Colca is a city in the department of Arequipa that is mostly know for in huge Canyon and high altitude. We met the exchange students from the Arequipa district on our second day of the trip, a big suprise for us because we thought we'd be taking the trip alone. In the bus to Colca from Arequipa, the altitude really started to effect some of us. One girl even passed out! But the most common symptoms were just headaches and stomachaches. I didn't really feel any symptoms though, but that was probably because of the Coca. The ancient Incas used coca as a medicine, and in the leaf form it's not even a drug, just a helpful medicine. We all chewed the leaves and ate some candy with the leaves in it. When I first chewed some of it, my tounge went numb for a minute.. Super weird and cool. I even developed a liking for the taste. I didn't feel any different though, I just wasn't sick. I guess that means it worked. I also learned that sugar seemed to help with the altitude too. I ate sugar the whole trip after that lol. We kind of just saw some sites of Colca that day and we even got high enough in the mountains for snow. We mostly stopped along the road and bought things from venders that make them. I bought some comfy pants for cheap. We also followed the custom of building little towers of rocks for the mountains. I have a picture of mine.
I loved this sign, even though I didn't pay to enter.
India (from Austraila) in a t-shirt in front of the snow. Obviously, it didn't feel that cold.
My tribute to Pacha Mama, or mother Earth.
When we did arrive in Colca, we took a guided walk up to some Inca ruins and an old bull ring. The walk was very interesting and we could see a ton of cool stuff from the height. That night we had a presentation of mountain dances, some of which were a bit odd, but still a fun night in Colca.
Old bull ring in the middle of Colca.
Yes, this traditional dance was as weird as it looks.
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