We were picked up at 3 am and thankfully were able to sleep on the three hour bus ride to Chivay, a base town within the Colca Canyon. The Colca Canyon is the deepest in the world, with the greatest depth being 4,160 metres at one location which can only be reached by foot. The canyon is home to a great variety of wildlife and strives off agriculture via terraces built by the Incas, and mainly in farming corn.

After a buffet breakfast we were taken to a number of view points throughout the day to truly appreciate the vast nature of the canyon and it's insane natural beauty. We stopped at Cruz del Condor, a location at which the sacred bird of South America - the Condor - can be seen in flight, gliding majestically through the bright blue hazy skies. We actually saw a fair few Condors flying around and it was as if they were putting on a show for the tourists. This spot was also where he deepest point of the canyon could be observed and it was amazing. After a few more stops for photography opportunities we arrived at a small local village within the canyon where Liv and I drank Colca Sours - a variation of the Peruvian Pisco Sour using the juice from the fruit of a cactus, mixed with Pisco and egg whites! It was delicious. We had already tried the fruit of the cactus earlier that day, which was like a much more sour version of a kiwi fruit.

For lunch, Liv, this lovely Dutch girl named Anna and I walked to the main plaza of the town of Chivay and sat on a bench eating a packed lunch we had brought with to save some money (such backpackers). It was really pleasant sitting and chatting in the sun, and afterwards we had an opportunity to explore the little square which was nice.
The only stop left on the tour was in he highlands at 5000m where the surrounding volcanoes of the region of Arequipa could be sighted quite clearly. What was interesting was the number of offerings that were there, as a contribution to the mountains, that the locals had left out of respect. After a very touristy day with a very entertaining tour guide it was time for the long drive back to Arequipa through, as always in South America, beautiful varied landscapes.

Back at the hostel we chilled out until it was time to catch our night bus to Ica. The night bus was amazing and it felt silly and exciting to be sat on the upper deck at the very two front seats, being able to see where we were heading through the windows the entire way. We were right in front of the TV and I actually slept really well!