Waking up on our luxury bus after an almost decent nights sleep things went from good to great. A short taxi ride from Ica bus station to Huacachina, we arrived in a small village built around an oasis in the middle of the desert. The quaint village consisted of a few stalls, the rest made up of hostels and restaurants clearly surviving solely from the tourist industry. Speaking to some other English girls who had negotiated a good deal for themselves, we aske...

We finally left Arequipa for good today. We have realised that with the bigger cities we have used them as a base camp to roam in the surrounding areas. In the morning we headed off to the free museum which had been converter by the bank from to old family houses. Apparently the bigger the water fountain in the courtyard, the richer the family. Also seeing an unbelievably lifelike painting of a man whose shoes follow change depending on where you were viewing th...

Having its ups and downs, we definitely experienced the local culture if nothing else. Heading for the local market in the morning, we had expected little markets stalls on the edge of a street like others. This one had a slight twist, reminding us of a London fish market with the hustle and bustle of people rushing to and fro. Entwined with the stench of the food on show, varying from meats such as cow and llama to fish with some fresh and some not quite as fre...

With our room looking like a bomb had hit it where we had dropped our things and sleeping last night. We had a quick generic breakfast of bread, butter and jam then went exploring. Visiting the frozen maiden which was all about a girl who was sacrificed in the inca times. Having to walk hundreds of miles from Cusco to the volcanos in the sacrificial celebrations and buried with family robs and pottery were all on show as well. Juanita's (the frozen maiden) body ...

With the moon firmly in the sky, our alarm again went off. The journey awaiting us was not ideal but the idea of hot springs after was enough motivation to get us out of bed. Abigail had a little panic attack at the start of the climb which made the walk seem ominous but soon recovered and spent most of the climb talking of London marathon and how we are apparently both going to run it in the next couple of years (not convinced but nice thought). The sense of a...