Today we had a relatively relaxed morning, then walked to town to rent our bikes for the day. Our 2 main destinations were La Garganta Del Diablo (Devil’s throat) and then Pukará de Quitor. We’ll start with the canyon.

We knew we wanted to go to this canyon, but had no idea that it was just one of the things to do in this national park. After paying the entrance fee and speaking with the guard, he told us the best views, but hardest ride, were to go to “The Tunnel”. We of course headed straight there!

And he was absolutely right about the views.

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And here’s what we met once we went through the tunnel.

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And going uphill is only fun if you get to head back down!

Now once down with the big climb for the day, onward with the rest of the trip. There were a few cool sites, but definitely the next highlight was the canyon. But first, we had to cross a stream before we could get there, and got ambushed by wooly mammals!

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And now, the next highlight was the canyon. Completely different from the last time we’d been in a canyon. Humidity change from 100% last time, to now closer to 0%.

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Once we were finally done playing around in the canyon, we still had just enough time left on our bike rental to make a stop at the Pukará de Quitor. They were old ruins from the native people before the Incas, and later the Spaniards, came to take it over.

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There was also a path on the next-door hill for a “mirador” or lookout. Of course we zoomed up there to try and catch a glimpse before racing back to town and turn our bikes in. The effort was worth it!

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Now, exhausted, we bought some food at the local market before heading back home to rest. We’ll leave you with this interesting food we tried called “fruta de pepino”, which translates to cucumber fruit. It was an interesting mix between a cucumber and a honeydew melon, quite refreshing indeed after our hard day.