So I arrived in Cusco the 20th. Got to the hotel and walked around town. We took some kind of scenic/ tourist bus that stopped on the way to at the main touristic sites. And Peru has many sights worth seeing outside the main tourist areas. So the ruins we saw on the way were quite impressive.

The next day we had an easy day as well. We walked around town and visited the main cathedral. By now I have seen so many Churches, Convents and sights in general that I am both not easily impressed anymore and they do not interrest me so much anymore. One of the things I learned from this journey is that a love to meet interresting people and to see grear nature. Also I love to be alone and do my own thing.

Day three in Cusco we took a tour to the Sacret Valley. It was a nice tour and I saw some pretty interresting Inca remains. By now however I have had it with a tour guide shouting through the microphone explaining both in Spanish and very bad English wat we are passing and what we are going to see. However it is often the easiest and cheapest way to see things. It think this was the last time. We went to Pisac, Urumbamba and Ollantaytambo. The bus itself got back to Cusco and we took the train in Ollantaytambo to Aguas Callientes. Ollantaytambo is a dreamy small town with a huge Inca fort. The town itself is really sweet and the people as well. When we arrived in Aguas Callientes we walked to our hostel and crashed in our beds since we had a long day and we neededto get up the next day at four thirty. The hostal was included in the tour and was really crappy. The people however whoworked there were really friendly and we couldn´t be mad at them. However we felt like weshould have gotten a better hotel. So it is true. They warned us but we didn´t listen. They tell you to put down everything that you arrange and agree upon is on your contract. We didn´t discuss the hotel, so we got a crappy one. Till now we had a good experience booking tours through hotels and hostels. Now not anymore. It would have been better in this case to organise it ourselves. The footprint give a accurate decription of how to get to Machu Pichu and how much it will cost. We thought a tour would be easier. But the only thing they organised for us were a hotel, traintickets, entrance tickets for Machu Pichu and a guide. Which all are not very hard to come by. So one piece of advice. When you go to Machu Pichu. Just do it yourself. And walking the Inca trail is probably even a better way to go and see it.

Despite the disappointment about the lack of organisation and quality Machu Pichu impressed me deeply. We got there a about six and we stayed all day. I walked up a very steep mountain to get a good view of the sight. There are more old sities that are found intact all over the world. But its place among the mountains. Unreachable for everyone. In the green mountain jungle. I must say there is something special, something extra about the place. It is so quiet there. And one other piece of advice. When you go at the end of the rain season you are bound to get a lot of sun and averything is so green. For me it was a really good time to be there. Further the sporadic showers wash out the tourist quite necely so it is nice and quiet We only had two small showers of rain and it was really quiet. Not a lot of people around. Quite nice.

The next morning we had to get the train at 5.45 in the morning. So another early rise. So we got in Cusco at about 10.30 and had all day to enjoy Cusco. So far it my favorite city in Peru. Although Ollantaytambu felt pretty good as well. Cusco has a really nice and old feel to it. And because of tourism people are not as poor as in other parts of Peru. And you actually feel as if you are in a different wold in Cusco and the sacret valley. Because of the high mountains surrounding it, protecting it from the rest of the world. That all for now folks. May be my last post from this continent.

Hasta la pasta.

Back from a trip to the Colca Canyon. Well as you might have noticed I am a succer for nature and neautifull views. So I got lucky again! Peru has, as well as Bolivia, Argentina and Chille, have some pretty amazing nature. The trip alone to Colca Canyon, which took 4 hours, was really nice. So far it brought me to the highest point I have ever been in the open air, to an altitude of 4900 meters. They resommend you to chew Coca leaves to deal with the altitude. I had Coca tea before. Now I tried the leaves as well. They are really bitter. I don´t really like the taste. The Peruvians, like the busdriver, use an catalysator to speed the proces of addmitance of the active substances of the Coca to the body. This is made of ash, lime and anis.

