Absolutely knackered at the moment.  Having arrived in Arequipa at an altitute of 2300m, I'm feeling a little light-headed right now.  Yesterday we commenced our 2 day bus tour of Colca, incorporating Colca Canyon, the deepest Canyon in the world.  We were rudely awoken by Jose and jumped on the bus.  We were told that we'd be hiking at an altitude of 4910m - no problem for me - or so I thought.

I could feel my ears popping very half hour or so, a few of the others started getting headaches, however I felt proud that I was coping pretty well.  We stopped on top of a few other mountains along the way to help us aclimatize to the conditions.  I stepped of the bus at 4910m, took a few steps, and suddenly felt very short of breath - I felt like I had just ran a 100m sprint.  So off we went on our hike.  A few of the group just couldn't do it.  It's hard to explain just how much the altitude effects you.

When that was over, we were taken to the lodge that we would be staying in that night.  It was in a valley sorrounding tons of snowcapped mountains - I couldn't believe the views, nothing short or breathtaking; the pictures I've taken just don't do them any justice.

So we went onto the hot spring baths in the evening, which are naturally heated by the volcano next to them, this didn't my (now minor) sunburn any good, but what the heck?  After the springs, we went for dinner in a small town with some locals.  I didn't get to eat though, as one of the girls wasn't feeling too good and our guide was to have her take a taxi by herself back to the lodge (by herself? in Peru?).  I couldn't be having that, so I went with her, missing a good night by all accounts : (

I mistakenly thought I'd be getting alot of sleep whilst away - I was wrong.  We were woken at 5am this morning.  I wasn't to happy about this at first, but soon realised why.  It was to watch the sunrise over the mountains.  I feel I should be writting about more macho stuff in this blog...!

We jumped on the bus and made our way back to Arequipa.  I remember having a conversation about travelling with one of the girls at work.  She said that, in South America, a bus break-down was inevitable - she was right.  We had to walk for ages to the next town, then hitched a ride with a Polish group to the following town.

So as I write, I should be in bed.  We've only just got back to Arequipa (6 hours late).  Tomorrow we fly to Cuzco to start our 4 day hike in the Andes and Machu Pichu.

Bye for now

xPx