We awoke in the morning after an ok sleep on the bus to the sunrise over the mountains around Arequipa. We had made good time and arrived just after 5am. This meant we could catch the 6am bus to the canyon. We found the relevant company and decided to jump on board.
This was a much more basic bus, full of locals and cheap. Still we set off into the mountains to Chivay, where we would have to connect. I sent a quick text to Ellie to apologise as she had reserved a room at there hostal.

The scenery on the trip was amazing. Shivani slept most of the way but the views were spectacular as we made our way up into the mountains and down into the valley behind them. After a long and bumpy four hours made it to Chivay. We arrived at the bus station not really knowing what to do. We looked around and found a company that would go onto Cabanaconde which is where we wanted to go. However the bus didn't leave for another two and a half hours. We decided to wait in the terminal so that we wouldnt miss it.

It was a bit frustrating not knowing what was going on and not being able to speak the language but we waited around for the bus to come. It surprisingly came on time so we jumped abroad reassured by the fact there were other travellers on it.

This bus ride was even more spectacular as we drove down into the heart of the canyon. It was also very scary as it was a dirt road that had no barriers and big drops too. At one point we went over a big bump and I hit my head really hard against the ceiling. It really hurt and Shivani also was starting to get a headache from the altitude and not drinking enough.

However we quickly reached our destination and found our hostal as it was close to the main square. It was a nice place and seemed quiet like the town we were in. The room was ok too although the shower was just a dribble and not what we needed after spending 19 hours travelling. None the less we freshened up and went out to the bar to get some coca tea and food. I had alpaca, a mountain goat, for the first time. It was a bit like lamb and chewy but not that bad.

We also got some advice from the guy at the hotel so we could go for some walks to the view points and get out to Puno and lake Titicaca tomorrow.

After a quick rest we decided to go out for a walk to one of the view points. We left the hotel and and started to walk up and out of the town. The view point was just behind the football stadium which we could see from the town. As we walked up it didn't seem to get any closer. However, it was extremely peaceful and the views were great. We again took loads of pictures.

After about 30 minutes walking we got to the view point and admired the canyon. You could do treks into the canyon, and although they might be good we were happy with just doing our small walks which made us tired enough.

We walked our way round the cliff edge back towards town as the sunset. It was a really nice landscape and we even got to see a condor in the distance, although we hoped to see more of those the next day.
We slowly walked back and made it back to the town just as it got dark. We went down to the main square but it was pretty quiet with just a couple of shops and restaurants.

We then went back to our hostel which seemed to be the liveliest place it town. We had a drink and relaxed in the bar and then had a garlic bread and pizza cooked in the wood fire oven. The bar was pretty busy but we were tired and had an early start so decided to go to bed. We sorted out our bags and were in bed just after 9pm!!