right since i last wrote weve done loads n loads been really fun!

i got to the day trip....well it wasnt great. we caught a bus to the city by the sea nd then took a tour round the city. saw the sea a port, over the city, a flower clock, a concert stadium, had a very expensive lunch grrr and rode a cart up a steep hill. not quite what we were expectin didnt really see much of the actually city or the people but still nice to go i guess. after we got back quite late we went for dinner and then bed. spent the next couple of days catchin up on washing, internet and exploring santiago once all teh shops had opened. had a fun last ngiht with the guys, christian, kit, will, jeremy and john!

caugh the plane to lima wed mornin very early had a mad rush to get ready only to get ther n the palne be delayed by 6 housr wonderful.

arrived in lima lte had some dinner and watched fiulms in bed. the next mornin we got up anmd explored the city. had a look round the markets, full of colourful ponchos and alpaca woll clothing. all really nicxe stuff! then we walked down to the mall by the sea, a great way to shop stunning views out the shop windows! then walked down to the park of love! nice littlew park with a huge modern art statue of 2 lovers kissing and a mosaic bench running round the park with names of couples on. very coloufrul and a nice place to chill out! then had lunch over looking the sea at the mall. after lunch we walked back to the hotel and lazed bout for the rest of the afternoon. went out for dinner.

fri mornin we checked out of the hotle and into the hotel that we were meeting our gap adventures tour gorup at. didnt really know what to do so attempted to walk down to another park we wer told about but got lost so wewnt bakc in2 the center of town and went to a park surounde by the hustel and bustle of teh traffic but was strangely tranquil! ther was a cool exhabition of photography round teh park with some nice photos of peru and around the world so had a loom and then read in a little ampitheater type seating area. walked back down to the aprk of love, to the mall and back to the hotel. met the group at 5.30, our guide edgar gave us the introduction talk and we went for dinner with a few people from the group. an older couple nina and ian, peggy, ben, and edgar. had a nice dinner down at the mall again and then took a taxi to teh fountain park. was a 20min drive out nof the center and was so so cool.

had 13 huge fountaisn all shapes and sizes, that were coordianted with music and lights. so so fun. ther wer some u cud jump in and out of wlak through. they had like the 2nd biggest in the world whcihw as so tall. really fun night.

sat day we had free till 1 as it was the first day of the tour. so we took a cab to the old town, down town lima. nice area alot older than the rest of lima as the center is very new. wanderd round the square some some beautiful mbuildings went int he cathedral very beaçutiful and saw the start of the chnaging of the guards. cool procession, marching band and lots of guards of course! only saw the start though before we had to race back to get the bus.

met thr group at the hotel at 1 and got on the bus to pisco. was quite along bus journey and chatted to more giurls our age from the group. our group is, rosie and preena travelling together both 19, gemma, emma and jenny travelling together all 23. constantine older and maybe german, nina and ian, ben, peggy, sandra and kirsty travelling together. nice group and good mix of people get on really well with the first 5 girls spend most opf our time together and since thers 6 of us we share rooms in 2s!

arrived in pisco after a very bumpy bus ride and had dinner at our hotel. edgar thenm took us for a walk round the town, very dangerous gçhe told us always good to hear! the town was distroyed by and earthquake last spet so is still in ruins, most buuildings wer destroyed so its just a shanty town now. all taht remains of teh churh is 2 very impressive towers. the twon is covered in rubble still and its very sad to see. what was bizare im finding with south america is that even in the places they dont have running water ther are still internet cafes on every corner! so yeah walked round the town, had a very pretty center with a m,onumnet and gardens which hadnt been destroyed and edgar told us about what had been left. sat up chattin to the girls and then went ot bed.

managed to have a lie in sunday. half of teh group went off and took a boat ride to see soem wildlife and isalnds but bwe chose to stya back and meet them afterwards. then drove to nazca and had lunch at a very nicde hotel. the weather is boiling hot whcih is very nice! after lunch got picked up by some sand buggies and wizzed over the desrt sand dunes was amsing so much fun like a roller coaster kind of as we wer goin so fast and up and down so so steep dunes! got to the middle of the sand dunes and sand boarded down! well fun! abit like snowboardin excpet we chosae to go down on our stomachs. i tired standing 1 but fell and tumblñed head over heels açll the way with the board attatched to my feet. really painful! sop didnt try that again! was quite scary but so much fun. also saw some oasis in the desert and then went back to teh hotel. had pisco sours a drink made form pisco, lime juice, egg white and suger really good! then jumped in the pool with emma to wash the sand off!

