Negar and I caught our bus to Arequipa at 17:00 (actually the bus to Puno - we had to transfer buses at 1 am, no joke) and within a half an hour we were crossing the border into Peru. Upon passing through Bolivian immigration the officer asked what the date was and we responded the 18th of May. We (and every other foreigner) were only given a 30-day visa on entering the country and had stayed in Bolivia exactly 30 days. Muahahah suck it, we're not paying any fine ;) (otherwise it costs 20 soles per day after the visa expiration). Peruvian immigration, on the other hand, took forever and a day because there was only a single immigration officer trying to process around 60 travelers that were on our bus and other buses. So freaking slow... Like, I know that you, Peruvian immigration, know exactly at what time every single day buses are meant to arrive so would it not make more sense to schedule a few more officers rather than work one to the bone? I mean, you do you but it seems a bit inefficient. In any case, I got a 90-day visa after a bit of a wait but Negar could only get a 30-day one as her emergency passport is set to expire soon. And then we were back on the bus and on our way to Puno!

Upon arriving in Puno we were told that we had to wait two hours before the bus continued the journey and that everyone would be going to a restaurant to wait. The restaurant seemed nice enough and Negar and I decided to share a menu (starter, main course and dessert) but we had absolutely no desire to socialize with anyone whatsoever. I was deathly tired and the fact that this stupid bus company was making me wait two hours in this stupid restaurant rather than allowing me to sleep on the bus was really grinding my gears. There was also this really annoying Canadian girl talking at the table across from us so I couldn't help being a raging b**** and making fun of her every five seconds (not to her face of course), because I get really mean when I'm tired. Also she had a very annoying voice and spoke on such trivial matters that she deserved my sneering. Anyway, that would have been fine but then it took forever and a day for our food to come out. I'm talking we ordered this food around 20:30 and by 21:45 it still hadn't arrived, but our bus was supposed to depart at 22:00. If I hadn't been given a free pisco sour I might have pulled out my (nonexistent) shotgun. On top of all of this, the dessert was supposed to be a chocolate cake but it tasted like chocolate toast. All in all I was very angry so I was only too pleased to get back on the bus and pass out.

We were awoken a few hours later to transfer buses and then we passed out again until we showed up at our hostel in Arequipa. We couldn't check in because it was only daybreak so we sat around on our phones for a few hours, brushed our teeth and set out for some breakfast. We wandered to the town square and decided on a spot on the main pedestrian street. After ordering I see Negar staring at somebody who's getting up to leave and she looks and me and I look at the back of this guy's head and immediately recognize him to be Robbie - our Australian friend from Punta del Diablo, Uruguay. Remember... Where we slightly lost our minds? Thought it might ring a bell. In any case, we ran over to him and got to catch up for about five minutes before he had to head out as he was leaving to hike some big mountain that day. We said we should meet up - never did - but that's ok, we were to meet again somewhere else ;)

After breakfast Negar and I decided we would do the free walking tour so we headed over to the meeting point at some random square. We were running a few minutes late but to be fair all these walking tours are all delayed in leaving - usually about 15 minutes - so we thought nothing of it. Except we showed up to the square and saw absolutely no green vests anywhere. We waited around for another 15 minutes, thinking that the guides might be running late, but they never came. Sad face. So we walked away defeated and headed for the supermarket and then the hostel. I can't imagine we did much else for the rest of the day as we were absolutely wrecked from our overnight bus the night before, so I believe we went to bed quite early. It's the days we did nothing that are so hard to remember because there's nothing memorable about them. Poetic, I know.

The next morning we awoke to the fantastic news that my son, Lucas, had arrived at our hostel!!! Yayaya! He appeared while I was pouring myself some coffee and came down to join us for a smoke and chats - although there wasn't much to catch up on as we had only seen him two days prior in Copacabana. In any case, he said that he really wanted to do the tour of the Colca Canyon (the third largest canyon in the world near Arequipa) and asked if we wanted to do it with him. Negar politely declined but as it was his birthday in two days I couldn't bear to say no to him. He is my son after all and his happiness is the only thing that matters ;) Catch was... The tour left at 3:00 in the middle of the night (not the morning, that's the night my friends). So we planned to do it the next day despite my body saying that it was a miserable idea.

