Hotel Asturias Arequipa

... 1497;רופ סוכר, טעמנו קינוח שהוא מן דייסת אורז ובננה עם חלב ומוגש עם ריבה, ותה צמחים שאמו&#1512 ...

... with, only breaking when one of us insisted to stop for water or to just to breathe! We passed many mules on the way, one carrying a guy up who couldn’t make it, boy was I tempted but that actually looked more scary as the path was small and the drop fron the cliff edge was large! Just as I was thinking I actually wasn’t going to make it, we finally reached the top - just after 8am, absolutely exhausted and with very sore legs – at least these ...

... I was treated with much kindness and welcome. I enjoyed a delicious supper of left over Peruvian chinese food (made by my host). bread and tea de coca mate. Lucas is the friendly family dog - and peruano^ according to my family. He is strange and looks like a hairless chihuahua (photo to follow). I´m exhausted from my travels and need to make ready for classes tomorrow. Buenos Noches y Hasta la proxima vez!<br><br><br><br>

... turned off the main road, on to a tiny road through rice patties and potato and corn fields, through cows, and a village, and then up into the desert. I had forgotten how hot the desert is! It was sandy and hilly and rocky, and so barren. We walked until my toes were grey from the sand and my hands were swollen and puffy from the heat. Finally we made it to Toro Muertos, the petroglyphs. It was so hot ...

Today was a pretty low key day. I went and visited the Santa Catalina Monastery in the morning. It was founded in 1579, not long after Arequipa was founded (in 1540). It is built out of the white stone for which the city is known, called sillar, although much of it has had to be reconstructed on several occasions after earthquakes. You can still see the simple little rooms where the nuns live, their kitchens, their chapels, among other things.<br><br>After ...

... of the road, dressed as Santa Claus selling cigarettes and chocaltes to Arequipa´s taxi drivers. Very strange!<br><br>The hostel we stayed in also offered Spanish lessons which we took advantage of. Jim was given the worldy advice by his teacher that women are not only normally far better at languages than men but they are usually also more intelligent. Needless to say, this was the last time he took a lesson with her!<br><br>

... pick up the bus ticket, pick up the laundry, get some money from the ATM, and enjoy Happy Hour with some randomly met friends from Cabanaconde. The Pisco sour isn't as good as Lui's, but it's cheaper! Share a taxi to the bus station, two hours of internet, four pieces of bread for 1 sole, get security checked for weapons and alcohol, and board the bus to Nazca. Wonder that they're showing an old Clarke Gable film, put in ear plugs, recline seat, curl up under blanket, go to sleep.

... they were quite civilised about the whole event, probably because my arm was bleeding slightly. Had I been in the good old US of A, I&#8217;d probably be a millionaire if I had a good lawyer on my side!<br>Getting off the bus at the end of the tour was how I imagine getting out of prison would be like. We scurried off to the supermarket giggling before returning to the hostel and cooking up some grub and watching some TV. <br>On our second to last day we went to the convent of Santa ...

... I really hope that exhaustion will allow me to drift off on the coach tonight.<br><br>Arequia itself is a beautiful city. With white stone buildings an immense plaza and a generally cosy feeling centre, it´s a great place to explore. We visited the huge monastry which whilst its fascinating that nuns have lived there for so long was pretty boring as nearly all the rooms were the same. It cost us 30 soles each (7.50) which was a rip off really. Definitely had enough of the religious ...

... streets and tiny fruit-filled plazas. The place was one of the most photogenic places we'd come across so far, and was full of calendar images waiting to happen.<br><br>Next day we decided to go to a village out of town to a traditional bull fight. No, not your average matador to dead bull type battle. This was a "razz up two fertile bulls by showing them a hot looking cow, put them in a ring, let them stare each other out, then ...