For the sake of finishing the story we begun 6 months ago now, this is the last post to finish the blog off, and provide some closure having been back in the 'real world' for about 2 months now. These are the highlights of our last 3 weeks of our trip.
After leaving Cusco, our next stop was the old colonial town of Arequipa. Arequipa had a totally different feel then Cusco, the building where grand and white and the people were mainly in western dress. We loved the few days we spent here, we spent lots of time on our hostels roof-top terrace, made some lovely food as we had access to a fab kitchen and wondered around the city. This included visiting an old monestry that was a whole city block in size and was encharting, like a city within a city. Below is a picture of Jessica having lunch overlooking the central square.
One of the main reasons for going to Arequipa was because it was the set off point for a trip into the Colca Canyon, a long and painful local bus ride away.
Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru. It is located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Arequipa. It is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States4,160 m. However, the canyon's walls are not as vertical as those of the Grand Canyon. Since they are such major features of the landscape. The Colca Valley is a colorful Andean valley with towns founded in Spanish Colonial times and formerly inhabited by the Collaguas and the Cabanas. The local people still maintain ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces.
We debated about going on a tour or ruffing it on our own and we decided on the DIY option. We felt that this late on in the trip we could do these sort of things independantly, and it's just so much more exciting! The trek ended taking only two days. And invloved trekking down to the bottom and staying the night at the base, then waking a few miles along the botton of the canyon to an oasis for lunch and swimming! Then starting the long climb up and out! Here are some photos...
We ended up doing the trek with three Ozzie ladies and an american called Clay who we had met on the way to the Canyon. The team having completed the 2.5 hour climb out of the canyon...
Another highlight of the canyon country was the condors! Before returning to Arequipa we went to a view point to see all the condors when they leave their nests...
Moving on - our next stop was Nazca where we took the well known and popular flight in a small aircraft over the Nazca Lines. Nazca itself did not have much to offer, but we spent a lovely afternoon in a posh hotel using their pool! Some photos of us over the lines...
Next Stop - Huchachina. Now this place was differnt. An oasis in the dessert that pictures can show better then words. We even did some sand boarding - so much fun!
Final Stop - LIMA!!! We were sad to arrive in Lima as we had heard mixed things about it and it also meant we were going home. Although I think we were both looking forward to seeing friends and family we were very sad that our trip was coming to an end, so we made sure we went out with a bang; we had a night in a salsa club, went paragliding and ate in the poshest fish restaurant overloking the sea.
Now back in the UK and settled in, it's great to be able to look back through our posts and remember all the fun times we had - not that we could forget. Thank you for reading...
THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!
.... untill next time...
