Southern Peru

Our journey started from San Pedro de Atacama at 7.30pm, and ended up being kind of epic. We had to change in Calama, Arica (where the border crossing involved handing our passports over to a taxi driver, who thankfully turned out to be trustworthy, so it all went smoothly) and finally Tacna to get to Arequipa at 5pm.

The city is really beautiful. It has clear Spanish influences in the architecture, so the plazas are full of huge white building with massive archways. There's an interesting convent that used to be for the wealthiest nuns in the area, so it became a small city within its own walls. The cells were owned by the nuns and were far more luxurious than any other convents at the time. There are colourful streets with rooms, kitchens and chapels, that come off of tiny plazas with murals and fountains.

Nearby is another museum that holds the mummy 'Juanita'. She was an amazing accidental discovery by some US explorers, as she had been frozen before falling from her tomb in a landslide just 15 days earlier. These freezing conditions meant that some of her organs, skin and hair are still intact, making archaeologists practically pee their pants with excitement at how much more this would teach them about the people from this area. Along with Juanita, 3 other bodies were found on the mountain outside of the city. They were all child sacrifices for the Incas, as an offering to their Gods.

After that depressing tour we needed a beer, and much to chris's delight, it was served by the lovely south American version of Ricky Tomlinson! He happily poses for a picture, with no idea why, then we're on our way for some traditional Peruvian food-'cuy' (guinea pig) that turns out not to be worth chewing on one bit. They make much better pets than meat, but at least we tried it!

In the morning we are up early to get ourselves to the world's second deepest canyon. It's a 2 hour hike down in the hot sun from cabanaconde, and by the end I feel like a 90 year old woman who's had 2 knee replacements and forgot her zimmaframe! I am also moaning just like one as well, so it's a major relief for Chris to reach the camps at the bottom too. That is until he feels a sharp pain in his hand when resting on the bed. It's already dark so we have to search by torchlight. I sympathetically think he's over reacting to a static shock only to discover the scorpion in the middle of our bed would be the nasty culprit! Clearly panicked we kill bravely strike it down with 90% deet and collect it up as evidence to show the campsite owners. They are in no way worried, which is a relief as we did not fancy climbing back up that hill without rest, but nervous about having to sleep in a bed that serves as home for possibly more scorpions.

We don't have long to dwell on scorpion filled dreams as our schedule is tight, so the alarm goes at 3am, and we are out and walking by 3.30. It's exhausting, but worth it to see an unpolluted night sky full of stars, and make it to the top before breakfast and that very hot sun. We proudly made it in just over 3 hours. There is no time to stop and celebrate, as we move on to the mirador Cruz Del Condor to try and spot one of the rare birds, but it's not to be, and we are back on a bus by 9am, ready for our luxury overnight bus trip to Nazca.

It takes a lot of worthwhile negotiating to get a good price for our flight over the Nazca lines. We adhere to the very good advice to not eat breakfast, but cannot prepare ourselves any more for the bumpy ride ahead. It is well worth the stomach churning half hour as we see all of the lines that no one can explain. We think it's aliens. Who else would draw a 300metre bird in the sand??!!

We both feel a little ropey but have to get on another bus, this time to Ica where we catch a taxi to Huacachina-a tiny oasis in the desert. Here we head to a lonely planet recommendation only to be disappointed by the huge price increase since it clearly got more popular. So we leave the overpriced 20 bed dorm room (with classy graffiti like 'Juicy and Shanez did it 'ere...And wot??' Nice.) for a little shed at the Banana Hostel that cost half the price, and had a cheaper sand boarding tour.

We have been highly recommended the sand boarding trip, so can't let ourselves miss out, and climb into our dune buggy for the sunset with a brilliant Dutch couple. We put our bodies through it again as the driver flies us over the dunes so we feel like we're on a rollercoaster. He starts us on the less steep dunes with the sand boarding, but it's still quite nerve wracking so I sit down, while Chris bravely stands up. He is the entertainment for the group as he battles to stay up on his board, but does a pretty good job considering he's a beginner. As the dunes get higher we have to lie on our bellies and go down head first. It is such a rush that we don't even care getting a mouthful of sand! I just 2 hours the tour reduces 4 perfectly respectable adults to giggling children throwing themselves down sand dunes. It is one of the most fun things we have ever done! Back at Banana, we share our travel stories and a beer with the Dutch couple. They are cycling South America in celebration of their 50 year birthdays-mental but amazing! Proof that it's never too late!