The city of volcanic rock in the land of the Incas (Arequipa)

We entered Peru in a colectivo taxi, which ended up being our simplest border crossing yet. Not only did we get charged the same amount for the ride as the Chileans in the taxi with us (in parts of Asia it would have been ten times as much!) but the taxi company actually filled out our immigration forms for us. Peru at first sight seemed wealtheir and more attractive than we had anticipated - although writing this with hindsight, it no doubt had a lot to do with the fact that the border town Tacna used to be part of Chile...We hopped on a bus straight to Arequipa, which proved to be rough around the edges but stunning in the touristy city centre.

Although Arequipa has suffered more than a few earthquakes, many of the city´s ancient buildings built from sillar (white volcanic rock) have survived. We really liked the cobbled streets surrounding the main plaza, which was always packed with Peruvians and tourists enjoying the sun. However, in many ways Peru reminded us of SE Asia, and the constant need to be alert to the possibility of scams and theft, as well as the never-ending attention from touts on the street. Added to this was the need to be extra vigilant when receiving change (counterfeit coins and notes are common) and taking taxis (kidnapping a possibility.) There was a bit of cultureshock after Argentina and Chile.

The main attraction near Arequipa is the Colca Canyon....but we didn´t end up going there. We wanted to check it out independently but we didn´t have enough time. We could have done an organised tour but they all seemed pricy and rushed. Then we found a company which was recommended for tours but it was closed for the weekend, so that was that! Instead we spent our time in Arequipa just hanging out, which was good after the last few days of intense travelling. Dave worked on his espanol and managed to leap ahead of me, although I still have more food-related vocab. We checked out a few ancient and architecturally impressive churches and cathedrals in the city centre, as well as the Santa Catalina monastry, which is a sprawling and beautiful citadel.

Additionally, we visited many of the identical tourist shops selling ´genuine baby alpaca´ products, watched a lot of the World Cup and explored Peruvian cuisine. We discovered that Arequipa has many excellent Turkish restaurants (falafel sandwiches! Jonny, Emma and Neil, you will know what this meant to me!) and we found a creperie (with both trout and curry crepes) which we went to no less than three times. Other notable meals included the classic dish of stuffed chilli pepper with potatoes and cheese fondue, and guinea pig, which Dave described as ´like steak but crunchy´. And of course, there was plenty of Pisco.

On the 16th of June, we set off for Puno with the intention of spending just one night and breaking up the journey to Cusco. But the travelling gods seem to agree with Robert Burns in that the better a plan appears to be, the more likely it is to go horribly wrong...