More Peru

Ok I've now been in Peru for just over 1 week and seem to have fit a lot in so far! Going on from my last post we got the overnight bus to Arequipa which was an interesting trip, our bus was already an hour late due to a collapsed bridge but we finally got on and was pretty good....definitely not what I would expect from an overnight bus in South America. We got blankets, pillows, watched several films and got given food! However, at about 4am I woke up and noticed that we had stopped, went back to sleep and an hour later we were still at a standstill, we had to wait for 3 1/2 hours for the Nasca Rally to take place...did mean that we had a great roadside view as the cars came past!

We arrived in Arequipa around 3 or 4 hours later than expected and began an orientation walk of the city, definitely the best place so far! After the orientation walk we were left to wander around for a while so Helen and I found water and then headed back to the hotel to shower and change before dinner where we managed to try Guinea Pig and Alpaca, can't say I'm a fan of Guinea Pig but Alpaca is pretty good! We had one night in Arequipa and then had to pack enough things in our daybags for two nights/three days for heading up the Andes with a local guide. We began the journey into the mountains (amazing views!!) and stopped several times along the way to buy coca leaves and coca tea for acclimatisation, we stopped at 4,800m (higher than the average skydive height) and you could really feel the altitude with dizziness and difficulty breathing. We then arrived at our hotel for the next few nights, this now is definitely top of the list of places we have stayed so far, it was really lovely and right in the Andes. After going to our rooms we headed out for a walk up the mountain which was pretty tough given the altitude! The following day we headed out at 6:30am to go and find Condors, Peruvian birds with wingspans of up to 3 metres. After eventually spotting a few we went on another walk through the mountains with some pretty scary passes. That afternoon there was an option to go horse riding, our horses arrived at the hotel and we were taken through the mountains pretty much doing what we wanted, so on the way back we all decided to canter (without hats...) back to the hotel, so much fun! Following that it was a trip to local hot springs where the natural water temperature was around 35 degrees C, much warmer than the evening temperatures in the mountains (boiling in the day but FREEZING at night!!). We had our first 'night out' last night in the highest Irish Bar in the world, not too sure what made it Irish other than the name and a Guinness poster on the wall, and then crammed into a minibus and headed back to the hotel.

Today we headed back to Arequipa on the way stopping for anyone who wanted more coca tea and I managed to buy an Alpaca jumper ready for the cold nights camping on the Inca Trail. We now have the afternoon to explore the city before we head to Cuzco tonight on another overnight bus. We then have a couple of nights in Cuzco before the group splits into two; those doing the Inca Trail (there are about 6 of us) and the others who are doing the Lares Trek. So guess my next update will be after Machu Picchu!!

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