Countdown to Peru!

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Just 2 days now til I leave for Peru and although I have loads to finish off at work I'm finding it hard to resist planning my trip...

I'll be flying out of Leeds at 6.15am on Saturday and arriving in Lima at 9pm local time, which is 6 hours behind UK time. I've been telling people for weeks it's a 16 hour travel time but obviously it's more like 21 hours. Perhaps I'm settling in early to the South American manana attitude. I'm even looking forward to the flight at the moment, I must need a holiday!

As I'm arriving late on in the day I've booked my hotel for the first couple of nights, at Casa San Martin in the Miraflores district of Lima:

. It looks so lovely, and I plan to make some use of the patio and sundeck when I'm not exploring. It's winter in Peru so I won't be sunbathing but the forecast for Sunday is a sunny 19 degrees with NO chance of rain. That's more like it!

I will be joining a tour group for 8 days on 3 July which will take me from Lima to Cusco and up to Machu Piccu My 30th birthday is on the 3rd day of the trek. The tour company tell me this is the day with the most stunning scenery and views, but they would say that, wouldn't they?!

Other than this organised part I have a rough idea of where I want to be but don't have definite plans yet. Hopefullly I'll take in Huacachina, Las Islas Ballestas, the Nazca Lines, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa and Colca Canyon.

I've got 3 weeks out there and I plan to make the most of it. I've not had 3 weeks off work since 2001!

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