Down under

Thursday, June 17th
Today was our first day of our adventurous hike down into one of the deepest canyons in the world. We decided to hike the canyon by ourselves - Michael, Margreet, Daniel, and myself. The hike is a downhill windy trail of switchbacks along the edge of the mountain. We would decend about 9000 feet in one afternoon. The day was perfectly sunny and slightly breezy. It was a good day for a hike. When we started off on the trail we got to the edge of the mountain and looked down and saw a tiny narrow trail that looked almost impossible yo do on our own. As it turns out, we had gone completely the wrong way. luckily we realized this before we started our desent. We asked a local Peruvian for directions and were off to start our hike...finally in the right direction. The hike was trecherous only because I hadn't broken in my hiking boots yet. That was a BAD idea! The view was incredible. The mountains are rocky and sandy colored with splashes of eucalypus trees, green brush and cactii dotted all over. Along the trail we passed some Peruvians walking back to the town with their donkeys in tow carrying heavy loads. As we desended you could hear the roar of the river below. It was quite mediatative. After 4 1/2 hours of hiking we arrived at our destination. A tiny village called llahuar. When I say village, it was literally 2 hostels made of bamboo and mud bricks on the edge of the moutain overlooking the roaring river below. Basically, it was heaven. The hostel that we stayed in was called llahuar lodge and was owned by the sweetest Peruvian couple - Yola and Ronco. Yola reminded me of someone who could be your grandmother and tells you the best stories. She greeted us with a huge smile and wore a beautiful typical Peruvian embroidered hat. She also has a laugh that touches your heart and you can't help but smile when you hear it. Our plan was to stay there for a night or two and then we'd continue hiking to another part of the canyon. The hostel not only had the most magnificent view of the canyon but it had 3 natural hot spring pools (with varying temperatures) that sat above the roaring river. We will see how long we'll last for...