Posada Del Condor Arequipa

... that we were driving back to Arequipa on the one day of the year that the Camino de las Incas takes place. This off-road rally race takes the participants on a course all over Southern Peru. I was mad because this meant our being unable to pass onto our road and necessitated a two hour delay. This was the best delay of my life.<br><br>It is hard to believe that this is an internationally recognized race. The cars featured were so beat and pathetic that they had ...

... sur arequipa en combi, Puis nous avons reserve notre trek pour le canyon de colca: depart le lendemain a trois heures du matin donc petite soiree dans un resto chifa ( chinois peruvien: grosse assiettee de pates et de riz)<br>retour a l hotel le ventre bien plein pour un gros dodo

... most important. Because she was sacrificed so high up on the summit she was frozen in the ice and perfectly preserved for 500 years. Her body is displayed in a crystal cabinet kept at -22 degrees at 95% humidity to preserve her features. Its amazing that her skin and features are still apparent today with very little decay or decomposition. (No photos allowed I'm afraid... you'll have to google this one to see what she looks like ...

... down, feed him, make him drink hot water and take Cocoa leaves. Our "employed international prat" at this point decided he would now<br>only talk to Reiko and completely ignored the rest of the group. Mind you, this was pretty much what he had been doing all day!<br><br>We eventually limped back into base camp with Bjorn after some 14 hours (a normal trip is around 8 hours). This was certainly not the "alpine style" ascent we'd envisaged! <br><br>Both Louise and I had acclimatised ...

... the buildings surrounding the Plaza de Armas are also constructed of the white stone. I have not yet been at night, but it is supposed to be quite a sight when they are all lit up.<br><br>My host family is wonderful. Sandra and Ricardo met me at the train station and brought me back to their house, which is not too far from the city center. They have two sons, Lucho y Rodrigo. Lucho is my age, married, and has a two year old daughter. He is an economist and lives ...

... us living on the fault line might take a lesson or two from them. Also at the ruins were some dogs that are native to Peru. They are hairless and pretty funny looking. It is believed that the dogs have healing powers if you hold them because they are particularly warm. I learned that in Peru there are many different types of potatoes, 400 seems to ring a bell, but I can&#8217;t remember for sure. Also there are different colors of cotton grown here, not ...

... out from Max that this type of soup is what the villagers typically have - and apparently, is on the much lower end of Peruvian food =). We all loved the food .. the lomo saltado with rice was a hit to all of us. <br> <br> With our tummies happy, we started venturing out to Plaza de Armas. The plaza is flanked on one side by the commanding presence of Catedral de Arequipa, which is the only church in Peru which stretches the entire length of th plaza ...

... about 5000m above sea level. To put that into perspective, it´s about 15,000 feet, which is the height that I jumped out of a plance from. High altitude is cold and a bit tough to breathe, but we weren´t at that height for too long. When we got to Colca Canyon, we went to the hot springs. The water was so warm and the pool was set way up in the mountains. We had a brilliant buffet at the hotel and then went to bed.<br><br>The Colca ...

... views of the valley and the Colca canyon. The Colca canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the USA and the second largest canyon in South America.<br><br><br><br>Then the highlight of the morning... we arrive at the Condor pass to witness ...

... of raw white fish cooked with lemon juice, onion and hot peppers. I thought it was ok apart from it tasting at times like the fish had accidently been left in water mixed with a bit of dishwashing liquid. Otherwise, it was not so bad. Afterwards we went to Deja Vu &#8211; a popular touristic bar where a band was playing Chris Isaak music. Here I finally tried the famous Peruvian drink which is pisco sour &#8211; a clear brandy, with egg whites and lime ...