Hi everyone Am now in Peru - yay! Am typing in an Israelí Internet café so the keyboard keys are in Hebrew and the spell checker keeps changing everything to the nearest Hebrew word - such fun! So far in Peru I've chilled in Lima - aka shopped! Bought some wicked alpaca gloves which have so far been the envy of all the chicas I've met in the hostels - ohh yes - no more topshop for me! Was tempted to buy lots more, but am resisting as looking forward to the markets in Cusco. After Lima I spent one day in Huacachina which is an oasis surrounded by massive sand dunes near Ica. I had an awesome time sandboarding the dunes with a group of crazy Israelis who 'smoked' before every dune! Stayed in a party central hostel and met lots of Argentines at the evening BBQ. Huacachina is a fun place to hang out in, especially as its really hot in the day. But after Costa Rica I've had my fill of beaches for the moment and was eager to get going. Next stop was a quick trip to Nazca to fly over the fabled lines. I was really impressed. Some people thought it was too touristy, but I enjoyed seeing them much more than I originally thought. Apart from the lines there is little else to do in Nazca. While waiting for my 10pm bus, I visited an Inca cemetry which was super tacky (see photos). Afterwhich, I had lunch, got chatted up by the waiter, and spent the rest of the afternoon at the firestation (where he also works) chatting to the firefighters. To my dissappointment there were not any fires while I was there so I didn't get to see them in action! Have just left Arequipa which is a beautiful colonial city, and Peru's second biggest city. Spent a few days here enjoying the city. Visited a cool monastry, which is like a separate town within Arequipa city - it even has its own street names within the walls Also saw the famed, but a little haunting, teenage Juanita ice maiden - an Inca sacrifice, perfectly preserved by the ice of the Ampato volcano. The highlight of Arequipa was a two day, one night trek into Colca Canyon. We left Arequipa at 2am and treked from 5am until 4pm through the canyon visiting several very untouristy (hurrah!) villages on the way. At 4pm we reached the bottom of the canyon and stayed at a really cool campsite with an oasis - the best remedy for treked out feet! At 3am we began our very steep ascent out of the canyon. Saw some incredible views of the canyon on the trek and the ascent in the dark on day two was also amazing under a sky full of stars - more than I've ever seen before. Arrived at the top of the Canyon just before 6am and from there went to see condors at the viewpoint. I actually saw more on the trek than I did at the viewpoint, but it was fun anyway. The only lowlight of the trek was that I was the only person who was not French. The group only spoke French, so have spent the last few days desperately trying to remember A level French. I apologise to any French lovers out there, but they really were a miserable bunch of chicas and the next trek I sign up to I'm going to ensure it doesn't include a French majority. Luckily the guide was really chatty so my Spanish has improved at least. Just arrived in Cusco after a freeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzing 10 hour bus journey. Looking forward to partying hard here, treking to Machu Picchu and enjoying the festival on the 24th. Hope you're all having a fun time Lindsxxx