Shortly after I left Copacabana, we arrived at the Bolivia-Peru border. The guy sitting next to me on the coach was an Israeli guy, who complained the whole time about how people were treating him. When we boarded again after passport control, he told me how he´d had to bribe the officer because there was a problem with his initial stamp into Bolivia. I was glad when he got off at Puno, where we had to change buses to continue to Cusco, as I couldn´t put up much longer humouring him.

The next bus gave me someone new to sit by, Melissa, a girl from the States who provided some new conversation, and who wasn´t about to snap at any moment. Also on the bus were a couple I´d met on the way to Potosi, Colm and Niamh. They would be starting the Inca Trail at about the same time as me, so I would no doubt see them again.

Cusco

We arrived in Cusco around 11pm, to the sights and sounds of fireworks, as there was some kind of festival going on. Melissa and I shared a taxi to the Loki hostel and once there, crashed in a dorm room for the night.

The next day I had to check out and go to my hotel organised by GAP Adventures, with whom I´d booked the Inca Trail. The Hotel Real Casada was ornate and well-run, to be expected for the price you´d pay to stay there. I had some time before the evening introduction to the Inca Trail at another hotel, so I wandered around the city and explored.

At the evening introduction, I met with the rest of my tour group, which included Andy, Tim, Liv, Pete, Sam and Claire. We were briefed on what the trail would entail, what we would need to bring and what to expect. After chatting and getting to know the group a bit, I left to go for some dinner at the Inka Grill, which is on the Plaza De Armas, the main square in Cusco.

There are lots of churches and a cathedral in the town, and the main square is a clean, pretty place. Around the side of the plaza, there are lots of restaurants and tour agencies, all vying for your business. You can´t walk a few yards without someone asking if you want to eat in their restaurant, book the Inca Trail with them, or have a massage with one of the many women who line the plazas perimeter. Then there are the street kids who ask if you want to buy one of the finger puppets they´re wearing. You might be sitting at one of the plaza benches and they will come up to you to ask, so depending on my mood, when they ask where I´m from, I might reply "the moon". In South East Asia, the kids always found this funny, and the reply came back from the kid here in Cusco, the same as they would reply in Asia, "I´m from the Sun". They say their name, tell me to remember it, say goodbye and walk off. In the same way as all cities, there is an under-belly of poverty, visible if you care to look, not so much to those who turn a blind eye. Whether, it´s the homeless indigenous person, the blind man playing a harmonica, or the street kids learning their trade.

So the next day, Friday, I decided to buy some of the things on the list GAP had provided that I would need for the trek. After a walk along Avenida El Sol, I found a shop that sold some decent cargo style trousers and a rather fetching cap with a bit at the back that would keep the sun off my neck - "muy importante para mi". I got chatting to the girls in the shop, and got on quite well. They asked me if I´d been out in Cusco yet, if I liked to dance, and came to some arrangement to go out to a local club and dance salsa. So, leaving with some new clothes, I also left with their numbers, and an opportunity to sample life off the beaten track once back from the Inca Trail, if I still felt the same in a week or so.

So, after getting dinner in the plaza, I headed back to my hotel to bed as I would need to be getting up early in the morning. In my hotel room, as I reached for my toothbrush, my bottle of aftershave fell to the tiled floor, and smashed. After enlisting the help of the hotel porter, with mop and brush, I went to bed, my room smelling rather scenty for the night.

Inca Trail - Day 1

I awoke at 5:30am, and left the building half an hour later with my guide for the Inca Trail who had come to pick me up. The rest were already in the van and after greeting them good morning, we were on our way.

I was reintroduced to everyone and got chatting to them about the usual stuff, where they were from, what they did at home etc. I didn´t have to ask the most popular travelling questions to each of them, where have you been, where are you going? etc. as most were doing the 21 day GAP Adventure tour from Lima to Cusco. Sam and Pete are from Australia and were recently married, using this holiday as honeymoon. Andy is from Wolverhampton and will be going on another trip with his girlfriend after this one. Claire is a primary school teacher from Wales, then there was Tim and Liv, who both went to Liverpool uni, and have settled in the area.

