Overslept a bit after not getting a ton of sleep, but had time for a shower and a quick breakfast. Raul and I headed north out of town towards Paracas, about 40 min away. We drove through a strange landscape of sand dunes as far as the eye can see, interspersed with vineyards and fruit orchards. What these plants were living on, I have no idea! We pulled into the touristy, ocean side town just as the fog was starting to burn off. We located the docks for my sight...

Up at 530 for Juan to take me to the bus station where I boarded a fancy double decker tour bus. I think I was even in the first class area! The seats were bigger and there was a tv, but aside from that it was just a bus. I tried my hardest to sleep, but a very loud French couple talking and the noise of Avatar in Spanish on the tv weren't very condusive. We made our way south along the shore to Pisco (source of all those wonderful pisco sours) and further inland...

500 alarm, accompanied by the nightmarish sound of around 15 roosters all crowing at once from one of the buildings nearby. Apparently it's ok to keep roosters in the nice hotel/hostel area? 615 pickup by a real nice guy who didn't speak a word of English. We had halting conversation about my trip as I finally got to admire the two volcanos that dominate the northern skyline in Arequipa. One was smoking a bit! 825 flight to Lima, which was pretty uneventful. I di...

No alarm! I slept as long as I wanted today, which turned out to be only 7. Peru has me trained to an early schedule. Today is my free day to wander Arequipa at my own pace. So, after a leisurely breakfast and shower, I sorted out a few things I'd like to see online and set off. The girl at the desk advised me not to go to the area 2 blocks south of the square, so of course I got a little lost and ended up there. I sought out the San Camilo market, which was a pe...

Today we set off at 600 after the usual hotel buffet breakfast. I opted to finish my passion fruit and sweet cucumber fruit because they were going to go off. The bus headed back into Chivay to cross the Colca River and we headed back down the other side. The road quickly degraded into a mess of potholes, fallen rocks and finally just unmaintained gravel. We passed through several tiny towns and passed into an area of pre-Incan terracing. The whole valley below u...