Santa Marta Arequipa

We found ourselves chucked off the night bus from Cusco into Arequipa at 7ish in the morning, and we weren´t really sure what to do... we wanted to go and see the condors in colca canyon, but didnt feel physically ready to do a trek into the canyon yet (as its only a few days since we finished MP) and Lonely Planet says the tours are a waste of time...you are better to DIY it... so we got a taxi into Plaza de Armas to see and make a decision!<br><br>After eating constantly on ...

... This was disappointing.<br> <br>The best part of the trip though was our guide who talked incessently (annoying at times), and told us heaps of interesting stories about the areas along the way. My favourite was the story about a ´Greening the Desert´ project a previous Prime Minister of Peru had initiated. 100s of thousands of hectares of the aforementioned dusty, rolling desert were graded to form series of channels to improve water catchment ...

... happened next than I had been to deliver the news.<br><br>Gisell was standing across the room from me. Her smile stretched across her face, and she immediately ran to me and leapt into my arms to give me a huge hug. Her mom then began to cry, saying how grateful they were for this help and how long they had waited for it. She said that Gisell had been so sad because all of her friends had gotten sponsors and Gisell did not understand why no ...

... Warnhinweise waren zweisprachig und ausgedruckt für uns vorhanden. Selbst ein Buchstabieralfabet (Alfa Charlie Tango...) wurde uns ausgehändigt, damit wir im Fall, das wir verloren gehen, genau buchstabieren können, wo wir uns befinden. Falls es noch ein weiteres Zimmer gegeben hätte, wäre es wohl das beste Hostel in ganz Arequipa! Tja, Schweizer Genauigkeit eben, aber hier in der vollendeten Form! Nach dem Abendessen gab es noch ein Sicherheitsbriefing für Touristen in ...

... I hadn´t kept really good track for time, because no one else really seems to. Apparently I was late and our guide had to come get me. The conductor screamed at me about being late and if I could understand Spanish and could read a watch why was I 10 minutes late. Sadly, I can´t think quickly enough in Spanish to turn around and say, "You were 30 minutes late getting me this morning don´t give me attitude for 10 minutes." But instead I just smiled ...

... head, eyes, claws, teeth, and all right there on my plate. I can´t say that the taste was worth all the work finding meat on that scrawny thing, but I couldn´t leave Perú without eating one. Alpaca is better, but beef is still the best! As for that third 100 soles bill, what better place than the grocery store to find a cash register filled with a variety of bills?!! So that´s how I did it. Yay for me. My small victory for the day.

... including numerous blankets, which were needed I tell thee!<br>We were up at 7 for pancakes and an early start. Down for about an hour towards a place called the Oasis near the bottom of the canyon. It was a bit of a tourist spot made entirely for Gringos, with some huts to stay in and a couple of swimming pools, so we took off our sweaty (eewwwwww) clothes and had a dip before beginning the arduous trek up the other side of the canyon.<br><br>Ouch!!! It was a tough trek ...

... right, but i am avoiding most food. It just wouldn´t be travelling if I didn´t have at least one vomit story. So that was a memorable part of the trip out to the Colca Canyon. The canyon is bout twice as deep as the Grande Canyon in the great U S of A (though on our trip we didn´t get to the deepest part). The main purpose was to see The Condor. Mission successful; they were really majestic birds, and ...

... they were able to break another 100. So I am set for a while! <br><br>I took a taxi to the bus station in Puno with plenty of time to catch my 10 am bus to Arequipa. I had already purchased a ticket with one company yesterday for 15 soles (about $5). However, as I walked through the bus station and past the many, many counters of bus companies I noticed one that had super nice service to Arequipa leaving at the same time. This bus had "cama" seats (seats that have leg rests and ...

... conspicuous. I just wanted to find a hostel ASAP so that i could catch some sleep. I was tired and wasn&#8217;t really thinking straight. Luckily I had Gyon and David with me who had found a taxi to take us all to the centre of town. The taxi driver was at first kind of sneaky &#8211; after taking us to the original hostel we had wanted (still not sure if that was the actual hostel we were looking for...or just another suburban house), suggesting to us that it was far out ...