Peru - Colca Canyon

Colca Canyon at 4160m is the second deepest canyon in the world, the largest is 200km down the road. It is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.
We visited the Canyon on a two day tour. Again the tourists have to pay around *10 as much as the local people, even our student cards did not work here. The cost,  70 Sples (18€) p.p. to see the Canyon and other sites.
The main reason for us was to see the worlds biggest flying bird the Andean Condor fly in its natural habitat, but also the views of the Canyon and the valley as well as the small villages and their vibrant indigenous culture. The valley also features an incredible amount of Inca and pre-Inca agricultural terraces and the irrigation systems necessary to perate them.
On the way to the Canyon / the village of Chivay for the night we saw many volcanoes, great landscapes, Llamas, Alpacas and also the vicunas. (wild relative of Llama and Alpaca)
Chivay has hot springs 3km outside which we took advantage of in the late afternoon. Nice to be in a pool with 35 degrees and to relax,   people were ziplining  between the canyons above us here.
The next day we had to get up at 5.30am in order to be at the Cruz del Condor viewing point 2-3 hours further along the canyons ridge for 8.30am. The Condors are only visable early in the morning.
On the way we went through small villages to see the handicrafts being sold in the main squares.
Arriving at the Cruz del Condor on time and after 20mins we could see many Condors. They are impressive in size, as tall as 1.2m and with the a wingspan of 3.5 meters! Seeing them fly even over us (but no picture of that, what a pity) was pretty amazing. Just so awesome!!!
On the way back we stopped a view times to take in the astonishing valley and the scenery.