So much to write about and not enough time! My eyes about ready to close at a severe lack of sleep, but what cn you do but push on?! Our final night in Cuzco followed the trend set by the previous two, meaning I got in late and drunken, and after most people we had gone out with had failed to hack the pace! It was a mish mash of people who were out, with yours truely being the common link, and it turned out to be a really good night. The downside of that however was in the morning, as we had to check out and then set off to see some ruins that we had promised ourselves we would do. On the bus out of town, I was seriously questioning our logic in deciding to do them the day after a heavy night out, but eventually the midday sun, fresh air and an 8km walk around four separate ruins (of which Sacsayhuaman was the best) all brought me round, and it was a nice finish to our time in Cuzco - even if we were completely dead on our feet come the end of it! We then got an overnight bus across some of the wildest Andean altiplano to Arequipa, dubbed the white city due to its colonial buildings being built from the volcanic rock sillar, which dazzles in the bright sun. The city is nice enough, though the first day there was spent first catching up on some sleep (I seem to have lost the ability to sleep on anything other that a bed at the moment), and then sorting out Karls cash card, which he has now lost also. Thats both of us down and out now - charges for cash advances on credit cards are coming our way! You worry for our clients next year don`t you?! Then Friday was the start of the crazy stuff. First we got up at 430am - out of choice(!) - in order to be tired later in the day. Reason being? We were going to be getting up at 1230am the following day to begin a two day tour of Cañon del Colca which, despite contradictory reports, we have been assured IS the deepest canyon in the world. Anyway, Friday itself was a strange day mostly spent trying to avoid succumbing to a siesta. The most interesting thing we did was visit the Museo Santuarios Andinos, where the mummified body of Juanita (the "beautiful" girl of Ampato) is kept in a glass walled freezer. She was only discovered in 1995 and is known to have been sacrificed by the Incas as an offering to the Gods. Overall, it was really interesting and did a pretty good job of keeping me awake! In the evening, as a treat, we ate out at a really nice restaurant where I feasted out on cactus skins followed by ostrich - all of which was very nice!! Then the two day trip into the canyon began, but only after Karl locked out the guy on reception!! Imagine his face; he had been woken up at 1am by two gringos, had then offered to pick up Karls bag for him but not taken his keys out, and Karl let the door close behind him. Our Spanish speaking guide Andreas, once we were safely driving off in the taxi, then informed us that nobody would be able to help him get back in untill 10am! The bus journey to Cabanaconde was then pretty hellish, though I`m not sure what was worse out of the window next to me not shutting properly, the fact that after four hours of trying I eventually nodded off only to be woken up by some crazy Peruvian woman opening up my window further to shout bye to someone, the fact that the bus was completely rammed full of (with no disrespect intended) slightly smelly locals, or the fact that behind us were three of the most pompous southerners I have ever heard, who talked nothing but complete and utter dros the whole way there! Anyway, by the time we arrived, I hardly felt like setting of on a seriously hard core 8 hour hike to the bottom of the worlds deepest canyon, being led at a fair old pace by a really nice but ever so slightly mad guide! Somehow we completed it, and finished up at the "Oasis" nesstled in the bottom - complete with private thatched huts with double beds and a swimming pool. Somehow I refrained from punching "Los tres morons'" lights out, and finally went to bed, falling asleep flanked by two huge cliffs and with the stars just in view through the gaps in the bamboo. The highlight of the two days. Day two didn`t get any easier - up at 245am for a 3 hour ascent back to the top of the canyon - in the pitch black! I seriously thought I would never make it! Somehow we did, and then had to endure the a carbon copy of the aforementioned bus ride once again - with one crazy little man prctically crawling over the top of us to get on! We got off at the viewpoint, from which we spent an hour or so Andean condor watching, before heading to Chavay for a relaxing time in the hot baths. After the final leg of our journey back to Arequipa, I was about ready to collapse and felt sure I would be able to sleep on the bus to Nazca. But oh no. I had to endure two hours of Jeepers Creepers 2 blaring out in Spanish whilst Karl merrily snored away next to me, whilst I just couldn`t nod off. What fun! Somehow, we only have 5 weeks left now - and potentially still have 3 whole countries to fit in (spreadsheet deemed useless!). I feel some internal flights coming on! But until then, I never want to see my hiking boots ever again! Jonny