There's some funny things about Peru........Like the way each town/city seems to have it's own version of a "taxi" .
For example, here in Nasca, every taxi looks like those little toy cars they used to give out in Happy Meals (that probably had Ronald MacDonald or the Hamburglar sticking out the top) that you pulled back and then let whizz across your Mums kitchen floor or off the end of the dinner table to her eternal annoyance.
In Arequipa, they all look like that too, except they have those plastic and neon signs on the top advertising which firm they're operating for (Taxitel, Taxitur, Turistico Taxi etc etc) that make them all look like they've just driven off the front of a car dealership forecourt.
And in Ica, well, they're just these CRAZY looking tin can crossed with motor scooter contraptions that buzz around all over the place which are awesome purely because they all kit them out like the mods do with their Vespas and Lambrettas in the UK, with extra mirrors, stickers, lights (flashing or otherwise) - blinging!
In any case, where ever you go, there are LOADS of them. Choking the streets, quite literally, with their sheer volume and the fumes they kick out. And they're loud. Either because the cars themselves are in bad shape, or the drivers are in bad shape or more often, both. And in case you didn't notice them, they beep you. They go crazy for their horns. If you see a car - HONK! If you see a pedestrian - BEEP BEEEP!! If you don't see either of those - HONK ANYWAY!!!
And when you get in one - you feel like you're slightly surrendering your life a little bit. This inevitably leads to a feeling of sweet relief when you get out safely at your destination (intended or otherwise - see previous post re: Huacachina!)

Why am I going on about taxis? Cos we're in Nasca. Again. Nasca is famous for lines drawn in the sand by a culture that lived centuries ago and nobody has any idea about them*. I feel the same way about the Nasca lines as I do about Stone Henge and every other "mystical" "unexplained" "phenomena" - very nice, but, well...meh. Nasca is small, dirty and DULL. So the thought of having to spend an ENTIRE DAY here again, ust to kill time between bus trips filled both of us with dread. (The photo at the start of this rant is Katy having a good time in Nasca Plaza De Armas)
(*This culture did however devise and construct a system of irrigation that enables water to feed crops and essentially facilitate life in the middle of a harsh desert, which I thought was pretty impressive..)
We're in this predicament, because we're trying to reach Cusco, and due to the continuing protests in Puno near the border with Bolivia, the roads are closed so we're having to go the long way round. Aaaannnnyyyyywwwaaaayyyyyy

So as you would have read from Katys last blog entry, I was pretty messed up in Arequipa. What started out as altitude sickness turned into the WORST case of, well, I won't go into details, but it was awful. Truly.
Really quite gutted that we essentially lost a week, but hopefully that'll be the last of it! And my other regret about Arequipa? I didn't get to try their beer! Cusco has "Cusquena", Arequipa has "Arequipena"! Brill.
So in short, we didn't see alot of that beautiful city (second only to the Peruvian capital Lima in size), but we did get to see the Santa Catalina Monastery - which was very pretty indeed. Inhabited by, like, loads of Nuns up until, like, er, 1971? (Katys attention for and retention of detail far outweighs mine....) Anyway, beautiful architecture and lots of lovely photos taken. Quite expensive, but a nice way to lose a couple of hours.
p.s For a nice toilet experience in Arequipa, go to "Cusco Coffee" (their total rip-off of Starbucks) just off the main square - it's comparative LUXURY to any public toilet experience so far. Anywhere. In the country.

Colca Canyon
One of the main trips to do from Arequipa is the "Colca Canyon". This can be done in 1,2, 3 or more days - we opted for the 3 day option (which had to be put off 3 times due to sickness!) which we finally commenced on Sunday 19 June. We got picked up at 3:30am. Yep - 3:30.A.M.