Friday 1st October - Lima
I don't have time to do the whole Peru Encompassed (link) trip so I'm checking out the main bits by myself! I sadly left the group in Punta Sal and flew down to Lima where I was met at the airport and taken to the Hotel Kamana. It's right near the centre of the city and a bit of luxury after camping! The staff are really helpful and speak excellent English. I've filled my day here walking around colonial buildings, churches and plazas - it's all beautiful but somewhat faded and crumbling.
Sunday 3rd October - Arequipa & Colca Canyon
Arequipa is fantastic! The city is beautiful with all the buildings in the main plaza made of white volcanic stone. You can see three volcanoes from the city, El Misti is particularly awesome being a perfect cone. Our Peru Encompassed tour leader, Ricardo, took me on a pub crawl yesterday and apologised for finishing the night early at 2am! Peruvians know how to party. I have a morning on a minibus to recover, we're off to the Colca Canyon.
Monday 4th October - Arequipa & Colca Canyon
The Colca Canyon was amazing, mostly due to the Condor viewing point where we saw condors soaring only metres overhead! It was incredible being so close. We also visited a few villages and their inhabitants and learnt something of the pre-Inca tribes. The road that took us there reached 4200m in altitude and we got out of the minibus to experience being so high up - it was damn cold and I was out of breath by the time I'd walked to the loo (about 100m!).
Wednesday 6th October - Cuzco
Cuzco is another incredible city. The streets are lined with beautiful colonial buildings the foundations of which are Inca stonework. There is so much to see and do here - Inca ruins, colonial churches, museums, horse-riding, mountain biking, rafting, trekking, pubs, cafes, restaurants. I'm saving all these for a few days time, for now I'm taking it easy and getting used to the altitude in preparation for the start of my big hike tomorrow - the Salkantay trek and Machu Picchu ruins...
)
)
)