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Sat 07 Jul 2008The edge of the grandest canyon
In southwest Peru, Manchán Magangot to the heart of the rural experience - while cosseted in a realm of fluffy white towels in five-star surrounds
THE VICUNAS WERE what made me realise I was entering a place apart, a rare and remote world. I had been excited about coming to Colca Canyon in the far southwest of Peru, but the speed and luxury of my arrival by aircraft and air-conditioned car had disorientated me. I didn't really grasp where I was until two hours out of Arequipa, driving across the altiplano - a bleak high-altitude desert surrounded by grey volcanoes (both dormant and active) - I came across a family of vicunas grazing on the sparse leaves of a stunted bush.
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