Hospedaje La Merced Arequipa

... back road cafe, al promised to take me for cake, and just did... I had tiramisu cake and he had chocolate.... massive slices... we were then going to see the "sacrificed child preserved in ice - Juanita" but having see pictures and found out we were stuck with a guide (to go around a museum) who doesnt get paid and survives on our donations, despite the entrance fee... we decided not to bother, and to wait for the open cemetary in Nazca to see the mummies and weird preserved ...

... of the national park. The area has natural hotsprings so late in the afternoon we went to one of the springs just out of town and relaxed for a couple of hours in an open air bath beside a clifffside and almost dry river bed. The scenery was nice and the baths were much nicer than the ones we went to in Baños. <br><br>Dinner was in a local restaurant with all the 50million other tourists doing the same journey... although we did get a good show ...

<br><br>In the morning we went to Arequipa countryside. The sad thing that struck us was that a great deal of the surrounding area is now being changed from agricultural to urban. The houses, which are badly built, fill in every available space and spread up into the hills. First stop was a concrete stairwell with Jesus bearing down in the atrium. Masses of graffiti but gave a good view of Arequipa's volcanic landscape and badly built houses. Our next stop ...

... Sachen für den Morgen packen und ab in den Schlafsack. <br>Kalt ist es morgens waren noch 2°C also nicht gerade bestes Zeltwetter aber der Schlafsack (Ausgeliehen) war gut und so habe ich nur ein bisschen gefroren. <br>Gegen 1:00 dann aufstehen, dunkel ist es, kalt und man fragt sich schon warum man jetzt eigentlich hoch muss aber nach dem ersten Kaffee geht das wieder. Dann ca. gegen 2:00 los im Scheine der Stirnlampe. Erstmal eine ...

... Spanischen Familie und konnten sich nicht aussuchen, ob sie in Kloster wollten oder nicht. Das besondere an diesem Kloster ist, dass es faktisch eine Stadt in der Stadt war. In dem Kloster genossen die Novizinnen (ab 12 Jahre) und Nonnen sämtliche Annehmlichkeiten und Privilegien, die ihrem sozialen Status entsprachen. In diesem Kloster sahen wir die Kapellen, Beichtstühle, die Häuser der Nonnen, ihren Marktplatz und Gärten. Unser Touristenführer erklärte uns, das dieses ...

... The walk down was 7 km with the switchbacks and it was a 1000 meter decline in elevation. The path itself is a rocky slippery path. My shoes treated me well though throughout the entire trek. I am thankful for that because I was getting worried with all the people and their special hiking shoes. By the end of the day my left knee was very tired and giving me a bit of trouble. My hip was okay, not perfect but okay. I was happy when we got to the bridge at ...

... mine). The heat sent the vapour through the whole house. I always thought that woud be the worst smell I would ever experience, until this bus trip. The Peruvian men had been working in the same socks for what smelt like over 1 month non stop, off came the shoes and the socks, well... I couldn´t believe it... it was vile, and they were none the wiser. This is where things went bad, I knew the incident from 1994 had been upstaged. I could only just hack it, but it slowly created ...

... unsicher zu machen. Gesagt getan. Unser gemuetliches Fortgehen endete schliesslich damit, dass wir beide trotz Stadtplan beinahe den Heimweg nicht mehr fanden (Hier ein Tipp: Ein Stadtplan alleine hilft leider nicht, man muss noch dazu nuechtern genug sein um diesen zu entziffern!!!) Der Kater am naechsten Tag zwang uns schliesslich dazu den Besuch im Colcacanyon auf den folgenden Tag zu verschieben.<br>

... ll be sticking to my day job. We continue to be stellar ambassadors for our country (!!) and are meeting some pretty awesome people on our way, locals and other travellers (by the way, i´ve offered all friends´ and families´ beds as places to stay when they come to NZ! ha!). I have also decided that NZ needs a motto.. apparently every state in the US has one (NZ doesn´t? .. do we?). Perhaps something to ...

... I didn´t use), but I asked at the hostal and the travel agency where I had booked the Lake Titicaca tour and they both assured me the company was fine. So I hoped this new one would be too. He took some sharp corners fast, but he didn´t drive insanely like is so common here -- for example, passing a car or truck on the left with a blind curve coming up! Happens all the time and it is s-c-a-r-y. <br><br>Flashback to our departure from Puno. The strangest thing happened. I went out ...