Blogs from Arequipa, Peru, South America - page 112

We are now in Arequipa, 1000kms south of Lima, 50ish k´s inland from the Pacific and a dizzying 2500metres above sea level. Since our last entry we have made the obligitory trip to Nazca to see the ´famous´ Nazca lines and taken a 10hour bus ride down here. On Monday 5th we took a flight from Nazca aerodrome over the ´Pampa´(flat desert) to see the strange lines and shapes from above. Apparently the lines themselves were made sometime between 400bc and 500ad, by various different peoples (some people theorise that aliens even contributed to them.....) Unfortunately the lines themselves, although still quite impressive weren´t as spectacular as anticpated. Many of them have been spoiled by jeep-tracks (the panamerica even cuts through one of the drawings) Some were really clear but some drawings were really ambiguous and ... read more

Arequipa for us was something of an afterthought, as we already felt that we were behind schedule (if there ever was one!) and should be pushing further south. After hearing about the state of the road from Ica to Cusco though we decided that a stop in Arequipa wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. They call Arequipa "the White City" as it's largely made of a white volcanic stone that occurs locally, making the centre of the city absolutely stunning in bright sunlight. We walked around the city for the day that we were there, taking in the sights, and taking lots of photos. Since we were only there for the day, there were two things that we really wanted to see; the convent of Santa Catalina, and the Museo dela Universidad Catolica de ... read more

Here I am, my last night in Peru. I got into Arequipa yesterday morning at 5:30am on a night bus from Cuzco. I waited around the bus station for a few hours, waiting for it to be a respectable hour before hitting the hostels. I ended up going with the second hostel. The first only had dorm rooms available, and I felt that I needed a room to myself and a good night´s sleep before heading off the next night (tonight) to Tacna, the southernmost city in Peru and the last brief stop before catching a bus to Arica, Chile. I went to another hostel and it was perfect - relatively cheap and my own room with hot shower. It was also bright, sunny, and super quiet. The old man that runs it ws really nice ... read more

So we left Arequipa is search of a bit of hiking... Down into the 2nd deepest canyon in the world seem to fit the bill for an afternoons walk. Lets start at the beginning. Took a bus from Arequipa, which is estentially situated in a desert, over a 4800 m pass where there was snow, ending up in Colca de Canyon where there was once again cati... a bit crazy! The upper portion of the canyon is heavily terraced and used since the time of the Inca (500 years ago) to grow corn, potatoes, and barley. This is a bit of a change as everywhere eles that we have seen terraces its been rice, rice, and more rice. 1st nite was spent in Yanque with a family. We walked down through the terraces to a hotsprings ... read more

Hello All! Been a week today since arrived here and done loads already. From Lima last week, we travelled to Paracas on Wednesday morning, a costal resort. Took a couple of hours on the bus. Spectacular sights everywhere, passing through shanty towns, to even these straw huts in the desert, with no water and electricity that people live in. In Paracas we jumped on boats and went out to sea, to visit the Ballesta Islands. These Islands are described as the 'Poor man's Galapagos'. The Islands are infested with lots of sea birds, Penguins, Pelicans and Sea Lions ( which I think are gross ). The smell was horrendous, but was great to see, and was very hot. We then got back on the bus after some lunch, and made our way to the town of ... read more