Higher than the Mont Blanc

Now I know.... 4910 meters is really high. Going to the Colca canyon you cross a pass this high. The Mont Blanc, the highest mountain of Europe, is 4810 meters high.
Already in Arequipa at just more than 2000 meters our legs were "heavy".  The guide told us to to prepare for the heights. First thing to do is to chew coca leaves.

Take some leaves, fold them and make them wet and soft in your mouth.... then take some more. You end up with a lump of more or less soft coca leaves in your cheek. Refill during the day.
Personally I can think of something more tasty to chew..... In the Andes regions grandmothers teach their grandchildren to chew coca leaves. They "pre-chew" a portion of leaves and put it in the children's mouths. It helps people to function at these great heights.

Leaving Arequipa we said goodbye to El Misty (the perfect Volcano).

A bit further down the road there is a huge cement factory (the largest of Peru).

We drive through an empty dry landscape.

In the distance we see the Ampato (6,288 meters - the mountain Juanita climbed).

 Because it is so pretty..... just a bit larger.

Along the roadside there are vicuñas. Vicuñas live in the wild, while the other members of the Llama family, alpacas and lamas, are domesticated.

We stop for a cup of coca-leaf tea. The rest of the trip most of us will drink a lot of this tea. We also learn that in order to make the chewing of coca leafs more effective we have to add something black tasting a bit like licorice. A kind of accelerator.

This lama spots some new tourists arriving..... mmmmm food! They love everything.

Across the parking of the restaurant the rock formations look like those in Cappadocia (Turkey).

Going further up, the water is partly frozen. A beautiful and desolate landscape.

Now we are nearing the pass. It is cold. Icicles in the shade.

Far from the road a vent with steam.

 Still going higher.....

There we are..... 4910 meters high on the volcanic ridge of the central Andes.

The view is overwhelming, but imagine sitting there all day in the burning sun and cold air. Waiting for tourists that have difficulty even standing.

This road is going now into the Colca Valley. Pampas de Patapampa.... Would the name of the pass be something like Passa de Patapampa? I didn't see a sign anywhere.

Ohhhh, how did they do it?? On a bicycle!!

 Down into the Colca Valley......