Tom:

We´re in Peru!!! Another epic bus journey (20.5hours) from San Pedro de Atacama to Arequipa sees us within 200km of Cuzco, and Machu Picchu. The journey also saw our first land border-crossing since Loas/Vietnam back in March, and I have to say, South American crossings are far more pleasant/tolerant/organised than South East Asian ones. A vague trace of an orderly queue, a rather excellent taxi driver, and even a few curious smiles from the customs officials made for a great impression of South American treatment of foreigners. All in all I´m quite pleased. Anyway Arequipa is deceptive on first impressions, as we thought is was a bit of a hole when we were driving through it, but a good hostel, and an awesome meat platter later, and all hard feelings were dispelled. We actually really like it here. As Nil pointed out, it´s got Salamanca written all over it, with the white-stone buildings (it´s not called the "white city" for nothing), the huge religious monastry, and the brilliant food (meat, meat, meat!!!), it really is a slice of Norhtern Spain. Anyway, Nil´s turn to type...

Nil:

As Tom has already said the border-crossing was a breeze and our taxi driver was the nicest man. He was exceptionally helpful in giving advice about our jouney and he was an excellent source of local information about Peruvian food and custom. In all, the experience was a far cry from what we endured when travelling across borders in SE Asia! Our hostel is absolutely beautiful. It has a magnificent terrace overlooking the city, the room is huge (we have managed to bag 3 beds- don´t know how we managed that, but I´m grateful for the extra blankets because it´s cold here!), and the staff are very helpful and friendly. We´re looking forward to exploring the city tomorrow. Our border-crossing taxi driver suggested we check out this monastry, so I think we´ll take him up on his advice! Lots of love to everyone back home. xxxxxxxx