after another long bus journey arrived in nazca and had dinner in the hotel very late! and then bed!

mon we had a gçuided tour arrond a nazca cemetry which was very intersting, told us all aboput the rituals of burrying, saw lots of graves/tombs with skeleton in some still with hair intact which was very long and dreaded! also saw a couple of mummies in the museum. werent many open graves though to say the garve yard is miles wide. this is beacuse grave robbers opend up the tombs and stole stuff so teh onyl tombs atht are open are the ones they opend. they dont opewn any more to preserve them. they only excavate stuff at the very surface which is where the mummy was found! but you can see where the gracçves are form the mounds and dints everywher!

after that we wer taken to a place wher they restore and make new nazca pottery. some of the group went on a plane to see the nazca lines so we waited at the pottery palce. then had lunch in town. after lunch we had free time which we spent chilling by the pool. the hotle we stayed at was in the middle of nowhere so no chnce of havin a wnader round the town.

that nigh edgar had a surprise dinner for us! took us out to a restaurant and we went out the back where they cooked the food underground in a traditional nazca method. they performed a ceremony over the earth taht ben and peggy helped out with and then dug the food up whcih was rapped in leave sot preserve it and cooked with hot stones! was really good food all traditional peruvian stuff!

that night we cuaght the night bus to ariqipa. quite a nice bus, huge seats thatw ent really far back but hard sleepin on a very bumpy bus! didnt get the ebst nihgt sleep. also becuase we had gone quite alot higher up by 2000m so every1 was sufering abit of altitude sickness! drove out to our hotel droped off our stuff and showerd etc. then met edgar for a tour round the monustry santa catalina. was really cool told us all about the nuns and the way they used to live all teh changes over the years how the earthquake effected it and ther lives now. took lots of photos very beautiful painted red and blue.

then went for lunch with the girls. spent the rest of the afternoon wandering round the town and then wen to the cinmea to see indiana jones! was pretty good worth seeing nd its set in peru whcih was cool saw alot of teh places in nazca that we wqent tto pretty sureal! had dinner that night at a local place called zigzag with the group and had the best meal! tried alpaca meat and ostrich! really good! called the meat trilogy and me n jen shared it as it was huge!

wed we wer up quite early to head to colca canyon! stayed in a plce called chivay. on the way we stopped and bought some coca sweets which is a leaf that helps with altitude sickness! also stopped and tried some of teh tea whcih is alot like green tea very nice an dvery good for you. not sure it helps with altitude sickness tho! also stopped at teh higest point we get to 4900m! arrived and took a walk up the mountain almost died was so hard! not beacuse of the walkin but the breathing. very hard to get my breath back so got very dizzy. took a couple fo hours and then we went to a hot springs, really nice so warm! stayed for an hour before heading to dinner. fairly nice dinner accompanied with peruvian music and dancing.

got up at 5 on thurs not nice! to got to teh cxanyon and see some condors! huge birds that fully grown can stAnd 1m tall and have a 3m wing span! crazy and they wer huge altho i dont think we saw any that big. ther wer loads too whcih was great as sometimes they said you ahve to wait hours for them to turn up. we wer lucky. and they wer beautiful so huge and graceful! amsing to watch. spenty an hour ther and then drove back to chivay for lunch. then started the long drive back to araqipe. had dinner then bed. for dinner we tried to find somewer cheap and ended up surrounded by waiters trying to give us the best deal, free drinks free deserts all sorts! not the best meal but worth the money! ariqipe is a very nice city i really liked it apart form cuzco the nicest place in south america so far. lots of quaint little streets nice shops a nice square with gardens, very livley and fairly old architecture very beautiful and intersting. in think aswell alot of palces we have been ahve looked very unfinished because they build as they get money but ariqupe is very finished and beautiful. wish wed had longer ther.

another early moring today up at 5 again to catch a plane to cuzco! had breakfast did some washing nad then wandered round th town wqhich is ver very pretty io really like it here. not too big an dlots to do here for a few adys after the inca trail so lookin forward to seein the city properly. no had long in any place yet so will be nice to properly see a city! tomorrow wer off on a day tour an dthen the inca trail. excited but very nervous going to be hard work!

really enjoyin the trip, seeing lots, very worthwile doing. beautiful country and wer with some really nice people makes it ace!

xxx