The Andes is, so to speak, still on the move. There are still some active vulcanos, geysers, hot springs and bubbling mud pools. We spent the night in Chivay, where we arrives in the afternoon. After lunch we went to the aquas thermales. Really nice, since it gets quite cold in the mountains. After we drove along the Canyon, which is really deep and therefore offers great views. You see terraces for farming al through the Canyon. A lot of them aren´t in use anymore. The people in the Canyon are slowely shifting their activities towards tourism. The people are really colourful dressed and most of them wear traditional clothing.

One of the other thing Colca Canyon is famous for are the Condors. And that you can see them upclose while they glide on the upwinds in the Canyon. Unfortunately I didn´t get to see them upclose. I saw a few in the distance, which was a beautiful sight as well.

After Colca Canyon we got back to Arequipa, where we took the bus to Puna the next morning. Puno is situated on the borders of lake Titicaca. Today and tomorrow we will go see some of the sights out here. However since it is raining today and is cold without the sun we will probably move to Cusco in two days. Before leaving Arequipa to see the Canyon we spent one day in Arequipa. The center is quite ols with lots of churches and a huge convent. We checked it out. It was beautifull and nuns were still living there. However this convent seemed to lack a soul. Like the place had never properly lived. I am not sure whether this is a good or a bad thing. Some of the churches, convents and castles I visited in Europe seemed to have a heavy energie. Like it had been properly lived and people suffred there. This convent lacked this, maybe for the better. There are also quite some musea in Arequipa, we visited the museum of contemporary art. Maybe to get away from the Inca and pre-Inca stuff. It also gives you a nice image of the artitsts and what they are about. Often quite evealing in my experience. That all for now folks.

Yesterday I flew in Cessna six seater over the Nasca lines. It was amzing to see, although I was a bit dissapointed. I expected them to be much bigger! They were actually not that big. Anyhow really impressive. But what I actually liked the most was th e flight. In order to be able to show all twelve fugires to both sides of the plane the pilot had to make a lot of turn at about 200 - 300 foot. Woooohooooo. Since I was sitting shotgun I had a great view of the lines and the surrounding mountains and valley. Really awesome!

In the afternoon we went with a taxi to see the nearby aquaducts. Which are handmade and run mostly underground to prevent evaporation. We also some more Nasca lines from a hill top, as well as some Inca ruins and the museum filled with artefacts from a nearby Pyramid. The valley the Pyramid and town were situated floudded and the whole valley was covered by meters of mud. Burrying everything. A bit like Pompei. They are now slowly digging up the city and Pyramid.

Tonight I will take the bus to Arequipa from where we will go to the Colca Canyon.

The 7th of March I arruved in Lima by airplane.Since I arrived in the evening I just took a taxi to the hotel. I didn´t feel like figering out how to get there by bus and they are warning for unsafe areas in Lima. The hostel was really nice and is called Home Peru. It is an old mansion dating from the twenties. The rooms are spacious just like the whole mansion. The house is filled with antiques which gives it a nice atmosphere.

The first day in Lima I didn´t get up to much. I just relaxed and uploaded pictures in an internetcafe. In the evening I picked up my mother from the airport. Since we were both quite tired from travelling we went to bed early. The second day I went to the beach to see the Pacific. No wide sandy beaches. The beaches look really nice. The beaches drop down thirty meters and end in a rocky beach. There is actually a surf and quite a few people in the water. We had a day with a nice blue sky. Which is, as people told me, something that does not happen often. Till now the weather in Lima was nice and I so far only saw Miraflores and San Isidro. So far I really like Lima. Only minus really are the many many cars that make the air smoggy and stinky.

In the evening we had dinner at the hostel together with Karen. A Norwegian girl that stayedat the hostel as well. Went to bed early again. I guess I am still tired from all the travelling. Got up early today to catch the bus to Nasca and arrived at about 14:00 hours. Tommorrow we probably will takea flight over the Nasca lines.