Hey gang.

So, my last blog was written in Lima, and since then we have done so much! I filled in about a weeks worth of journal last night, am very behind, but I figure that´s a good thing right?! If I was blogging all the time, you´d be worried!

We have whizzed down to Southern Peru through Paracas, Huacachina, Nazca, Puerto Inca, Arequipa, Colca Canyon, and we are now residing in Cuzco. What a week!!! We have all become best friends with our truck, Rosita, and she and our driver have done us proud on this week´s mammoth road trip.

So, carrying on from my last blog... Lima! Lima pleasantly surprised me! I didn´t have high hopes for this dirty, dusty city, but we managed to find some pretty little areas and some interesting things. If you disregard the interesting area we wandered into that was frequented by local prostitutes and seriously creepy men, Lima was ok! Miraflores in the evening was fun- bars, hotels, casinos- the Vegas of Lima. More piña coladas and salsa dancing was in order, lovely, and then we headed down to the ´cool´ area of Miraflores. I felt slightly out of place in the bohemian club that we found- reminded me of being 15 years old and going to gigs in Cascades Leisure Centre haha.

The next day I spent exploring the city centre with Chad- We grabbed a picnic in the plaza for breakfast and watched TV crews and some important guy chatting (!) outside the parliament building. Who it was, we will never know! We went to the San Fransisco monestary and went down to the catacombes which was freeeaky. 25,000 bodies were buried under the monestary- I have never seen so many skulls. Weird. Would not have liked to have been stuck down on my own at night. No thank you! We then headed over to the City Hall and we were hanging out in the Mayor´s offices. Sitting in the Mayor´s chair made me re-evaluate my career choices. haha.

Whilst in Lima we also met up with our new group members, all lovely, and even more Aussies!!! I am getting very used to being called a pomme. Even more pollo for dinner, then early night to get up and leave at 6 am for Huacachina.

On the way to Huacachina we stopped at Paracas and did a boat ride to the Ballestas Islands (the poor man´s/budget travellers´Galapagos Islands) . We saw tiny penguins, big fat sea lions and loads of birds. It was also SO stinky and I have never seen so much bird poo. Pros and cons. Haha.

Our next stop, Huacachina, was AWESOME! So so cool. (See blog picture). In the afternoon we headed out into the desert, sleeping bag in hand, and went dune buggying- mental drivers whipping over the sand dunes in carts with metal bars to hold everyone in. We also went sand boarding, lying down on the boards and heading head first down steep dunes using our feet as breaks! Health and safety does not seem to exist in South America. IT WAS SO FUN. The views from the dunes were absolutely stunning; watching the sun set in the evening was a definite tour highlight. After watching the sun go down we headed down to our campsite which was at the bottom of a sand dune, out of the wind. BBQed chicken and picso sours on tap around the campfire with salsa music blaring was totally awesome. Such great fun.

Next stop, Nazca. A mass of hungover and sand-clogged bodies climbed back on Rosita for a relatively short journey to a look-out tower for the Nazca lines. Then we went to a beautiful hostel in the middle of nowhere really, which was lovely. Had such a lazy afternoon for recovery purposes (!!) reading my kindle and snoozing by the pool in the sunshine. Bliss!

Tuesday was another drive day down to Puerto Inca, a tiny little port and beach on the Southern coast, our last stop at sea level for 3 weeks. Once there, we pitched our tents on the beach and spent the afternoon playing volleyball, cheer leading for the football match, and playing on the swings. Was nice to chill out some more. One thing about being on a tour and wanting to make the most of everywhere that you go is that you are constantly on the go, so I really appreciated the time to chill out and do na-da. In the evening Damo did us a great BBQ with STEAK. Yes, that´s right, steak. It was lush. And also meant that we had steak sandwiches the next day for lunch too. We don´t do too badly! Stayed up with Matt and Oliver around the campfire. Another great day.

The next day was spent driving from Puerto Inca to Arequipa. Stunning views all along the coast of cliffs and the sea. We stopped for a group photo and saw two dolphins playing! It was bonita Isabelle´s birthday so we headed out in the evening to Arequipa town after setting up our tents in a rose garden at a hostel (Loving the camping life!). Had a nice meal on a terrace of a local restaurant, then we headed to a bar and got down to some serious dancing. Then we went to a club with a pole. Not good. Very interesting interpretation of pole dancing from all. The photos will hopefully stay hidden forever. Haha. Very fun night, ended by squeezing 7 people in a taxi at 3am.

Had a fairly lazy day in Arequipa the following day. Wandered around the town and plaza for a while before a KFC for lunch, such culture, and meeting up with Alicia (yay) who left us earlier in the tour. We visited the museum of Juanita, a girl sacrificed by the Incas on top of Mount Misty; she is so special as her body is so well preserved as she was frozen. She is totally creepy. But it was very interesting to see. Dinner was at the campsite, need to budget more!

We were up at 4.30 am on the next day to head to the Colca Canyon, deepest Canyon in the world at 4160m deep. Beautiful scenery, and we saw a couple of condors. We had a MASSIVE meal for lunch (of which I´m still feeling the effects..!) and headed off on a trek in the afternoon to some inca tombs. In the evening we went to some outdoor hot springs and had a cervesa in the moon light- lovely. A trip to a local restaurant with local entertainment concluded a loooong but interesting day. One of the dances at the local restaurant was possibly the weirdest dance I´ve ever seen. It was a man and a woman, the man had a mask on and was seemingly trying to seduce the woman with a mandarina. She then proceeded to fall to the floor and he whipped her for a while. The roles were then reversed and the man became the whipped and the woman the whippee. Very strange. She then put her skirts over his head whilst he convulsed on the floor. So bizarre, but entertaining!

And then we drove to Cuzco, which is where I am now! Phew! A hectic week! Cuzco is beautiful, such a lovely city. We have been out salsa-ing the past two nights and tonight we are off to a pub quiz. Spent yesterday learning all about the churches in the city with Anto, then went for a delicious hot chocolate in the afternoon with some other people on our tour. Very unhealthy but so yum. Today I´m having a lazy one, will wander around down and do a bit of sight seeing, just been to the Inca Museum. Want to get to know a little more about the Incas because...

Tomorrow. 6 am. We trek. The Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu. OMG. So excited- the scenery and supposed to be stunning and I can´t wait to see the lost city of the Incas. Looking forward to the experience! 44km, up to an altitude of 4500m at Dead Woman´s Pass. Getting up at 4am on day 4 to watch the sun rise. It´s going to be hard work but hopefully, fingers crossed, we will all make it and celebrate with a cube libre or 10. Wish me luck!!!

I am exactly half way through my time in South America. Sob. Absolutely loving life 2K12. Lovely to hear from home so keep messages coming please :)

If you have reached the end of this mammoth blog, congratulations. Will blog again soon-ish :)

So much love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx