Our final stop in Peru was Arequipa, a beautiful city surrounded by volcanic cones, Misti was visible from the roof terrace as we ate breakfast in the sunshine. Monasterio de Santa Catalina was like a city within the city, almost Tuscan in feel, with painted walls in blue and terracotta. After a 3am pick up we were off on the Colca Canyon trek, the sight of the condors soaring on the thermals over the canyon banished the cobwebs and cleared our bleary eyes! We...

To break up the long trip south through Peru on back-to-back night buses, we decided to stop over in Lima. This time staying in the Barranco district, which we discovered last time on our bicycle tour. It has lovely colourful colonial buildings and quite an arty relaxed feel.Another thing we hadn't managed to see last time was the illuminated water fountains at the magic water circuit. We got there at dusk and watched them all light up and lots of children (and T...

So the decision was made, we were going to venture slightly further north. Off in search of the Peruvian Spectacled Bears which Paddington Bear was based on.The wasn't a lot to do in city of Chiclayo, other than a morning by the pool, amazing ceviche lunch and a trip round the "witches market" where you could buy all manner of dried up dead animals, bird beaks, herbs and offered hallucinogenic concoctions like San Pedro or ayahuasca on every corner (we didn't par...

Leaving the big city of Lima behind on another night bus and we were ready for some quality time by the sea.... From Trujillo it was only a short ride to the sleepy beach resort of Huanchaco (of Mochica origins) we stayed in a lovely little house with views out over the sea and the sound of crashing waves to lull us to sleep every night. Whilst Bee spent five days at Surf school, Tim was out catching his own waves after only three lessons. Paddle, paddle, padd...

First impressions on arrival in the big city of Lima, the capital of Peru, was of a hectic modern city, lots of traffic, new cars and some high rise buildings. Neither of us were overly keen to be here, but as all buses go to Lima to access northern Peru we thought we would spend a few days exploring. The city is right on the coast line, once the morning sea fog has cleared you could see the crashing waves all along the shore. This helped make you forget it is...