04.30 didn't feel nearly as cold as it did yesterday when we were collected from the hotel at the start of this odyssey. Torches on and man up for the ascent. Harley set a steady 3 hour pace up and out of the canyon, while Jude and Sarah had voted with their feet and called for mules to carry them out! Alfie, Harley and I were the first group out of the oasis camp but looking back down after 30 minutes climbing in the dark numerous little light points were movin...

It seemed like such a good idea at the time ... a 2 hour horse trek around the top of the Colca canyon, then a nice lunch before a descent to the Sangalle Oasis at the bottom of the canyon, an overnight stay and climb back the way we came - what could possibly go wrong? Well ... We dropped 1200m over a travelled distance that seemed barely double that. This took 2.5 hours and my thighs may never talk to me again. The views along the canyon and up to the mountai...

Arequipa is Peru's second city with a population of 800,000 all living at 2400m above sea level. Safely esconced in out hotel room, we can plot our attack once Sarah has recovered from light altitude sickness/over-tiredness. Items on the agenda are the cathedral, the monastery, another church, the museum of Andean culture showing Juanita, the ice maiden and an upscale restaurant with llama ribs and roast guinea pig on the menu. I think I might just have both, on...