Hola from the Colca Canyon...

So I wake up on the night bus and we were meant to arrive in Arequipa at 6am.. Colca canyon tour is picking me up at 8am.. Perfect.. However I wake up and it is 7:30 and we are still driving.. I ding the buzzer and ask the lady how long until we arrive... another hour she says... panic starts to set in after some discussion and a lovely Dutch girls translation help she finally confirms that we will be there at 8:10.. I call Bamba Experience who I booked everything with and informed them of what was happening.. They informed the tour company who said they can wait until 8:40 and no later.. After some frantic baggage collecting and a panicked taxi dash with the Dutch girl who was going to the same hostel we arrived at 8:35am... 5 mins to spare.. I load my stuff up and we head off to the Colca Canyon.. The group are a bit older than me.. Well that's been generous... they are much older except for a local couple who did nothing but pash the whole time.. Everyone was really nice but would have been a bit better if there were people under the age of 50... Or close to.. But anyway we set off stopping numerous times along the way at lookouts and to see llamas and alpacas...

On the way we stopped off on a mountain that was 4915m above sea level.. The air was very thin at that altitude but it was a beautiful view and a good test to see how well I coped with altitude before the Inca trail.

After that we headed into the town for lunch and where we had lunch is where I was staying.. our group were staying in different places which was weird but I was so tired from catching the night bus I didn't mind so much and the group were a lot older then I was as well so it's not like they would be partying and I would be missing out..

Anyway after lunch we had a few hours to relax so I had a HOT HOT HOT shower and slept a little.. Then we got picked up and it was time to go to the hot springs...

The hot springs were beautiful... they were in the middle of the canyons. We were there as the sun went down which was a gorgeous backdrop.. We stayed there for about an hour and a half.. The water was about 38 degrees and with the fresh mountain air it was perfect... they obviously cool the water down as the water comes out of the natural springs at about 80 degrees plus..

After the hot springs it was dinner time.. Not everyone came to the hotsprings so we met up with those who didn't and went to the restaurant.. We had a set menu to choose from and enjoyed our meal whilst listening to salsa music and watching traditional Peruvian dancing.. Of course there were crowd participation and because I was the only Australian in the room (which I must admit is a breath of fresh air after being in Europe and surrounded by us) I got called up.. So after some dancing, good food and good conversation it was time to call it a night.

The next day was an early start.. 5am... I woke up and went down for breakfast.. We had a few spots to hit today before heading back to Arequipa.. Firstly the Condors.. We went to a look out to see the condors fly.. And that we did.. It can be hit and miss depending on the time of day, weather and other variables but we struck it lucky and saw them a few times in the couple of hours we were there.. They are amazing creatures and it is almost like they are putting on a show for us as they sore through the sky..

After the condors we visit the canyon and the entry point, as well as a few other look outs where we saw Inca terraces and volcanoes and mountains.. The views are incredible especially when I think about how I was at Nazca yesterday that was baron and dry..

We head back to Arequipa and I slept most of the drive back.. once I arrived back I had a few hours to kill so I went to the hostel I arranged the pickup and drop off at and used their internet, spoke to a couple of aussie and English girls and then it was time to go.. Night bus to Cusco awaits...!