Canyons, condors and being very very tired.

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Got to Arequipa, had time to do some light internetting and have a lie down after a cheeky vom (not hungover i dont think, just generally knackered and dodgy food), followed by going into town for meal cooked in traditional incan way and served in hot stones (by traditional incan way i think they meant ¨with loads of salt¨. I ate a guinea pig. Served like it had just been scraped off a car wheel. complete with legs, paws, head, teeth etc. odd. And overpriced... anyway, main square was quite cool, but after dinner was straight to bed, up at 7 to get coach to the Colca canyon.

Our guide talked for the first two hours of the 5 hour trip, involving getting up to 4910m the highest yet. Still very tired.

Got to town for lunch of mostly this grain stuff, before buying (another) hat, and heading to hotel (very nice one) for a bit of a walk and then a horse ride (dont like horses, especially when they gallop and you nearly fall off a lot becuase you havent got a clue what you´re doing), before going to have a beer in some hot spring things, which was nice at the time but freezing and smelly in the changing rooms after.

The evening finished with a meal in a restaurant with a traditional band (traditional in this case they meant very very loud with annoying pan pipes and enforced dancing with the locals in their costumes- i got picked on for a dance and couldnt have been less happy about it). Was still very tired.

Bed was about half ten, however we had to get up at 5am to go to the canyon (deepest in world, about 3600m or somthing) in order to see a Condor. We did in fact see a condor very close up which was cool, however what wasnt cool was the very bumpy (no sleep) two hour journey there and the 5 hour journey all the way back to arequipa. I was in an astonishingly bad mood by the time we got back to town. Had to go and look at some flight details on internet and write some diary, and stumbled across my first KFC in weeks, so satisfied junk food quota before back to the hotel to try and sleep. Didnt sleep, and we had a free day today so was a prime opportunity to go out.

Got take out pizza and some beers and sat outside for a few hours on the hotel balcony, then ended up going to a really good bar first, where i got accosted by a local peru girl who swore she recognised me. She didnt.

Ended up going to an awesome club after, but I crashed about 2. It had a waterfall in it.

This morning (Easter Sunday) had to get up VERY early to phone home, spoke to everyone there, then wept for an hour or so because I realised how much i missed everyone (by wept for an hour, I of course mean bought a chicken, cheese and bacon sandwich and a sprite).

HAve spent the rest of my day off sunbathing, sorting photos and getting this up to date. Night bus to Nascar tonight, so going to find food and wine and take all my remaining sleeping pills. Sweet.

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Comments

[Babs]

Easter sadness
Very dissapointed that you did not weep for an hour having spoken to us...we all did so felt that you should too. Missed sitting next to you for Easter meal...had to sit next to Catherine....rubbish. Photos of Annas Easter egg hunt to follow...she is still considered little enough to do it. Im off back to Leeds today to wallpaper our bedroom....I am excited as I stripped the wallpaper in a fit of DIY enthusiasm 7 weeks ago + it needs to be done. Ian is not excited as he went to Gatecrasher and does not feel quite up to wallpapering! Take it easy, Babsx