Day 6 - Colca Canyon and Valley

This morning we left our hotel in arequipa at 8 am. We were on a bus all morning, but it was nice since there were many stops along the way. We got views of the 3 volcanoes that surround the city. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the views were breathtaking, especially since the sun reflected off the snow on top of one of the mountains.
Then we left the city for our first day at serious altitude. The idea is to let us get acclimatized a bit, and then tomorrow well be back in Arequipa. On the outskirts of the city, we bought coca leaves, aka the active ingredient in cocaine! But it is used medicinally in this area. The tour guide said that women in this area never have osteoporosis and that people have excellent dental hygiene because of the high calcium levels in the coca plant. Too bad we can't bring any home! They introduced coca to us because it is supposed to help against altitude sickness. First we tried some in tea, then we did like the locals and chewed it. Our tongues and palates began to numb after just a few minutes of chewing. The leaves were bitter, not a very pleasant taste. In case you were wondering, you'd have to chew something like 11 kilos of coca leaves to get the high of cocaine. Another stop along the way brought us to alpaca farms, they are so cute and fuzzy!
Then we got off the bus at the highest point well hit on this trip: 4895 metres. There's no way we could have went for a jog up there! The tour guide thought Emily was looking a little pale after the stop, so rubbed medicinal alcohol on her pores to help her inhale more alcohol..it worked! The guides seem to be very prepared which is really great and comforting.
Then came the best part of our day. For the last 19 km of the trip we went mountain biking into the village! It was all downhill, so we definitely didn't have to exert ourselves at all. The views were amazing, and so much better appreciated from the bikes. It all went pretty smoothly except, lisa got a flat tire, but the bike guy was behind her so they swaped bikes.
We arrived in Chivay around 2 pm and had a huge buffet lunch. The food was fantastic. There was so much to choose from! We had soup, quinoa, pumpkin, spinach latkes, fried bananas, pesto noodles, fries, corn, chicken, and we tried alpaca! Though as non-red-meat eaters we weren't too big of fans. After that we went to our hotel which placed us on the forth floor.. You can't imagine how hard it is to walk up those flights of stairs. But we finally made it and had a little rest and relaxation before hitting up the hot springs. Though the springs looked more like giant hot tubs than anything else, the forty degree water was immensely enjoyed as it goes down to 0 degrees at this time of year. Then we returned to the hotel before heading for some dinner at a restaurant that had live musicians and dancers. We felt a little under the weather though so we called it any early night and headed to bed as we had a 5 am wake up the next day anyways.

Day 5 Arequipa

We arrived in Arequipa on July 1st, Canada Day at 7 am. Everyone was pretty exhausted, it was really hard to sleep on the bus but thankfully it was the last of the trip! In celebration of canada day, the canadians went pretty festive putting on some canuck tees, tattoos and pins. Then we had breakfast at our hotel in the central part of arequipa. Breakfast everywhere has been rolls and jam, but the bread here was particularly great. We found out that Arequipa is also known as the white city, because of the material used on the buildings as well as potentially referring to the amount of "white people" that lived in the city. We then went to our rooms for a shower and power nap before heading out to explore the city. Its a big city,second largest in peru but much nicer than Lima. Especially since it is warm and sunny. The architecture was also really beautiful and unique.
We grabbed some lunch at a indoor mall we nicknamed the "peruvian holt renfrew". Then most of the group took a tour of the monastery but lisa, daniel and I opted out and went exploring instead. As our tour guide taught us, eventually its ABC, 'Another Bloody Church'. There were guys on the street selling imitation sunglasses and we convinced lisa to buy a pair. You had to see her bargaining magic! First he charged her fifty, she countered with 20, he said 30, she refused he said okay 20 but then somehow only paid 15 soles! Not bad for a pair of fray brans! We then explored a little market that had tons of booths selling scarves, blankets, tshirts, dolls, etc. We chose to buy just a bracelet and save the rest of our shopping for cusco. We also headed to the bank which had really nice architecture to change our dollars into soles. Best line of the day, our british friend asking emily why she was putting her cash in her knickers (as she reached into her money belt) Ok, so we are very cautious travelers, with money belts and pouches everywhere! We also stopped at a pharmacy where daniel picked up some altitude sickness pills without a perscription!! Then we headed to the main square which was filled with pigeons like you can't believe. It didn't help that everyone was buying feed and spreading it across the ground. We waited there for beth and andrew who were meeting us after the church tour.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the area. We found this cute one street block that was all stones and terraces and bars. So we stopped at a nice rooftop terrace for a happy hour drink, probably everyone's last for a while because alcohol and altitude are apparently a real bad combination. We also got freaked out from the ice that was floating in our drinks. Exhausted from the bus ride and day of walking, we postponed our original party canada day plans, and instead opted for a quick dinner with most of the group. It was at a restaurant that as a speciality serves boneless guinea pig, but as usual we went conservative and had pasta and a tortilla that was very much like a latka. We did take a canadian photo though which was a necessity since we were all decked out. We got back to the hotel and went to pick up our laundry. The guy behind the desk wouldn't give lisa hers and we couldn't understand why... After some help from tour leader john we found out that they had ruined a pair of her long underwear with an iron. Disappointed at first, the hotel didn't charge her for her load or any others she will do while at the hotel, plus she has free access to all the drinks they offer! Not too shabby since after we spend a night at the colca canyon we will head back there (and obviously taken advantage of the free drinks n laundry)! On the way to the canyon now so we are not sure when we will hit a wifi zone to post this but hopefully it will be before heading back to arequipa!

