Hotel El Refugio Colca Canyon

... and I manage to have a meal there; despite the fact that there is no real restorant, but rather a small house with a cook for people on a tour. There are mostely bungalows and pools (from the spring that created the oasis).<br><br>3h relaxing<br><br>It starts raining. And a storm is visibly comming, this thunder 'n all.<br>So i grab my stuff, pay, fill the bottle with water and leave. Fast. I ...

... for those that don't know this is the deepest canyon in the world its twice the depth of the Grand Canyon (something Peter withheld from me until we were on the bus). First of all we got picked up from our hostel at 3am. 3am! There was a long drive out of Arequipa and into 'Canyon Country' and we arrived at the start point of our walk at around 7am. On the way we stopped at one of the highest points, where it's possible to see Condors. Our luck was in enough for us ...

... status???!! and age. I just went for name and status...which recieved a large cheer at being single........<br><br>After card games and another feast we were off to our tents early - i had a single tent - as we were going to have an early start for the horrors of day 2.<br><br>We were woken at 5.00 with a cup of coca tea and after brekkie set off for the uphill slog -1200m rise before dropping back down about 800m. Was not ...

Early morning unfortunatley but we are the first to be picked up so get good seats right at the front.Picked up a lot of people, ended up with a bus full, plus the 5 kiwis from Inka express and Puno, definatley the gringo trail happemimg.Our guide was Ali and he was very good doing running comantary in English and Spanish, and Quechan if necessary-.We had a couple of stops along the way, first was in the national reserve for photo ops of ...

Wednesday was more about relaxing and making some errands around Cusco, so it didn't deserve an entry by itself, but Thursday was marked by the fact that I finally decided to go Bungee Jumping!<br>Around 11am we went to the Action Valley offices, and passed some parades on our way (yeah, I know - more parades. Apparently Peru is the ...

... We had great plans to spend the mornings learnign Spanish and explore all around Cuzco in the afternoons, but after four hours of Spanish, all we seem to be capable of is napping and a little strolling through town. But we´re coming along in leaps and bounds, I think. We´ve been having extended conversations in Spanish with all sorts of people, and we can almost always get our point across, and if they´ll slow down enough, we can understand them usually too ...

... br>4. Saltena - kinda like an empanada, stuffed with potatoes and chicken<br><br>5. Trucha - Trout (from Lake Titicaca), with papas fritas and arroz<br><br>6. Muña Tea - a minty digestive<br><br>7. Alpaca Steak - Aplacas look like llamas but tastes like beef... served with baked apples and rice.<br><br>and finally, a Peruvian delicacy.....<br><br>8a, 8b &amp; 8c. Cuy al Horno - Guinea pig. I thought it would be presented a little ...

... I think the rocks were originally painted and looked more impressive. Cheeky impromptu tour bloke wanted us to purchase three post cards from him and pay him 20 soles, but we gave him 11 and ****ed off.<br><br>A bit later we took a taxi to the bus terminal and bought our tickets to Ica for the next day from a company called Litoral (evidently missing a "C"). They were hideously priced at $40, but apparently the route is expensive so we had no choice, plus the bus was supposed to ...

... leading to the private residence, was quite secluded being located 2km uphill from the main Cusco Urubamba road, very near the village of Calca and approximately 1 hour drive from Cusco. It was also quite narrowed and bumpy in places, however, the ride was mostly entertaining being surrounded by green lush trees before opening up to the entrance of the beautiful residence. <br><br ...

... there is a river Colca far beneath, then the Inca terraces which, by the way, are still cultivated, and then the Andes. The trail is comfortable, although I don't enjoy ocassional skeletons and animal skulls lying around. <br><br>The Cruz del Cóndor is a few rocks with a stone cross overlooking the valley. There are some stone walls to protect a herd of tourists from falling down, and there is ...