The Great Land of the Incas- Hola Peru!!!

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Peru was always suppose to be my holiday in my trip... A 21 day organised tour to explore the mysterious and the once powerful incas. I was looking forward to having 3 weeks of not having to worry or plan anything. Simply wake up when ive been told and get driven to another amazing place of interest.

I arrived a few days before my tour start in Lima...again im surprised i dont know why i keep expecting South America to be really runned down, dirty and extremely poor. I suppose i was still camparing it to India and i suppose once you have made it through India everywhere around the world can not compete with its poverty and mayhem.

Arriving and even before i was able to check in, i got chatting to a fellow Brit who was about to go check out a ruin nearby. What i found great about Lima was that amongst the new apartment and old buildings blocks there is this amazingly old ruin which is literally surrounded by all these buildings. I believe it was only potected by the unesco in the 1980s so the Peruvians wound simply knock it down and build ontop of it. Crazy!!!..

Plaza de Armas is everywhere...The square would always be surrounded by stunning colonial buildings and beautiful kept cathedrals.

MEETING THE GROUP.

Luckily we are only a small group. An older couple from New Zealand, 1 from Holland, 3 of us from the Uk, 1 Irish and 1 crazy Austrailian that is currently living in London.

We had our briefing and decided to have dinner together to get aquainted, everyone seemed friendly enough, i was able to persuade Irish boy who needed very little persuasion to check out some bars. Unfortunately it was mid week and all the bars was dead as dead can be.

MEETING MY CRAZY ROOMIE!!!...

yep Eda arrived late so i had to quitely creep in to not wake her up... poor thing left her card in the machine and has been spending all evening trying to sort it out. Man this girl can talk, i know she was probably being polite and me in return but although we was both shattered ended up chatting for ages. And this girl can TALK!!!!...

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Photos

Lake Titicaca
Another stunning sunrise to share with you all. I wasnt crazy enough to wake up at 4 am the climb back up the mountain to view it like Eda & Mike but i did get up at 5 am to catch this amazing view from the homestay.

Peruvian Dog
Like his funky hair style...he was at the random ruin (Huaca Pullana) i visit in Lima

The Ballestas Islands
Check out the cute penguins...awwwwww!!!
You can also spot loads of Sea lions, Penguins and many bird life from peruvian boobie to pelicans

Sand Boarding - Haucachina
Me, Mike, Eda & Richard (hehehe been teaching Richard Salsa..his loving it and might take it up when he get back to the UK )

Thats Me!!!!! WOOOOHOOOO!!!
I won the race...little ole me. Was so much fun and the huge sand dunes are absolutely COOL!!!!... Unfortunately dont have a pic of the oasis my battery was dead but it really was amazing to see it in the midst of the huge sand dunes.

The Nazca Lines
The Famous Astronaut... the view of Nazca was so amazing up in the jet.

Tasting some local traditional cuisine
Meat and vegetable cooked underground for over 6 hours using heated rocks.

Arequipa
We had a free day to go check out the many museums and Cathedrals and Covents. It was so interesting to discover the culture and life of the nuns and also in the museum about Juanita and child sacrifice who had been discovered from the mountain and had been preserved in the snow all these century.Wads a little scary to see actually. This Land Peru is fasinating, how the dry dessert has also able to preserve the mummies in such great conditions all these years.

Me Tucking Into Some good Tucker!!!
Man!!...this was the best meal i´ve had so far in Peru.
Alpaca, Ostrich, and the good old beef. DELICIOUS!!!...

Colca Canyon
Enjoying the stunning Views and trying to spot some Condors... only saw a little one from a far ;(

Puno
Visiting some local families, they soo sweet!!!

Dancing The night away!!!
Staying on one of the island in Lake Titicaca. This lake is amazing up at 4000 meter above sea level you just cant believe how big it is and surrounded by mountain and the stunning terraces.

Saying Goodbye to Mama Juanita
Look im having to bend down ... so nice to be around people that are smaller than me...hehehehe

The Amazing Floating Island
Made of reed and can take up to 1 year to build and several families will live on each island.

Give us a smile boys!!!
Last night in Puno before heading to Cusco to do our long awaited INCA TRAIL. Had fun teaching them all salsa.