Our first stop on the way was in Ollaytaytambo to buy supplies for the expedition ahead. I needed to buy a walking stick, so bouight a funky one with Inca designs all the way up. As soon as they see you buying something, they all rush over and try to sell scarves, gloves, socks, hats, coca leaves, coca leave holders, water bottle holders, coca sweets. It was at this point I fell, deep into the tourist trap. A black hole of supplies, el paco woolen goods and me. I bought pretty much everything apart from the gloves, which I already had. I played some hard-ball negotiating but sometimes there are three local women trying to sell the same goods at the same time, surrounding you. Who do you buy from? So, I used the playground technique of elimination. Pointing in turn to them, I said "Dip, dip, dip, my blue ship, sailed on the water like a cup and saucer, o-u-t spells out". Of course, the woman I pointed to at first thought she´d won my business, but her smile was turned upside-down when I explained she had been eliminated from my selection process. I ended up buying stuff from them all anyway, including a rubber stopper that fitted at the end of the walking stick, to adhere to Trail guidelines about not affecting the path too much when pressing the stick down. Luckily, I had packed quite light, so had room enough in my day bag for my new clothes, which all turned out to be well worth the purchase, apart from the coca leaves holder. By the way, coca leaves are used by all on the Trail to give them that little extra burst of energy on the difficult parts. It´s true the leaves can be used to form cocaine but the process to make cocaine has many layers. Gasoline is added to the process, and after much distilling, there are sections of the residue, one of which is a fine white powder we know as cocaine. Coca leaves in its original form are far removed from the class B drug, and the leaf variety is not addictive at all. I aquired this knowledge from our guide...just if you´re wondering.

Back on the bus, we headed to Km 88, our start point for the Inca Trail. At the assembly point for the tour parties, there were some more local women selling things, so I thought I´d have a bit of fun and reply to them in their native language, Quechua, to see their reaction. Only very simple words but a reply of "No thanks" in their native tongue was met with a laugh and the lady telling the other women that this gringo was replying in the Inca tongue. After applying lots of sun lotion, and donning my cap with flap, we moved onto the first checkpoint. Along the way, we could get our passports stamped with confirmation of each checkpoint, so after our guide showed our tickets, we began the 4 day hike to Machu Picchu.

Our guide´s name was Silva, who stopped us every now and then to point out various types and fauna, animals, insects and vistas. I now know how to tell the difference between a normal plant and an orchid, probably known to most already, but not me beforehand! As we continued the walk along the flat path, the sun was beating down against our backs, and I was glad of my hat. Soon though, the path became more varied in ascent and descent as we neared our lunchtime stop. When we arrived, our porters had overtaken us and already setup camp and were preparing a fish lunch for us. Very tasty it was too. We chilled out for a while, lying down and appreciating the short break before we had to continue again.

Once under way, we felt some drops of rain, but fortunately it held off enough for us to make good progress towards our base camp for the night. The last hour of this walk was quite difficult since much of it was uphill, with my walking stick coming in very handy. When we finally arrived at camp, it was around 4pm, and once again, the porters had taken our equipment, food, bags, tables, chairs, and prepared all for our arrival. We usually set off before the porters and they overtake on the trail, carrying packs as big as themselves. The porters GAP uses are from small villages in need of work, and for their small stature, averaging about 5´4", they are powerful guys. As they run past you with the luggage, you notice their calf muscles, which are like a bodybuilder´s. Some of them have been working the trail for years but an offering of coca leaves as they pass is met with politeness and much appreciation.

At our camp, there were some fantastic views of the valley below, and while the sun set, we showered and changed using the basic facilities they had. Soon it was time for dinner, where the chefs made another nice meal for us. We usually started with some hot drinks, as we waited for dinner in the tent, chatting about the walk that day, and Silva explaining more about the Inca´s history and culture.

When the sun goes down, it gets cold, quickly. My initial thought to wear my boardies and flip flops was quickly changed as I put on several layers to keep the cold at bay. The night time was even colder, my sleeping bag just about keeping the cold not to make me shiver, but I wasn´t toastie either.

Inca Trail - Day 2

We woke up early the next morning, around 5am, to set off at 6, having had breakfast at 5:30. We had been told this would be our most difficult day hiking, which it proved to be.

