Dear avid readers,

Day 6

Tom here, trying my hand at blogging, I´ve been set the task of filling you in on what happened when we went to Chivay. However, I was ill for the majority of the trip and didn´t leave the room a great deal so I´m relying on photographic evidence and Sarahs descriptions, which I´m sure you´re aware are enough to make you feel like you were there anyway. So we got on a little bus which had furry shagpile like seats and travelled over a mountain pass to Chivay. On the way we reached 5000m approx, which is not to be laughed at. Splitting headaches and a mouth that felt like cotton and suddenly this particular "holiday" felt somewhat less relaxing than previous days. When we arrived however, we were greeted by the pet Llama or alpaca. I don´t know which and I´m not sure any european could tell you the difference. It spits. End of. Found the rooms were delightful with fantastic rafters etc. (please note Dad) however, a little on the chili side. I was then struck down by what I was convinced was swine flu but Sarah wasn´t having any of it and said it was the far more potent and dangerous MAN FLU. I laid in bed whilst they went to some spas. At this point I´ll tell you what Sarah said. Sarah says the baths were "like an outdoor pool of hot thermal spring water, slightly eggy smelling but relaxing"

Day 7

Next morning we were supposed to go and look at the colca canyon but I was still being plagued by man flu so again I´ll have to tell you what Sarah said. Sarah said "Colca canyon was beautiful..." However she has now stopped telling me as she says it sounds silly. Instead I´ll describe. They firstly went to Cruz del Condor where they saw Perus famous Andean condors which are huge, the biggest birds in the world over 3m wide. (I thought the ostrich was but I guess not). They then travelled further up the canyon to where it was 1km+ deep and went for a nice short hike. After returning we all had a bbq myself included and it turns out meat is a good cure for flu (something I will write and tell the world health organization). We tried Alpaca (or was it llama?) it was pretty tasty. That evening we went to a really touristy place that served rubbish food but made tourists embarassed by inviting them to dance. I sadly was chosen to dance and within seconds I was being told to "die" after eating an orange and subsequently had my face sat on and was whipped with a bit of rope. The meaning of this "dance" is stilll unknown to Europeans and I´m fairly sure Peruvians alike. Alas we all had fun and went to bed.

Day 8

Got up at 6. Had breakfast. Got in bus went back to Arequipa. We had the worlds slowest driver but we were told that he was a "professional" and not to worry. Free afternooon with nothing planned, got a sandwich changed some money and then came to type this blog.

Not much else to report really, we have another flight tomorrow...which i´m told is the safest mode of transport but at 36000ft and 700mph I feel someone probably made a mistake when working this out.