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As we're not doing much today I thought I'd shed a little more light on our touring party and other related things. Currently the group we are in consists of 8 people including our tour guide. We're all English speaking, hilariously we have two Gregs (Scottish Gregor and Aussie Gregory), a Grant also from Oz, Brian and Nicky from Merton, literally 10 minutes from where Ruth and I were living prior to starting our trip, and of course Ruth and I. The four us who's names begin with a "G" have jokingly referred to ourselves as the 4G's. Our tour guides name is Hernan, a young Peruvian who hails from Cusco. Ruth and I like him. He has a relaxed personality but takes his job seriously and is clearly a bright individual. Ruth says she is disappointed that she's the only female but I've been impressed by her ability to relate to everyone. She makes everyone laugh and has already taken on the role of "head photographer"(This will not surprise anyone who knows Ruth well) Our accommodation so far has been two to three star hotels. They are comfortable and standard wise above what one might expect on an "adventure tour". Having said this, we are only a few days into our trip. We've mainly travelled by bus which has been absolutely fine. The roads all seem to be single carriage way so it takes time to get used to all the hair raising passing that goes on. The cities we've stayed in, Lima and Pisco, are all quite busy. The amount of taxies you see is mind boggling and this surprises me because they are dirt cheap. You wonder how they eke a living out? Peruvians seemingly have a passion for the car horn taking any and every opportunity to use the things. It becomes part of your city experience and you tend to stop noticing it after a while until early morning that is. Peru is clearly not the wealthiest of countries. There is evidence of real poverty but of course wealth too. The people seem friendly and welcoming although maybe this is to be expected when interacting with them as a tourist. In terms of seeing other tourists we really have seen very few. I'm told this will change as we approach Cusco and besides we are in Peru's low season tourism wise. This is fine by me. In terms of the climate and prevailing geography we have mainly been in desert sometimes covered in a fine mist which occurs as the cold air over the Pacific hits the warmer air inland. I imagine the arid climate in this part of Peru is down to the fact this area is cut off by the Andes, the foothills of which you can see in the distance. Hernan says we will see greener parts of Peru the further inland we travel. I have found it beautiful all the same, particularly the stretch between Pisco and Nazca. Tonight we take the overnight bus to Arequipa. The adventure continues.
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