Hostel Mama Claire Arequipa

... from the canyon, which is a good 4-5 hours away, a guided tour of the canyon and a night in a hotel. We definitely got our money´s worth. The condors were flying high and made several passes over our heads before heading off to their feeding grounds. The truth is, however, that since this was my third time here, the giant beasts didn´t have quite the effect on me they did the first time. For me, the highlight was the ride home.<br><br>I was initially disappointed to ...

... on bosse quand meme un peu, ensuite degustation de cui dans un quartier historique apres une petite sieste vu qu on remet une petite fiesta pour ce soir tjrs avec nos guides.<br>demain depart pour l aeroport, derniers instants a profiter au maximun...............

... near the summit of a nearby volcano in 1995. Child sacrifices were relatively common during the Inca period as they believed the mountains were gods and when there were earthquakes or volcanoes, they had to appease the gods by performing this ritual. So far they have found 21 other child sacrifices on the mountains around Arequipa. <br><br>Juanita was special because she was found highest on the mountain and therefore thought to be ...

... German!<br><br>I hollored at the "prat" who eventually came back. When I told him what had happened I was told to be quiet and let him do his job! Even though we were on a 40 degree snow slope, smacking him across the face would have been no more than this idiot deserved. He didn't even have a rope to ensure that Bjorn could be "short-roped" off the snow slope safely, as we realised that he'd ditched it earlier to save weight. <br><br>When we got Bjorn off the slope we had to sit ...

... called la ciudad blanca because, when it was first established, all of the buildings were made out of a white stone from the solidified lava of the volcanoes. It is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Peru because of the architecture. <br><br>The Plaza de Armas (city center) in Arequipa is beautiful. On one side is the cathedral, constructed of this white stone, and rising up behind it are two of the highest peaks in the area, covered with snow. The rest ...

... Pucllana. They are ruins of the Lima people who came before the Inca&#8217;s. It was very interesting to learn about the culture and how they built their walls. They have adobe bricks and the walls are called bookshelve style. Within the wall structure are trapazoid formations, in the picture it is hard to see. They do this because adobe is good in earthquakes and the form of a trapezoid also holds up well during a quake. I found that very smart, those ...

... waiter what we wanted, we settled for one type of set meal of lomo saltado for all 3 of us, but with different soup (which we didnt have an idea what they were). Jilly and I got caldo blanco, while Maridol got chanque for soup. It turned out to be a really delicious, hearty, simple soup which is a basic beef broth mixed with all the local ingredients available to a typical Peruvian village - meat, corn, yuca, potatoes, rice, tomato. Later on, we ...

... quickly se we bought altitude sweets and coca leaves. The leaves can be had in tea or chewed and then storeds in your mouth like a hamster. I didn´t fancy that, especially after people who had them wanted to spew. I stuck to the sweets and didn´t have many problems. People were feeling a little worse for wear as we got higher, especially as it was rolled in with a bit of a hangover. I fel fine, which was great. The highest we got ...

... of at a village at 6am to witness all the local kids dancing around the main square in the local costumes.. seemingly they do this until 8am and then go to school.... bit different to Irish school...<br><br><br><br>Another few stops to withness the ...

... I went out one night. We settled on a restaurant that was close by to the hostel &#8211; which was clearly aimed at tourists which I was not too keen on. Eduardo and Matteo had their 'cuys' (guinea pigs) which were spread-eagled on their plates &#8211; cooked with head, teeth, claws still showing. They enjoyed it but thought there was too little meat on the bones. I, with Daphne and Iris, decided to try the ceviche &#8211; which is also a popular Peruvian ...