Los Tambos Arequipa

... over, possibly out of boredom- we will see how good a decision it is soon. Basically we are going on a two day trip followed by a nightbus and may well be waking up on the Bolivian border on Thursday.<br><br>After this Alex had to retire for a siesta whilst I eagerly read books (the Inca lot used 1 word for "harvest" and "work" but many for the different stages of drunkeness) and visited cultural sites like the ...

... rare bird; but I´m not sure it was worth the wait or the trip. It was too far away for a good photo too. Luckily the scenery was nice and I think practicing patience is an important part of my trip, because after the ´sighting´we were back on the bus for the return trip to Arequipa.<br> <br><br> As it turns out there is not time for bus stories in this edition... you will have to wait for one of the next ones<br><br> Take care everybody<br><br> Vanessa<br><br> <br>

... She was sacrificed as part of an Inca ceremony at the top of one of the surrounding snow-capped volcanoes. It was frozen in ice and was found in virtually perfect condition and you can see teeth, skin, and muscle tissue. She was in a foetal position (which is common as they are placed like babies in the mother&#8217;s womb &#8211; a re-birth into a new life) and it was assumed she was being sacrificed to abate the gods from further volcano eruption ...

I thought I'd take a moment to explain in a bit more depth this bus system that I use every day. There are two types of buses: actual buses and kombis. I normally take the kombis, and these are what I have referred to in earlier posts. The actual buses, while certainly not state of the art, are more spacious and a bit nicer.<br><br>In the kombi, there is a driver and a boletero, the person who takes your money for the trip. There is a sliding door that doesn&#8217;t ...

What a lovely city Arequipa is. Shadowed by snow capped mountains and the El Misti volcano it is really quite picturesque...and nobody has hassled me about shining my shoes since I got here!<br><br>The main purpose for my visit was to visit the Colca Canyon a few hours away. So I booked a 3 day hike which I thought would be good preparation for the Inca trail at the end of the month ...

... br><br>After Tapay we headed down to the Oais. Our walk down included some great view points along the way. We also learned that the cacti in the area not only provide fruit and protection, but there is an insect that lives on them that is used in make-up and face paint. When you smush them their blood is a very pretty maroon color. Originally people would get lots of money for the insect, but now since they have cleared and mass planted the cacti they ...

... the best way to do it, so Brazil and Argentina are getting planned to a more relaxing degree.<br><br>From here we go to Cuzco to do the Inca trail, keen as. However we have a small widow to get there... hopefully... fingers crossed. There have been some road blockages due to some political war with Oil and the Rainforest. So essentially people are blocking roads, throwing rocks at busses, graffiti on busses, setting bridges on fire, making busses and peple pay to get through ...

... for my plane I saw there was a HUGE presence of police officers waiting for something. Talked to the lady in Information and she informed me that there was a dead police coming from Lima! WOW!<br><br>So I decided to check it out, attempted to take some pictures but since I didn't have my speedlight with my camera it didn't turn out very well...you can see some pictures on my Flickr site..<br><br>All I can say its amazing ...

... and the familiar faces every day, but the trip has yet to get to its main spot which is machu picchu, gonna be a hell of a hike. three days in the wilderness, i know sarah wouldnt be able to handle it hahaha too many spiders she would say. buses, buses, and more buses. absolute craziness with the drivers here, and i thought us quebecers were bad drivers. and never have i been approached more for the most random things than ...

... else and I don´t think very happily either. I bought a snack from a vendor who hopped on the bus to sell hot choclo con queso for about 50 cents...choclo is like enormous corn on the cob here and I´ve been dying to try it. It was tasty but not as sweet a our corn on the cob. The cheese was delicious! <br><br>We pulled into Arequipa around 4:30 pm so it was a 6 hour ride as promised. I went out to the terminal terrestre´s taxi area and must have looked bewildered because a ...