Arequipa and Colca Canyon Peru 秘鲁阿雷基帕 – 3/2017 (9)

22-26/3/2017. From Nazca, I took the night bus with a bunch of European youths. Ten hours later, I arrived in Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city. I quickly went out for a quick tour of the city center.

This is a city that feels shrouded in Peruvian mystique and bygone colonial times. Around the city’s main square, the Plaza de Armas, old colonial buildings, cathedrals, monasteries, were built with the sillar white and pink material from this area, and their ages are apparent as these colors bear the scars of time.

The sky was often filled with grey clouds. The temperature was slightly chilly. I wasn’t sure it was the lack of sun or the altitude. So, Arequipa felt Spanish and Christian, but also mythically Peruvian.

I sat, with many other tourists, on the long steps of the Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa, people-watching visitors congregating around the big square, saying hellos to strangers sitting next, and just imbibed that chilled and rarefied air that permeates this magical place. I felt like I have stumbled on a lost city now rediscovered, its abundant hidden treasures still to be discovered. I was lost in this lost city.

I started to have mild headaches and shortness of breath in the afternoon, a sign of high-altitude sickness. At an altitude of 2300m, I should not be in serious trouble but I felt it. While strolling in the city’s main square, I approached a mobile emergency ambulance, probably parked there for visitors with precisely such reactions. After checking me, the medical personnel gave me some medication and advised that I acclimatize in Arequipa for three days. There are so many things here and around that could mess with one’s brain, one’s senses. Felt like I was not in my body, or was in another world.

Going south in Peru has been desert after desert. Everywhere, there is nothing but parched land. But today in Arequipa, the sky finally shed some tears. It finally rained!

For dinner, I ordered a vegetarian dish to ease my conscience after too many days of guilt food. This was a dish of quinoa, regarded by the Peruvian as the food of the gods. Alas, I succumbed to the devilish-looking chocolate cake after the main. It was really good, probably the best, perhaps because of the Peruvian chocolate. Sinful food or not, I felt no remorse. The taste lingers in my mouth to this day. Not just a piece of cake.

22-26/3/2017 – 昨晚就跟一帮不约而同的在飞驰的大巴过夜，十小时后抵达秘鲁第二大城市阿雷基帕。在中心广场游览一下，还遗留了不少殖民时期建筑。中午就感觉高原症，气短头痛。恰好在广场中心停泊一辆急救车，医务人员检查后给了些降压药，劝我乖乖呆在这市三天适应高原。这秘鲁怎么就这么多不行常的东西。

秘鲁一路南下就是沙漠，今天在这第二大城终于碰到场雨， 如晴天霹雳突如其来。缺雨又缺氧，这地方可神奇的。

晚饭点了顿素的，藜麦打头，素蛋白最全得那钟，秘鲁人称为神之食。这餐该对得起自己贵体，但餐厅玻璃柜摆着魔鬼巧克力蛋糕在死命向我招手。非常勾魂的蛋糕，吃后良心折磨。可能是秘鲁巧克力的巧妙，至今在嘴里余香未消。

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After three days of acclimatizing in Arequipa, I was getting restless, so I hopped on a bus with more than 10 youngsters to travel three hours to Colca Canyon, one of the world’s deepest canyons, and much deeper than The Grand Canyon of the U.S. The nearby Cotahuasi Canyon is even deeper, although less accessible to tourists. Everywhere I go and look, Peru is, deep.

I was still unwell, so this trip was foolhardy. There were even higher altitudes along the way, much higher, at some points more than 5,000 meters. The bus carried oxygen tanks for passengers, just in case. I survived, arriving at the center of Chivay village, gateway to the canyon, welcomed by the villagers with dances and their crafts.

呆在阿雷基帕三天调节高原症后，我已不耐烦，蠢蠢欲动，今早凌晨三点跟一团十多人的年轻团队到离三小时半路程的科卡峡谷。已被劝阻勿往高处跑，且途中还有几处高度远超阿雷基帕，甚至超过五千米，我还是不顾后果前往了，的确有点愚蠢。一大早抵达科卡峡谷入口村庄奇瓦伊中心，村民在广场迎接来访游客。到阿雷基帕而不到这里就有枉此行。

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I made the ultimate sacrifice to go visit this canyon—waking up at 3 a.m. The bus rounded the waist of the mountains, sometimes climbing to the brow, one after another, at an altitude of three to four thousand meters. Looking down over the edge made my heart gallop, but the views make it all so worth it. We stood at the mountain tops to marvel at this canyon. 3,500 meters deep; my legs turned to jelly.

Standing at the top, I came face-to-face with these majestic mountains at eye level. They looked jagged and almost bare without the cover of tall vegetation. The fog floated by, and I felt like I was on top of the world. Already breathless at such a high altitude, the views at the top were truly breathtaking!

At the top of these mountains, under a thinly veiled baby blue sky, giant condors glided effortlessly and carelessly—this was nature at its best, as though the world below was another planet. At this moment, I was at one with nature.

After the long day high up in the rarified air, we came back to earthly Arequipa. I felt like I had just been to heaven and back.

I was leaving this city tomorrow. As I sat in the square this evening, people watching and ruminating, I didn’t see anyone smoking. I wondered if this rarified air had sucked all the breath out of them. The people were a bit short, and many young people wore glasses, which is unusual outside Asia. I could see a simple and humble people; I hope they live better, breathe easier.

凌晨三点爬起来观景很要命，但听说这科卡大峡谷是世界第二深谷，我只能玩命了。世界第一的深谷也在这地区，但没开放旅游条件。世界闻名的美国大峡谷没跻身前二。车一路就绕着一座一座山转，山路都在几千米高，往下望都心惊胆跳，不过都是美景。

这安第斯山，气势非凡，山体都是矮矮的草，原形毕露，魁梧山体更显险峻，雄伟。我们基本就站在这些大山山顶欣赏这峡谷，大约3500米深，看下去惊心动魄，连大男人都要紧紧抓住女人的手，的确很吓人。站在这山顶，面对在云霄重重的浩大山峰群，这气势很震撼。

在高山顶，秃鹰在悠闲飞翔，他们翼宽三米，这是他们的栖息地，一切都顺大自然，人类只能在一旁观赏。

在大山和峡谷兜了一整天后，回到阿雷基帕, 犹如从仙境回到人间，从自然回到人类世界。

明天离开这城市，在广场中心观察和思考。没人抽烟! 可能是高原地带，连上气不接下气，哪还有气抽烟。个子较矮小，还发现戴眼镜的年轻人还不少，这在亚洲以外倒挺少见。人们都特别朴实，特别友善，很容易对他们产生亲切感。虽然缺氧，希望不缺快乐。

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