After getting ourselves together we took a minibus to the bus terminal to buy tickets to Cusco for the next evening as Lucas and I wouldn't be back until 18:00 the following day which would cut it close to buy tickets. We also very much wanted to be in the Loki Cusco for his birthday on Friday so we could party party like old times :) We got the tickets sorted without too much effort and then headed to the mercado nearby for some sopa y segunda, which was fabulous! I said in the previous post that I left my trainers in the staff room at Loki La Paz and since I thought our tour would involve some trekking the following day I told the lads that I needed to stop by the local mall to get some new trainers. We took a taxi to the mall, which, by the way, is beautiful, and wandered to the various stores to try on different pairs. Turns out women in Peru don't have very big feet - or I'm just Bigfoot - because a size 41 in women's shoes didn't exist in any of the stores. So I did what any sensible woman would do and bought a pair of cute men's trainers that aren't even very wide so my mission was accomplished despite having abnormally large feet. #winning

We then legged it back to town to take part in the free walking tour (a different one this time) and the guide actually showed up! He was quite funny and reminded us a lot of our Israeli friend, Matan, because he talked a mile a minute. It was like his brain was moving faster than his mouth could get the words out and he had a dry sense of humor that only added comedy to his manner of speaking. We had a good time though and got to check out all the major sights in Arequipa, which is a very beautiful city I have to mention. It reminded me a lot of Sucre, Bolivia, in the sense that one could see the former wealth of the city in its architecture. Very impressive. We finished the tour at an alpaca farm where we got to pet alpacas (baby ones as well!!!) and feel both alpaca and vicuña wools. But the official last stop was outside an abbey that at one time was closed off to the public and also housed hundreds of nuns. Now, though, as we've all apparently become increasingly promiscuous and less God-fearing, the number of nuns has dropped to its current number of 14 and they're actually looking for women to come join the convent. That's right, ladies. If it doesn't work out with the lads in the next few years you can go sign up to become a nun at the convent in Arequipa (I believe it was San Francisco?). Food for thought?

Afterwards we went and got some chicken for dinner and then headed back to the hostel to pack everything up as Lucas and I were heading out in only a few hours for the canyon. Then it was bedtime but 2:15 came way too quickly. As soon as my alarm started ringing I immediately regretted my decision in agreeing to go with Lucas. Putting my contacts in at that hour seemed like the worst torture on the planet and the situation wasn't made any better in that the tour company didn't even show up till 3:15. I hate you all. 30 minutes of valuable sleep down the drain, jerks.

On board the bus we were given some blankets and we passed out before long only to be awoken a few hours later to watch the sunrise over one of the three volcanoes in the area. Very beautiful and all but damn cold! I had completely forgotten that we would be going to higher altitudes so all I brought with me was a light jumper which made getting out of that van one of the most painful experiences of my life. Back on board we got then and headed for the town in the valley where we were given breakfast and met some of the other members of our tour. All very nice but they obviously thought Lucas and I were dating, which I suppose should be flattering as he's very good looking. But he's my son... I know it sounds weird because he's five years older than me but seriously, I think of him as my son. That's how I love him and crossing that line would be really weird. Just really weird.

We got back on the bus after breakfast and started our drive through the canyon which was stunning. We could see all the terrazas where the Inkas had tested and perfected their farming practices as well as all the beautiful mountain ranges surrounding the canyon below. After a few hours driving we reached the Condor crossing, which, just as its name states, is where the condors do all their flying about. I had never really heard much about the condors before the tour but they're very cool birds. Only albatrosses boast a wider wingspan among birds but condors don't necessarily fly (although they can) but rather glide through the air. It's a very cool spectacle and on that particular day (because conditions were so perfect) it seemed that they were putting on a show for us. About fifteen different ones were swooping in and out from different places right around where all the tour groups were seated. I had a great time hanging out with Lucas watching them all go and I think he greatly enjoyed the show. It was fun hanging out just the two of us for the day - I do love that guy very much :)

On the way back to Arequipa we got to stop at various lookout points along the way where Lucas and I snapped some photos together. It's always so funny when he speaks to me because he ALWAYS calls me mom - never Allison. So he'll say, "Oh mom, you look so beautiful." Or, "Mom, can you take a photo of me?" I already find it incredibly comical but it's even better when I see people turn around absolutely bewildered as to why this grown man is calling this white girl "mom". So entertaining.

Anyway, when we got back to Arequipa there was a bit of traffic and Lucas and I were told we would be the last ones of the group to get dropped off. We figured we would just get out at the main square, Plaza de Armas, and walk back to the hostel from there. We got lost though as it's so confusing as to which street we have to take from which corner of the plaza, but I figured we were on the right path. Then our bus driver (someone Lucas had befriended, naturally) pulled up alongside us and asked if we wanted a ride back to the hostel. We couldn't help but laugh and got back on the minibus. Turns out we were only two blocks from our hostel and our street was a one-way street that our friend couldn't drive down, so he drove us a block and let us out again. Thanks, matezo!

Back at the hostel we found Negar a bit distraught after a particularly bad Skype session with her dad, so we decided to get some beers before our bus in a few hours. We proceeded to get hammered and were then running late trying to pack all our things to make the bus in time. I don't know if we'll ever learn...

In any case, we made the bus to Cusco at the end and were headed on our way back to a Loki. Bum, bum, bum.