Portal Hotel Arequipa

... on lake titicaca sun island then off boat for bus ride to La Paz. La Paz - city of the mini bus!! Arrive 7pm - again another chaotic city. Geography though quite amazing, sitting very high in a massive bowl with mountains all around. Early night ready for early flight to the Amazon.<br><br>Very busy 6 days but seeing some amazing places and people. So different to anywhere I´ve been before. Looking forward to our next destination. Amazon here we come!!<br><br><br>

So after an early rise and a disappointing breakfast of bread and not much else, it´s time for the minibus again. For some reason I was in a bit of a grump (who said dancing was good for the soul), and I was getting annoyed by the ongoing stops to see people dance or try and sell their wares to gringos. I was also convinced that on this morning there would be no Condors flying in the Canyon. This is essentially a 2 day tour in order to see Condors fly for ...

... up and used for medicinal purposes but, if the snake is caught alive, a far preferable option, it is used to relieve back pain. The poor reptile is held at either end of its length and rubbed across the back as if you were drying yourself with a towel. Apparently, this makes all the pain go away. Quite what the snake feels about it is anyone&#8217;s guess but I bet it won&#8217;t risk climbing any trees in future.<br><br>At 5.30pm we reach The Oasis (at 2,200m) where we stay overnight. We ...

In our infinate wisdom we decided to travel to Cusco via overnight buses, not having to pay for hostels. Our first leg of the journey was Lima to Arequipa, arriving at 7am. We left our bags at the bus office as we had 12 hours in this town before continuing on with the same bus company to Cusco. We took a taxi to the Plaza de Armas (S./ 3.50) and had a leisurly breakfast in one of the many balcony resturants, overlooking the square. I think that it was a ...

... Acercandonos. The program basically helps support and provides basic necessities for both elderly people (medical care, food) and children (food, medical care, school supplies) who are in need. The people in need have to be chosen for the program by going through the social services office and having a social worker declare that they in fact meet the qualifications for this ...

... were around the same age. Actually our guy with a name that sounds like Roosevelt was the youngest. I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality of our accommodations including tiled bathroom and shower that actually had hot water -- I'd planned to just skip that until the next day. Although our mattresses were more like hammocks the way they sunk inward. <br><br>The next day we have a ...

... br><br> El camino es duro pero los paisajes de puna son magicos. Los volcanes nevados coronan la laguna (seca en esta epoca del año) y las vistas son imponentes. Caminamos por el lago seco, tiramos bolas de nieve y paramos a tomar algo caliente en Moche, un pueblito frente a la laguna. Habia un rebaño de alpacas pastando cerca de la laguna. <br ...

... midday sun warming our backs and it´s reflection on the rocks warming our fronts, inhaling the dust that was being swept around by both us walking, in addition to the numerous mules that were passing us going down along the way. Luckily it was all simply beautiful, so whilst i was walking and thikning i was about to keen over at any minute, all i need to do was turn around, take a deep breath and soak up the stunning views down in to the canyon along the way and it all became ...

Arequipa, 'la ciudad blanca', is very far away if you travel by bus, and is situated 2400 metres above the sea level, which is a bit high if you are approaching it from the coast. The Carretera Panamericana gets quite dangerous at times, and I don't recommend some of its parts if you suffer from the fear of heights and/or space. Sometimes it gets peppered with sand from the desert, and you have to wait until the diggers make the road ...

... same menu, as usual - rice and friend vegetables, nothung to drink. After two days without any protein, and two days starving, I made the choice of not even considering walking back up the 1000+ (3300 ft+), steep canyon wall, so me and 50% of our group and three people from other groups, hired mules to take us up, for a fee of course.<br><br>I will never have words to describe the strength of those animals, or how amazing they are. A mixture of a horse and a ...