Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

 Two and a half thousand meters in the air, nestled at the base of three volcanoes, is Peru's second largest city Arequipa. It is called the white city as most of the colonial architecture is made of white sillar volcanic rock.

 
Its a great place to explore and even though is much quieter than Lima there is always something different to see.

The buildings have sturdy wooden doors opening to the street then wrought iron gates admitting one to a courtyard. - so its hard to find restaurants and bars here when your new in town.

Saturday noon we went on a two day tour of the Colca Canyon. We climbed through the high country and at 4000 meters were in snow fields before descending into the town of Chivay where we stayed the night. Let us tell you about cold - when the sun goes down you freeze - there musn't be much electricity there because none of the hotels had heating - the better ones gave a hot water bottle to take to bed.

We had dinner (alpaca steaks) in a restaurant that featured a band playing Peruvian folk music accompanied by dancers performing the folk dances and rituals of various regions. The evening finished off with a rendition of  'El Condor Pasa'

 

Awake at 5:15am (still COLD!) breakfast then off to the Colca Canyon to watch the spectacle that is the flight of the condors. The scenery is breathtaking and to take in the majesty of these great birds riding the thermal draughts is awesome - the hi-light of our trip sofar!