11.11.2008 Wir haben Glueck und sogar um 7 Uhr morgens ist ein Zimmer fuer uns frei. Wir laden ab und machen noch ein kleines Nickerchen. Danach mache ich mich auf zum Mittagessen und treffe anschliessend Maria in der Stadt. Wir schlendern ein bisschen rum und dann geht es ins Internetcafé, um den Travelblog upzudaten :) Danach geht es zurueck i...

5h bus ride from Puno passing through lots of valleys, canyons, cliffs and gorges. Arequipa is a great colonial town with cobblestone streets, plazas and lots of other Spanish influence. Visited the Plaza des Armes, the Jesuit Iglesia de la Compañia with it´s ornate facade, the Iglesia de San Fransisco and the main city cathedral. The plaza and ...

28.10.2008 Schon um 8 Uhr wachen wir wieder auf. Den Hoehenunterschied haben wir gut verkraftet, immerhin sind wir von etwa 590m auf 2350m Hoehe gestiegen, naja gefahren. Nach einem Hostel ueblichen Fruehstueck (Kaffee, Saft, Broetchen mit Marmelade), machen wir uns auf den Weg in die Stadt. Arequipa "die weisse Stadt" (viele der Gebaeude sind a...

Diwrnod 32 - Llun 22/09/08 (parhad) Milltiroedd Tir a Deithwyd ~ Land Miles Travelled (Puno i Arequipa) : 205 miles I think i`ve used the terms spectacular, breathtaking or memorable a few times recently describing all round views from my bus journeys in Bolivia and Peru and it was more of the same on this trip - especially on the last section o...

After still more bus riding, we finally arrived in Arequipa, described in Lonely Planet as Peru's most stylish city. Hmmm, it seemed nice enough...but stylish...I'm not sure where that came from. It does have a lovely big bustling plaza that was nice to spend time in, and the plaza was surrounded by balconies with restaurants over looking the pl...

Leaving Titicaca's picturesque but frigid shores to lower elevations in the hopes of warming my soul and alleviating my flu, I caught yet another nightbus from Puno, where I met a cool Australian woman. We parted ways in the morning, however, but talked about meeting up later on to see "Sex and the City" in poorly dubbed Spanish. Consulted Lonel...

6th to 10th May 2008 On Tues, 6th May, I left Aguas Calientes and caught the train to Ollantaytambo where I then caught a minibus to Cusco. I had arrived in Cusco around 1pm and I had 7 hours to kill until my overnight bus to Arequipa was due to leave. After a few hours for lunch and a few more hours on the internet it was time to head to the bu...

I love lazy Saturday mornings, when I get to sleep in a little, take my time, eat a nice leisurely breakfast, all that with brilliant sunshine and blue skies. This past Saturday started just that way. It was lovely! After chatting with Doris for a while, I walked to the Casa de Avila, then called home (with some frustrations, as the line kept dr...

Wow! I survived my first huge bus ride across the country! The bus ride was supposed to be 14 hours, but ended up being 16 hours. Not that it matters, you become numb after hour ten and can´t really tell the difference anymore. so before the bus even left the station, the person sitting next to me asked if I wanted to get lunch when we got to Ar...

One of the most bizarre days of my life... Thursday was "Dia de la Bandera" in Peru, which is Flag Day, celebrated in honour of Francisco Bolognesi and other Peruvian soldiers who valiantly and heroically fought in the Battle of Arica against Chile in 1879. To make a long story short, the heroic Peruanos lost to the 7000 nasty Chilenos. In that ...