The day started off by walking uphill for some time, along side the nearby Urubamba river. The weather was okay at this point and when we got to our first stop of the day, we rested for about 10 minutes before attempting the most difficult climb so far, to the top of Dead Woman´s pass. I was at the front of the group and was focussed on getting up there, so had my head down for much of the way, meaning I often created some distance between myself and those walking behind. At one point, a small bird flew onto the path in front of me. I kept walking, and so did he, keeping an equal distance between us for several minutes. If I caught up to him, he´d fly off to the next step. At one point I stopped and so did he. It was really strange, and since I was out infront, there was no one to comment about this too. I didn´t imagine it though, as I got a video on my camera showing him doing it! A little further on, I waited and rested until some others caught up. We pressed on to the top, which took us until 10am. At the top, we placed a small stone we had been carrying, as an offering to the mountain, as this was tradition. Once the rest of the group had caught up, we rested for a few minutes, took some photos, then began the descent, which would take us to our camp for lunch.

Along the way, we passed huge rocks, which had fallen from the mountain at some point. The mist had begun to set in by now and a little further along the way, it began to rain. Out came the rain ponchos, keeping us and our bags dry, well, reasonably.

The rain began to create mini streams across the rocks as we walked down. Many of the steps down are about a foot in height, which makes it a little perilous to traverse, which makes it all the more impressive how the porters run down past you, once again to setup camp and have lunch ready by the time you arrive.

It began raining heavily by the time Sam, Pete and I were in sight of our tent and took refuge to dry off a little. The others were still minutes behind, and the rain continued unabated. Once they had arrived, we had our lunch, and when we were ready to continue, the rain had all but gone. It came back a little later when we were climbing a steep ascent to some old ruins, the ponchos not able to keep out all of the rain this time. There was no real shelter, so we kept going. Near some lakes at the bottom of the descent, the rain stopped and our spirits lifted somewhat. Soon enough we reached some more ruins, which were quite impressive and since these were high at the start of the valley, you could see some fantastic views of the lush, green valleys and the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

It was only another few minutes walk to camp for our second night, and sure enough, our tents were setup and soon we were to be called for tea. Dinner time consisted of us chatting to each other and listening to some stories Silva had to tell. For example, how the rangers lodge was meant to be haunted and how the last Inca king tried to escape the Spanish to the last known refuge of Vilcabamba, which Hiram Bingham thought he´d found when he rediscovered Machu Picchu. Vilcabamba is actually elsewhere.

Inca Trail - Day 3

We were woken up about 7am on the 3rd day of the trek, to Silva sking his usual question of whether we wanted tea, coffe, or hot chocolate. I nice hot cuppa always helps start my day.

It was still cold outside as the sun hadn´t reached our tents yet but within a few minutes of us walking from camp at around 8am, the sun drenched us and I had to take off a couple of layers. You just don´t know how long you´ll be walking in the cold for!

We only had to walk about 8 kilometres on the 3rd day, compared with 14km the day before. The sun was out all day, which raised our spirits once again, and helped provide some of the best scenery I´ve ever seen! Our first rest stop of the day was at some old ruins, which gave a great view of some ruins further down the mountain, Winya Wayna, we would visit later. As we sat on the grass, we took in the views, which really were something else. It´s hard to describe in words, and the pictures won´t do it justice. I suppose it´s because you can´t convey the smells, the temperature and the uplifting feelings from the time in a picture, or even a video. I took some photos and videos along the way, which will hopefully provide some insight.

As we continued our descent, we walked along the side of the mountain which had similar views to those from the bike ride in La Paz, although this time I had time chance to savour them. The way the jungle had grown and was at times invading the path, it was like something from The Lost World.

In the afternoon, we visited the ruins we had seen from the top of the mountain earlier that day, Winya Wayna, which means Forever Young in Quechua, and is named after a flower which grows in the area. There are meant to be spectacled bears living in the area and possibly some pumas but we didn´t see any. We walked around the terraces, which were once used to grow plants and vegetables for the people of the area. It took us only a short while to reach the base camp for the 3rd night, at around 2pm. As this was near to Machu Picchu, there were better facilities, so we got the opportunity to shower properly! After, we had lunch, then went to the patio of the main building to have a couple of drinks and play some cards, which was good fun.

Inca Trail - Day 4 (Final Day)

After going to bed early the night before to make the 4am get-up for our final day of trekking, we left our camp site near to the Machu Picchu park checkpoint. We arrived around 5am, and waited half an hour as the park doesn´t open until 5:30am. Scurrying along by 5:40, we made it to the bottle-neck of tourists at the Sun Gate by 6:30am...from which point I took my first glimpse of the magnificent Machu Picchu.

