the 8am minivan to Chivay. The tickets cost us 15 PEN ($7.14 AUD) per person (p/p). The van was nice, clean and left on time.
Chivay is a town located ~160km North of Arequipa. Along the way, we went through Salinas and Aguada Blanca National Reservation. We were treated to beautiful mountain scenery as we passed several herds of Vicuna Llamas. Apparently these llamas cannot be kept in captivity. Our free walking tour guide said that they die from sadness!
Chivay
Our van arrived at the Chivay Terminal at 11am. The German couple, who were travelling with us were staying between Chivay and the Colca Canyon at a luxury hotel. Therefore, we dropped off our bags at our guest house, Colca Land and then joined them for lunch.
We met up at the central plaza. The plaza is small, but still looked nice, with the decorative statues around. There weren’t many options for lunch, but we found a restaurant called Tradiciones de mi Tierra. The food was nice.
After the meal, the couple left in a taxi to their hotel. We walked around the small town to see our options for tomorrow. We wanted to stop at Cruz del Condor, to see condors, before heading to the trail head for the Colca Canyon.
From the plaza a taxi could take us to Cruz del Condor and return us to Chivay for 130 PEN ($61.88 AUD). At some travel agencies around the plaza, a tour to Cruz del Condor with drop off at Cabanaconde (Colca Canyon Trail Head) would cost between 25 and 30 PEN ($11.90 and $14.28 AUD) p/p. We booked the 25 PEN option to take us tomorrow in the morning.
Agency we booked our tour with
Chivay has a planetarium that I really wanted to see. Since going to a planetarium in Nazca (Day 427), I have been looking forward to go stargazing in the Colca Canyon. However, it was really cloudy so we didn’t bother going tonight. The presentation is at 7.30pm. Instead we went to the guest house and checked in.
Aguas Termales La Calera
Afterwards, we went to the hot springs close by. Surrounding the plaza is the small collectivo station. We had to wait for it to fill up. Luckily for us, this only took 5 minutes. The collectivo ride cost 2 PEN ($0.95 AUD) p/p.
Entrance into La Calera Hot Springs is 15 PEN ($7.14 AUD) p/p. I believe this is the tourist price. However, it grants you access to different pools. There are 5 pools. The staff told us to use pools 1, 2 or 5. Pools 1-4 were packed with locals. Pool 5 is the furthest from the entrance and is the best.
The water was hot, which is excellent for such a gloomy and cold day. It was relatively crowded when we arrived, but as the day went on, it got emptier. There are change rooms, lockers and a small store that sells beverages. The water was really nice and we spent a few hours here.
A warning, I wore my Fitbit into the water, and something stuffed up. The only way I can see the screen is by pushing the button on the side, as opposed to twisting my wrist to wake the device wake up. Therefore, I recommend not wearing electronics in the water.
After drying up, we caught a collectivo back into town. This time, we only had to wait 3 minutes for it to fill up. Once again the ride cost us 2 PEN ($0.95 AUD) p/p.
Back in town
Back in town we walked to Aromas Coffee for some snacks and coffee. The place is really nice and there was a really cool stray dog, keeping guard outside.
Later, we walked to the guest house and got ready to sleep. As my wife was having a shower, the water stopped. I told the owner and he had the backup system running in no time. The blankets are super thick, which kept us warm during the night.