After Bolivia, we went to Arequipa in Peru which is really nice, although people say it is dangerous, we have not discovered any of that in the 5days we stayed there... We were really glad to be back with "normal" people as the Bolivians got a little exhausting at the end and also the food is much better here in Peru! We decided to do a 2days trip into the Colca Canyon which got recommended to me by numerous of people. It was a great experience as there still live some people in the canyon and our guide was one of them! It was quite a bus journey to get there but once we were there we started hiking down into the canyon about 3h. The scenerey was amazing although shadowed by my blisters on my feet...The first night we got to stay at our guides family home with no electricity but they managed to prepare amazing dinner for us. We were about 11people in the group and there were enough beds. The next morning we got up rather earlier but it was a very sunny day. We did about 3h hiking through the little villages including a visit to a local museum. Around lunch time we got to swim in some hot pools before hiking back up the canyon about 2h. It was very steep but we all managed to do it except one who took a "taxi" (beeing a mule) up...The highlight of the 3rd day was the cruz del condor where you are get to see the condors flying around. We were a little unlucky and only saw a few quite far away...never mind!

1day after the Colca Canyon, we flew to Cusco and relaxed there for about 2days before the Inca Trek started. Relaxing was easy as we also found a swiss cafe called Heidi and they really had fantastic tasting food, not to mention the cakes! On the 3rd of November we started very early in the morning to get to the starting point of our 4day hike up to Macchu Picchu. Soon after we started walking, it started to rain and by lunchtime it got even havier. Luckily, the worst was over after we finished lunch and it we did not get soaked completely. The 1st day was quite easy, 4h of hiking up and down hills, passing a few Inca ruins. Our guides were very good and the 7porters who carried all the tents, food, table, chairs etc. were amazing too. They were always the last ones to leave the campsite and the first ones when we reached the next one. They were just "running" up and down the hills and never lost their smile nevertheless. Anyway, the first night in the tent was ok. The 2nd day, the hardest, was quite hard. We hiked up to 4.200m and down again and reached our campsite by early afternoon. Again, the walk was accompanied by drizzle every now and then but very nice landscape! The food the cook prepared for us 3x a day was delicious and needed. The 3rd day was as hard as the 2nd as we mainly walked up steps and then walked down steps...a few ruins were on the way but unfortunately, it was pissing down the whole day and very cloudy so we could not see much. By late afternoon, we were so soaked that we did not even care anymore. Tired we looked forward to get to our campsite that day. 15minutes before we reached it, Lisi fell down and twisted her knee so that she could hardly walk down there but we managed it anyway and god, the hot shower after 2days no shower was like heaven! We had a very good group too, we only were 7girls. The 4day, we got woken up at 4am and made our way to Macchu Picchu which was about 2.5h away. Lisi could only walk slowly because of her knee but managed it very well to reach it. By 09.30am we were there, the clouds just disappared and we had some amazing hours walking around Macchu Picchu and taking in the scenery around it. By coincidence, we met the guys from the colca canyon again on that day and had even more fun. After a very late lunch we took the train back to Cusco and got home very exhausted.

The day after, I left to go to the Jungle for 3days. Had to leave Lisi behind because her knee was not any better and she had to rest it for a few days. But I had a great time by myself as well and enjoyed every minute of it. The place was called Puerto Maldonado and the logde was honeymoon like - swimming pool, hammocks, a lot of flowers, plants and animals...I saw a lot of monkeys, butterflies, tapir, tarantulas, spiders, little crocodiles etc. 3 days was too short but I hope to be able to go to the jungle another time again!!