HOSTAL LA PASCANA : A GOOD PLACE TO STAY IN COLCA VALLEY

Hostals in Colca Valley: La Pascana Hostal 

By the Colca Specialist

Speaking about Colca Valley and its villages means to speak about traditions. One of the traditions kept in the Andean world is that associated to hospitality. Hospitality in the Andean world is more than just providing a shelter to the traveler or wayfarer. It means to share. Reciprocity or Ayni is one of the principles of Sumaq Qawsay or Good Living, a living world in which we are bred and we breed others at the same time: Uywakuy.

Grover Muñoz ,a local entrepreneur of Chivay wished all the time to share with all the foreign visitors some things he like the most: his knowledge about his homeland and his food. In his house he opened a small restaurant which is the favorite of local authorities and inhabitants which started to be visited by tourists in the last years. Why? Because of the tasty food he provides to his customers and his friendly and warmth attention. The prices are reasonable, food quality is good and NO COMMISSIONS.  After working hard during some years Mr Grover inagurated a hostal which is classified by Peruvians as BBB ,initials that stand for Bueno,Bonito y Barato (Good,Beautiful and Non-Expensive).

La Pascana Hostal and Restaurant offers its clients different alternative services such as guiding service, visits to the source of Amazon River in Mismi Volcano, transfers to Arequipa and other destinies, and transfers from Colca Valley to Puno. Stayin in La Pascana means to stay in a safe comfortable place with several options for doing other activities. One of the main advantages is that is located in Chivay which has different services such as gas stations,hotels,restaurants, and hospitals in case of unexpected health problems such as altitude sickness or others. You can book in:

reservas@hostal-lapascana.com

Telf: (051-054) -531001
Valle del Colca - Chivay - Arequipa – Perú

Hostal and Restaurant la Pascana is waiting for you my friends and this is Kodak time for you now!

The Colca Specialist.

COLCA LODGE: AN UNSAFE HOTEL IN COLCA VALLEY

by the Colca Specialist

Colca Lodge Hotel is one of the most well-known hotels in Colca Valley. If you look at the pictures in the brochures is the perfect palce for our holidays but everything is not perfect.
Colca Lodge has a very poor security. The Colca Lodge was attacked once by a group of criminals who robbed all the money and valuables from all the tourists that were there that day.

The other problem is that these beautiful place suffered several fires in many oportunities.
The question is who authorizes the construction of these kind of hotels? Which are the safety requirements for a touristic hotel? Is there any kind of institution that supervises the total fullfilment of these requirements? I don´t think so. The access road to these hotel is for an acrobat driver.

These guys should realize that the have to improve the quality of their services and specially the SAFETY. The main problem of these guys is that they are just interested in making money and they don´t care about the narrow an dangerous access road they have neither about the safety.

The following is a report about a couple of clients who suffered a fire in Colca Lodge Hotel in Colca Valley.It was taken from TRIP ADVISOR.It seems that the peruvian authorities specially an institution called DEFENSA CIVIL (CIVIL DEFENSE) are doing nothing at all.
We hope the authorities take measures against the hotels and lodges that are unsafe for our visitors.

The Colca Specialist


“Bad experience”
Reviewed 29 June 2008

Hotel is in a beautiful--but secluded setting in Colca Canyon.Booked a suite with a fireplace(hotel has no heating system) It gets cold in the room by the late afternoon. While at dinner,the roof of our room caught fire from sparks from the chimney that landed on our reeded roof. Our bedroom was under that roof--Hotel staff was great --they retrieved our belongings from the 1st floor and put out the fire. We were put in another room for the night--all luggage was ruined by smoke and had to be left at the hotel.

I would recommend that you stay in Chivay when you visit the condors in the canyon. You will have a selection of restaurants--and medical help if you need it
For a private guide with driver in the canyon--I highly recommend Guillermo Rendon Cuadros--speaks good English--very knowledgeable about the area--You can contact him by e-mail @
mountainzone_054@yahoo.com or through www.Peruforless.com