Time in Peru coming to an end

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Yesterday I arrived here in Arequipa, Peru, which is the second largest city in Peru and is surrounded by 3 huge volcanoes. I took a bus from Cusco yestersay morning which should have been a 9 hour trip. However, about halfway to Arequipa one of the tires exploded and started burning and the bus started rocking. We pulled over and it took them almost 2 hours to put on the spare, then we had to drive slowly. So the 9 hour bus trip turned into an 11 hour bus trip.

While in Cusco, I did a 5 day trek called the Salkantay Trek, (because it is a trek around the Slakantay mountain) with the final destination at Machu Picchu. The trek was beautiful and quite a workout but was definitely worth it. We left on monday morning and arrived in Aguas Calientes, a city near Machu Picchu on thursday afternoon. At 5 A.M. on friday we headed to Machu Picchu to beat the crowds. Machu Picchu was amazing. It is difficult to put into words the experience of being there. It is an immense city of ruins among a jungle/ mountainous landscape. We explored the ruins for almost 5 hours yet I feel like I could have spent much more time. We even climbed the mountain that is behind the ruins, called Huayna Picchu. From the peak there was an incredible view of the surrounding area and the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Arequipa is a very nice city and I think Im going to do a tour of nearby Colca Canyon, which is larger and deeper than the grand canyon. Then, I will take the bus to Puno, on Lake Titicaca and then on to Bolivia!

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