The bus journey from Cuzco to Arequipa was much less exciting than the last bus journey! We arrived safe, sound and very tired at 7am into Arequipa bus station. We had some trouble finding our hostel (as did our taxi driver who asked policemen, shop owners and random people on the street! We gave up and wandered around until we found it instead).

Arequipa Backpackers is really secure - its nestled in behind gates, you have to ring a doorbell to get into the inner door and theres broken glass stuck onto the top of the walls so people cant climb over......oh and a lovely little doggy who I couldnt pronounce his name so called him Pup instead.

Exploring Arequipa was fun, the streets are dead parallel so you cant really go too wrong. We found a fab set menu for 15 soles and sat on the balcony over looking the main square. It was the first time i´d tasted alpaca and it was fab! We didn´t know what else we were getting but it all tasted amazing. Also found an amazing sandwich place - Mamuts, if you´re ever in Arequipa, go there for sure.

We also found a cracking market. Whole cow heads with rings still in the noses, dried frogs, 4000 different types of potatoes, whole chickens with feet still attached, fish, and some things I really couldnt guess at what they were.

After checking out what tours were on offer, we decided against the Colca Canyon, sounded like a tourist trap and the weather wasnt too great either. So logically what did we decide to do instead.....climb a bloody mountain!! It was a mininmum of 3 people per trip and by chance we met Martin (Hungarian guy who was fluent in English and Spanish - how handy), and booked as a group together.

We tootled to the company to sort out our equipment. Funniest part was the guy trying to find waterproof trousers to fit tom! He ended up with a fetching pair of pink and purple ellesse trousers.....great moment. i´m telling you. Couldnt stop laughing. I started to wonder what I´d let myself in for when he showed us the ice picks and telling us we needed "gaitors". Tom and I said of course we need Gaitors......neither of us has any idea what they were. (they´re actually like watcerproof guards you put around your leg and shoe to stop snow getting in.....they didnt work though). So we were all set with our equipment, 5litres of water each and enough chocolate and granola to feed a small army.

Tom and I went to grab some dinner before sorting our stuff out for the trek the next day. In the resturant we had all our equipment with us and the waitress walkd to the tabel next to us - the new paitrons sat down and then left after a conversation with the waitress. The waitress tried to have a quiet word with us and we thought our bags had gotten in the way of these people and therefore had lost the resturant business! Anyway, after the meal I apologised in Spanish.....well, after a lot of gesturing and slow talking, it turns out those people had been trying to steal toms bag!! (he had everything in it - wallet, passport, everything). The waitress had saved the day and sent those people packing. What a star.

We got picked up at 7.30am the next morning and spent a good 3 n half hours winding around the bottom of the mountain to reach 5000ish metres above sea level where we were to camp. Tom saw a dead frozen dog on the roadside and his impression of it was absolutely cracking, maybe a new talent discovered there. We set up camp and went for a 2 hour practice walk. it was pretty tiring.

We sorted our tents (we had a north face tent worth $1000!!!), our guide (Ivan) cooked us dinner of yummy pasta and spaghetti and we were told to relax and rest and go to sleep at 3.30 in the afternoon as we were due to start walking at 11.30pm.......

Poor Tom, he didnt sleep AT ALL and he hadn´t slept well the night before. It had started snowing and was really really cold. I drifted in and out of snoozing (aware that every so often Tom would poke me in the back of the head or on my nose to test if i was asleep haha!). We got up and ate some bread at 11.30pm, got all our kit together and started our trek. I tell you something - its an experience in itself going to the loo in the snow and pitch black of night!!

Next came the toughest menatlly and physically draining 14 hours of my life. I honestly have never done anything like this before and I dont know if I would again.....We trekked over rocks, in snow that went up to your knees and steep, steep hills for about 5 hours in pitch black. The sun rose at about half 5 and we could finally see what we were climbing. It was unbelievable.....not only was it absolutely beautiful and totally stunning, it was also terrifying and incredibly high. I had thoughts some into my head to cheer me up and keep going - "she´ll be coming round the mountain when she comes!", "whats that coming over the hill, is it a hiker! Is it a hiker!", "Im a survivor!" lol. It made me laugh, not so sure the others appriciated it....

Martin couldn´t handle it and set off back at about 7am, and if it wasnt for Tom, I may have gone with him. Altitude made it difficult to breathe, difficult to eat and our water was so cold you didn´t want to drink. Our guide was lovely and kept saying "you eat! you drink! give you energy! make you strong!", he also commented that he thought Tom and I were going to be the weak ones but it was Martin who actually gave up half way up. We hardly took any photos becase of fatigue, the cold and because it was too dangerous to stop! However, there was one point when we stopped and the sky was clear blue and you could see for mile and miles - i´ll never forget that sight.

We really were pushing ourselves to the limit - I was finding it hard to breathe and both Tom and I were hallucinating! seeing other people climbing the mountain, camps, houses, buses.....looking back it seems so werid and maybe dangerous but at the time it seemed so normal. The last hour and half of climbing was just.......i can´t explain how tough it was. However, at the last hurdle it was my turn to encourage Tom and...........WE DID IT!!!! WE REACHED THE SUMMIT!!! 6090 metres above sea level. we were so happy hugging each other and totally exhausted. Unfortunately the clouds had rolled in by the time we got to the top but it didnt stop our elation.

However, what we didnt realise was that we had a 4 hour trek back to base camp. If we thought the first part was tough, it was nothing compared to this. The hallucinations were more apparent and the clouds that rolled in made it more atmospheric and mystical. It wasnt spooky, just very magical. We were running on empty and had to stop every 100 yards to rest.

So, 14 hours later we were back in the car and bumping our way back to Arequipa. Tom really was affected by hallucinations and kept asking if rocks were cows, people and faces....

We got back to the backpackers, went out for some lovely lasange and then fell into bed around 9pm, sleeping for 12 hours solid! I was totally dead to the world.

Our next day was a treat - it consisted of Starbucks (3hours in there!!), Pizza Hut, Mamuts, booking a bus to Puno, nursing very burnt lips, Burger King, fresh laundry (honestly if you would´ve smelled me trekking, you´d understand why i was so excited about fresh washing) and meeting a nice english couple.

Amazing, never done anything like it and never thought I had the mental or physical ability to do it.

I love Arequipa - amazing time, good people, lovely food.

Next stop - Puno.

As always, love and miss you all

xxxxx