Day 4- nazca

Hi everyone! Today was a great day. We got woken up a bit before our alarm by the town's very loud roosters. At 7 am, emily was in the shower, while I was groggily finding my pillow, in the process knocking down and breaking the hotel room's lamp. While I was honest and told our tour leader, he opted to clear the evidence and keep our mouths shut. Nice clumsy start.
At 8 am we went on a tour with about ten other members of the group. First, it took us to the nazca cemetary, which was really a bunch of open tombs. The displays were amateur, without much care, just tons of bones and mummies. The tombs had tons of skulls and other bones. Some of the mummies still had their hair, a few had dreadlocks which apparently was a way to distinguish tribes. Another way was to change the shape of the babies' skulls. The nazca people, after which the city we were in today is named, were a civilization before the infamous incas, around 2000? Years ago. The tour guide explained that the government of peru hasn't invested money in archaeological projects and so this explained the fact that these really old tombs were not being more officially displayed.
The second stop on the morning tour was to a man's house who replicates the nazca people's pottery using the same tools and raw materials used by these people. It was pretty cool.
Next, just down the street, another man described to us the dangerous process of gold mining in the area.
After lunch at the hotel, we went on a great adventure! A buggy picked us up and took us on a wild 50 minute drive, stopping a couple of times on the way to show us aqueducts, a pyramid, and more tombs. In the middle of the desert, there are human bones scattered, so odd to see.
The guy then took us over sand dunes which was pretty wild, quite a few rollercoaster type drops.
We stopped at this beautiful area where the bright blue sky and the sand made a stunning contrast. We were given sandboards, which were basically snowboards. Emily was really skilled and looked like a sandboard/snowboard pro. Some of us (myself included) had more of a toboganning experience, still really fun!
We watched a beautiful sunset over the desert and drove back to town.
Now we are on a 9 hour overnight bus to arequipa. This will be our first time hitting serious altitude, so wish us luck.

Day 2&3 - Pisco, Ballesta Islands, Nazca

Writing this from Nazca, the middle of the Peruvian desert! Lots to catch up on since we have not written in a few days. Day 2 the rest of group joined us and we found out we have people from New Zealand, Australia, England and some more Canucks. We then ventured out to the main sqaure where we walked to some famous church that has catacombs aka the skeletons of 25,000 people. There was also this incredible library filled with very old books and twisted staircases that were magical. After that we went for lunch where several of our tourmates enjoyed the local delicassy - guinea pig! Lisa and I were not so adventurous, once again opting for the chicken and rice. Then it was back to the hotel where we jumped aboard a bus and headed to Pisco. We were all ready to get away from Lima since the skies were always grey and it misted constantly. We arrived in Pisco around 8pm and stayed at this really authentic hostel where we had a great dinner, with some beer, deserts and new friends. We then made our way up to the top terrace where we had a nice view of the town and the stars and moon. The only draw back were the hostels two cats that were less than desirable to us. We even thought about kicking them off but a few friends protected them. We then awoke early and got aboard a bus/boat to go to the Ballesta Islands. We got to the tour location and found out that they had to be cancelled the last few days because of strong winds. After what felt like an incredibly looooooong wait the tour guide came and told us we couldnt go.... THANKFULLY he was just kidding. After getting the last two seats on the boat, we took a 45 minute trip out to the islands where we saw some local birds, penguins and sealions! A definite bonus since apparently penguins are becoming endangered. We then took another long bus over to Nazca where we are now. The bus was literally a 5star event with lounge chairs, tvs and blankets and a complimentary glass of our new favorite drink Inca Kola. We arrived in Nazca at four and went for another great meal before heading back to the hotel for some chilling. There was a whole backyard with a pool and everything... a definite necessity in the desert!

off to lunch.... hopefully a little more later... if not, tonight we take an overnight bus to Arequipa where they apparently have great shopping!!

CONTINUATION

So to start off from yesterday afternoon, we got back to the hotel and went shopping for some souvenirs and some missing toilettries. Emily ended up spending 45 soles on a body wash which in american is almost too embarassing to say...$15!! But it was well woorth its delicious smell. Then we played some cards and just chilled out. Having had such a late lunch, we were not hungry for dinner so at around 8pm we were just plain old bored. We went with our friend Daniel to go find a "football" aka soccer ball. We ventured out to the main strip and went into every store we saw in search for a ball. We immediately came across an appliance store with tons of balls everywhere... unfortunately if we wanted a ball we needed to buy a fridge... Eventually we found a grocery store with cheap balls and even cheaper body washes and brought it back to the hotel. Most of our group was up for a game so we headed out back on one of the side streets and played a match. Teams were Canada and the UK versus the rest of the world. There was some intense action and kicking and bruising but all worth it since we WON! The night was still young so a few of us went to sing some kareoke! with only four of us in the bar it was quite a show. Then it was off to bed before an exciting tomorrow\today!

day 1: lima

Hello from lima!! We arrived 2 am sunday morning, after a slight delay, everything went pretty smoothly...minus the announcement that two canadian bags had to be taken off the flight due to suspicious something! We might have made a little scene before being assured the bags were not ours. Then we made some friends from Birmingham Alabama who were coming to Peru on a church mission trip. Needless to say we preferred to leave our cosmo magazine in our bag while they were reading the bible. Anyways after the flight we got our bags right away (a relief) and met our transfer and headed to our hotel.

Yesterday was day one and only a few from our group were here already. We met johnn smith our tour guide and he took us to the national museum of archaeolog, anthropology and history. We got a very detailed tour looking at artifacts dating back to 2000 bce! The best part were the skulls which showed proof that back at least a few hundred years they were performing brain surgery!! The gold jewelry and tapestries were another highlight. Then we went for lunch where both of us chose a "safe" choice of grilled chicken and rice and fries. Oh and we forgot to mention... We took the public bus! Quite an experience. Then we came back to the hotel for a nap before having pisco sours famous in our hotel! More to come later!