When the Spanish invaded, the Incas did what they could to eliminate any sign of a path to Machu Picchu. Of course, we don´t know what the Inca name for the sight was, as the ruins were named after the mountain it is protected by. It was named by Hiram Bingham when he rediscovered it (along with the help of the Peruvian army - not a lot of people know that!) and means Old Mountain in Quechua. It is thought Machu Picchu was of great religious importance to the Incas, at the end of a mountain trek taking many days or weeks, as a rite of passage, or coming of age.

Even as we approached the Sun Gate, the clouds held off, as Tim from our group rushed ahead to lead us, overtaking many people on the way. As we walked through the Sun Gate, there it was, Machu Picchu, still in the shadow of the mountains behind us, waiting for the sun to cover it. Then, the first beams of sunlight crept over the mountain top, reaching towards our site of pilgrimage. We waited there and took in the scenery, which was simply stunning. Machu Picchu looks over the Urubamba River below, which snakes between the valleys of greenery, and like before, you could just sit there for ages. But the urge to experience the pinnacle of our trip became too much, and we pressed on. It took a further 15 minutes or so to reach the site itself, and with every twist and turn in the path that revealed Machu Picchu that bit closer, it became that more magnificent. We were all quite anxious to get there, so had spaced out along the path. Along the way, there were a couple of llamas eating from the side, so took the opportunity to get a picture with them!

Walking along the green terracing of the site, we met up with the rest of the GAP group who had taken the train to Machu Picchu that morning, instead of doing the 4 day hike. Simply not an option for me! As we were chatting, it became apparent Tim and Liv were not there, then, we saw them walking back from one of the upper terraces, which overlooks Machu Picchu - hand in hand. Yes, Tim had popped the question to Liv, and she had accepted!! The already awesome day, with a cloudless sky and the sun now basking Machu Picchu in a warm glow, just got even better! Tim had mentioned it before the trip, to the guide that joined us that day, so had a bottle of champers and some glasses at the ready. The next half an hour were filled with congratulations, big smiles, lots of photo taking and champagne. It was already a brilliant day and it was only 7:30am!! The guides said they´d never heard of it happening in a number of years working the Trail.

So, with two of our group now happily engaged, we began our tour of Machu Picchu. Silva explained much about the history, the discovery, the terracing system used by the Incas, their beliefs and that there is still much more to be discovered by future generations. There is still much terracing and buildings under dense vegetation, which appear as the rest of the site would have done to Bingham in the 1910s.

After walking through the site for an hour or so, one last imposing task was left for only me to accomplish: I had to climb the steep steps of the opposite mountain, Wayna Picchu (Young Mountain), in under 24 minutes. I had received a text message from Dave saying he´d completed it the previous year in that time, at double-quick speed. So, always up for a good challenge, I signed in at the checkpoint, started my stop-watch, and set off for the top. Let me say, it was one of the most difficult things I´ve done. Perhaps I was out of shape, or my legs were still jaded from the 4 day hike, but by the end I was hauling myself up the steps, using the strong wire rope attached to the mountain side. Near the top I was on 19 minutes or so, but found myself nearly crawling at times, to try and beat the time! I eventually made it up (not to the very top though Dave!) in 21 minutes, and collapsed on a nearby rock out of exhaustion. Onlookers not sure whether I needed medical assistance, or was just out of shape, I suppose! After, I crawled through a small gap to a central part of the ruins, which led to a wooden ladder going to the top. From there, you can take photos of Machu Picchu much like the ones you see in the famous photos. There was also a bird, called a Caracara, who was very friendly and perched on the side of the ruins, to give a great picture-taking opportunity.

Back to Cusco

We slowly made our way back to the main site and boarded the bus bound for Aguas Calientes, where we would have some lunch, drink for a while, then get the train back to Ollaytaytambo. Silva and I were on a later train for some reason, which would get in quite late to Cusco, with a connecting bus. So, Silva used a friend he had in the town to get us onto an earlier train. As most people went through the main entrance to the train platform, Silva and I were led through a side entrance directly to the train. The guard that had taken us there told us to queue up for a certain carriage, and when the ticket inspector came to ask us for our tickets, the guard told the man we were "friends of theirs" and that we should have seats 54 and 55. The man made no objections and we boarded the train. After arriving in Ollaytaytambo, Silva and I got a taxi back to Cusco, and on getting back to my hotel, I showered and prepared to meet the others for the already arranged meal, at Pacha Papa´s in the San Blas area of Cusco. I had trout for my mains, but we decided to get some guinea pig to try between a few of us. It wasn´t very nice and I won´t be having it again.

