Hey everyone,

Just a quick update as waiting for a bus. So, we went to Colca Canyon which was really good. It´s twice the depth of the grand canyon. Only problem was, we were all ill. Lisa and Kirsty had altitude sickness and me and Gemma seemed to have developed some kind of stomach bug.

We got on the bus in the morning to be greeted by a bunch of 11 year old school kids - nice! At first it was a bit of a novelty as they all wanted to have photo´s with us and get our addresses but 5 hours later, it was getting a bit tedious. Especially when the boy in front of us threw up all the way down the bus!! We stopped for lunch and I think this was where I picked up my nasty bug. Anyway, basically, we all felt rubbish so instead of going for dinner and dancing that night which was included in the trip. Instead we went to bed. Lisa and I were sharing a room and after a few minutes, we could hear some kind of noisy parade outside. We were indignant and extremely cross!! Then we realised that it was in fact 8pm on Saturday night so they kind of had a right to make a bit of noise. Even a family with a 3 year old had managed to make the dinner!!

I woke up in the night feeling ill. Not good as we had to be up at 5am. Got up and ready for our next day. We all just sat on the back row looking extremely ill and sleeping in between each stop, ha ha, even the kids were laughing at us. They of course were extremely perky.

We saw some absoloutely beautiful views but unfortuately, we couldn´t really appreciate them due to our illness. We went to spot some condors but there weren´t any so we just got back on the bus and went back to sleep. Then the driver who spoke no english came running on and said, condor - quatro. So we got off the bus, took a couple of pics and then back on the bus to sleep. It is a shame we didn´t get more out if it but we did get a few good photo´s.

Another highlight at the Canyon was the hot springs at 38 degrees! Even I wasn´t complaining of being cold for once in my life!!!

As we all felt so rough, we decide to change our Lake Titicaca trip to 1 day instead of 2 to give us time to rest so we went back to our hostel in Arequipa. We were feeling a bit perkier by now, maybe as it was a lower altitude too and Gemma and I even felt well enough to play table tennis. At 10pm, one of the boys at the hostel, Sam said, "oh, it´s a miracle, you´re up at 10pm" Ha ha, it seems we have ourselves a reputation. Mum and dad - no need to worry about the partying.

Got up today and decided to go to the docs as we´re going to the amazon in 3 days. The doctor was lovely and spoke English. He took Gemma and I off for blood tests and....other tests!! It was a very surreal experiece. Was hoping not to have to see the inside of a Peruvian hospital but it actually wasn´t too bad.

Turns out, i´ve picked up a bug from something i´ve eaten, Gemma has a much nastier stomach infection which she actually seems quite proud of. We left with lots of pills, (Gemma has more of course) and along with the Malaria tablets and Altitude sickness tablets, it seems we will be rattling around the amazon!

Anyway, sorry I haven´t replied to any emails today, should have internet access in Puno tomorrow. We now have a 5 hour bus to Puno and then wé´re up at 8am for a Lake Titicaca trip. Sure it will be worth it though, it looks stunning.

Hope all is well at home.

Lisa

xx