The next morning, I checked out of my hotel orgainsed by GAP, and headed up the road to a hostel I´d already thought of going to, the Albergue Municipal. It was up some very steep streets, so I took my time and was pleased to catch my breath in there. As I was booking in, a couple of girls walked in enquiring about a room. While the hostel guys were sorting my accommodation, I got chatting to the girls in the lounge area of the reception. Their names were Mallory (I know what you´re thinking Dave, so did I, and she finished my sentence for me) and Bronwyn. They were from Toronto in Canada, but go to college at McGill. After chatting for a few minutes, we decided to head out together and see some of the sights. We saw some small museums, with some holey Holy artwork, but not a whole lot to write home about. We went out for dinner and afterwards a bar, but maybe since my body was used to getting up around 5am and going to bed at 9pm, I was pretty tired by 11pm. We arranged to see some more sights together tomorrow, and began the long ascent up the steep steps back to our hostel.

The next day we visited some of the ruins around Cusco, the first one we saw and by far the most impressive was Sacsayhuaman. It was the site of one of the battles between the Spanish and the Inca. The Spanish had taken Cusco but an uprising by some of the Inca began by taking back the fortress of Sacsayhuaman. The Spaniards mustered around 100 men on horseback and took back the fortress in a very bloody battle. Condors soon circled above and feasted on the dead, giving the place name in Quechua.

We hired a guide, which was a good move, as he showed us much of the sight we simply wouldn´t have had an idea about. Such as the priest´s area, how the king and queen were carried to the temple, the purpose position-built sun gates, and how gigantic rocks were taken from the nearby quary to form impressive battlements, which made it difficult for the Spanish to attack. We were shown some other types of rock, used for a huge water holder. This basalt rock would not erode like the other limestone based rock used for most other of the fortifications.

The guide then showed us where the Inca king and queen would sit. From where we where, it appeared as a couple of holes in the ground, but when we climbed and saw closer, it was actually flat. He then demonstrated to us a special quality of that exact location. By shouting, your voice is echoed in such a way that it reverberates back and around the entire area, using the jagged shaped battlements. He told us the Pope visited the site in 1985 and gave Mass. When the Pope spoke into the microphones and said "Hola", he was taken aback by the sheer echo. It was explained to him that where he was standing was an important place to the Incas, from where the Inca king and queen used to speak to their people. On the other side of the hill was an ultra smooth section of rock that the guide told us we could slide down. Never one to pass the opportunity for a super-fun-happy slide, I slid from the top, which actually gave some good speed. We were then shown an old amphitheatre, where wrestling took place, as well as music and theatre productions, weddings and other ceremonies. A little further on, there was a cave he told us to go through and he would see us the other side. Inside, it was pitch black, so moving about a metre every 5 seconds, shuffling along we finally made it out, with the help of a few camera shots to illuminate the way.

After Sacsayhuaman, we saw several other sights, used as military bases, tambos (rest stops for weary travellers or military), a mausoleum for the Inca king and queen and other less interesting ruins.

After dinner, I introduced the girls to the delights of Pisco and Coke / Sprite. They were unsure about the taste at first but we had some good fun playing cards, listening to some music (iPod speakers turned out to be a great buy) and chatting into the night. As night fell on Cusco, we had a great view of the plaza and the rest of the city from our balcony, seeing the lights come on and the stars start to appear.

The next day we saw another museum further down Avenida El Sol, which at one point led out onto the grass outside. It was a lovely day, as usual, so we sat down and chilled out on some rocks, which actually predated the Inca. Later, we headed back to the hostel for some more Pisco and music. Back on the balcony we were joined by another girl, Camille, a girl from London. We invited her out for dinner with us and soon we went to another restaurant on cheap street. It was cool going there for tea as it cost 10 Soles (about 1 Pound Sterling 50 Pence) for starter, main course, desert and a drink.

The girls had moved across the road to their old hostel for the last night, so they could get a proper shower, as our showers had only cold water. It was fun getting a shower in the morning, I can tell you. So, I went up to the girls´room to say my goodbye´s, as we probably wouldn´t be seeing each other again, unless our paths cross in Lima or further north in Peru. After chatting for a while and exchanging emails, I went back to my hostel.

The next day was my last in Cusco, and I had a few things to do. I had to do lots of updating on the internet and send some things home from the post office. As I entered the plaza, there was a parade going on. While I was taking some photos, I saw a girl I´d been chatting to previously who works in a restaurant on the plaza. The girl, Cecille, told me it was a parade for the army and we chatted for 20 minutes or so. I was pleased with myself as I actually made myself understood for most of this time, all in Spanish! We´d seen each other around the plaza a number of times and got on, so we exchanged emails. It´s the same kind of thing when you meet other travellers for a day or so, you meet, you get on, you think it would be nice to remember each other, so you exchange emails. It´s also good to have contacts in other countries, even if I don´t come back to Peru.

I also had the task of getting the agency I bought my ticket from, to change the name on it. The name on the ticket was some guy called Van Weeker. On going back to the agency, there was only a kid in there, about 12 years old, running the shop. Since it was Mother´s Day for the Americas, most people were at home, presumably with their mothers, not this kid though. After explaining to him what the problem was he sent a text message over the internet and advised me he would get a call in 5 minutes. "Yeah, right" I thought. 5 minutes later I told him I was going to get breakfast. After breakfast, still nothing. I told him I wanted to know what was going to happen, and that after I visted the post office, I wanted answers. Do I become Pete Van Weeker for the night? Or does it need to be changed?

At the post office, I spent a while talking to the girl running the stationery section, while she helped me wrap my parcels, including some clothes to return home and my walking stick from the Inca Trail. On finishing, she asked if I had an email address - she must have been impressed with my knowledge of Quechua, I´m not sure. I made my excuses and she seemed happy enough, so went into send my parcels. It was good timing as I was the last customer of the day and they were shutting up shop. At the counter, I was joined by the son of the woman serving me. His English was good, as he´d studied in the States, and we had a good chat while his mum sorted my goods and printed off my receipt. After walking back to the main plaza and back into the agency, there were some adults about, who told me what would happen within a few seconds. After some time on the internet and dinner, I returned to the shop, where one of the women from the shop accompanied me to the bus terminal to sort out the wrong name on the ticket fiasco. It turns out I did the need the right name on the ticket, as they checked all tickets thoroughly before boarding. No other bus company I´d been with had done this before, so it was a good job I had noticed the ticket had been printed incorrectly.

It was about 9pm when the bus left Cusco, bound for Arequipa. I had started to listen to my iPod, but got one song in when they put on a movie. The movie on the last bus had been a Van Damme, so I was hoping for another treat. Alas, no. It was some stupid Indian movie about two kids, spoken in Hindi and subtitled in Spanish. While at market to repair his sister´s shoes, the shoes are mistakenly taken by someone else and the boy has to explain to his sister she has no shoes for school. So, the entire movie is about the debaucle they´re in, by using only one pair of shoes to go to school. I didn´t know who wanted this film on, but they obviously haven´t seen a decent Van Damme. If they had, we´d have seen a platter of kickboxing delights. Man loses fight, goes into the jungle to train up with remote masters of kickboxing, improves to the level of awesomeness, fights the first guy again, wins, with some jokes and good times along the way.

I remember at some point in the night, having some difficulty sleeping. I think I was struggling in my seat and was quite likely I was talking or shouting. I remember seeing two nuns in the seats behind me, and seem to remember at one point in the night one walked back passed me and placed her hand on my head. Whether she was blessing me to exorcise the night terrors, or just using my head as a rest to move past me, I´m not sure.

We arrived around 7am in Arequipa, and after looking in my old version of the Lonely Planet, told the taxi driver my hostel location. He then told me where I wanted to stay was in a dangerous part of town, which I´d read but thought I´d try anyway. After him trying to take me to a preferred hostel, I insisted on my second choice, the Hotel Serrano, for 15 Soles a night. Water availability was inconsistent, which is what they fail to tell you at the door. To be fair, it was fine the next day.

So, after grabbing a quick shower and sorting out my stuff, I headed into the town centre for breakfast and to see what Arequipa had to offer.