The Quilotoa Loop

The Quilotoa Loop was the best thing that we did during our time in Ecuador. It's a circular route which is nestled in the Andes, with lots of tiny villages dotted along the way.

We started our journey from a large market town called Latacunga, and caught one of the local buses to the small village of Zumbahoa. The bus spat us out by the titchy main square early afternoon, and the locals looked at us with our large backpacks with bemused looks. We made our way to the only hostel in town, and a small Ecuadorian lady with a sweet face and long, traditional plaits ran over to greet us. We were surprised when she opened the door to the hostel without unlocking it, and ushered us through the uninhabited building to our room. Once agreeing a price she showed us to one of the two restaurants in town, which also happened to belong to her Uncle, for a filling "almuerzo" lunch.

We then set out for a walk up the side of one of the hills and through the patchwork of farm fields, colours running from lime through to jade green. We also watched the locals working, who gave us shy smiles and tentative "holas". As we walked we were able to get a better view of the surrounding countryside, and appreciate the pretty scenery. We were unable to get all the way to the top of the hill we were aiming for, and so returned to town.

As we'd only been walking for an hour and a half, we started on another path in the opposite direction. This ran parallel to the road we were to take out of the town the day after, but rose higher, affording an even better overview of the area. We found many loud, barking farm dogs, trying to defend their property from the strange gringos traipsing through their fields. For the first time we were also able to see the deep gorge running through the valley.

We returned a different way, walking through more farmlands and past even more crazed dogs. Along the way we also managed to befriend several children, one of which followed us all the way into town. At one point there was a large group of local people, all just sitting outside of a building. As walked by we said our usual, "Hola, buenas tardes", to which we got several cheerful replies. However, as soon as we had left their sight the whole group just burst into spontaneous laughter, which in turn made James and I really chuckle. We didn't realise that we were so amusing!

Upon returning to the hostel we realised that there really wasn't much else to do in this sleepy little village other than relax, read a book and enjoy the scenery. After dinner we perched ourselves on the hostel balcony with a couple of beers and a blanket over our legs, people watching. The temperature very quickly plummeted as soon as the sun had gone in, and any piece of exposed skin soon became invaded by the icy cold. The already incredibly tranquil village grew even quieter after 8pm, and by 9pm we were starting to see the lights that studded the town wink off as the locals curled up in bed. By 9:30 we'd stood as much of the cold as we could and went into our empty hostel. There was no one downstairs to lock up, so we went around the place doing this ourselves. It was a bit creepy and definitely unnerving to have the drafty building to ourselves, like something out of a horror film. Tucked up in bed, with about six woollen blankets pulled up around us, we soon defrosted and fell to sleep.


The next day we grabbed a greasy breakfast before flagging down one of the locals who had a utility truck. We gave him some money to take us to the Quilotoa crater lake, just a short and bumpy ride away. We jolted up and down in the open air, our bums lifting clean off of the hard plank of wood which served as a seat in the back of the truck. As the road unraveled in front of us we saw a change in the scenery. The ground in the area was incredibly sandy, and as such had been sliced vertically by the river, which now ran through the bottom of the dramatic valley.




When we got to the crater a lovely lady who owned a hostel there offered to look after our bags for a few hours so that we could explore. Once we got to the mirador it was a real sharp-intake-of-breath-WOW moment. This was even more resplendent than the other crater lakes we'd seen on our travels. It seemed to be jewel encrusted, with the water glistening aquamarine and sapphire in the sunlight, which was set off perfectly by the vibrant emerald of the foliage growing around the inside of the crater.


We took a trot down to the bottom of the crater, which was not an easy task. I managed to slip on my bottom again, and James had more than a couple of close calls. We passed a large party of teenagers all struggling, puffing and panting their way back up to the top - I certainly wasn't looking forward to the return leg. We also crossed paths with a couple who had hired some mules to carry them up, and one of the poor animals bucked under the weight of the rather chunky male on it's back. When we reached the bottom we realised that the crater was best appreciated from the top, but still, it was very pleasant just the two of us sitting there next to the still waters of the lake.


Luckily the clouds had started to roll in on our ascent, which meant that it wasn't as much sweaty work as expected. We managed to make it back up in 45minutes, which is about how long it took us on the way down. We ate our packed lunch sitting on the lip of the crater, not tiring of the pretty view below us. By the time we had finished eating, cloud was flooding into the crater completely veiling the beauty below. We had timed our visit perfectly.


We caught the local bus out of there early afternoon, and made our next stop at the village of Chugchilán. The road between the two villages was treacherous, and the bus needed to stop on more than one occasion because of landslides. I tried not to notice how close we teetered on the edge and also tried to forget how badly the drivers are in Ecuador.


Thankfully, we made it to Chugchilán where there was a charming hostel called Mama Hilda's. The lady herself greeted us warmly with handshakes and warm smiles. We managed to barter a good price for a beautiful private room that had a balcony overlooking the valley, which also included both dinner and breakfast.


We spent the afternoon chilling on the balcony and reading, something that we were getting quite used to by now. Dinner was a communal affair, and conversation flowed easily between us, another English girl called Barbara and an American family. The temperature in the toasty dining area was a stark contrast to the one outside and in our rooms, so we stopped in there for a while longer, clutching a mugs of hot chocolate and getting to know Barbara better. The next day we agreed to take her when we went out for our trek in the local area and promised that we wouldn't walk too quickly!

The three of us set out relatively early in the morning and were joined by an American guy called Benny who'd just checked in. The first part of the walk was the toughest, as it was quite steep. Barbara and Benny struggled a little to begin with, particularly as neither of them were used to the altitude that we were now accustomed to. The initial trek was worth it though, and the panoramic view was the recompense for the struggle up the hill.




We continued along the path, heading towards a cheese factory that was marked on a sketchy map given to us by Mama Hilda. We caught up with the American family who had set out an hour earlier than us that morning, and we ambled along with them. We passed through another speck of a village, seemingly filled with lots of young children and pigs. The children met us with a lot of curiosity and giggles, which was incredibly becoming.

We continued along the path until we reached some locals who said that we'd overshot the cheese factory and taken a bit of a wrong turn. We headed back in that direction, and the American family left us to it. Unfortunately we found the factory, but rather than it being the hive of activity that we were hoping for, the gates were locked with not a glimpse of a local in sight. We decided that here would be as good a place as any to have a spot of lunch, and between the four of us we managed to cobble together a strange concoction of bread, cheese, tuna and chocolate. Fuelled-up, we began our descent back to our beloved Mama Hilda.

Once more we caught up with the American family, who were strolling leisurely back. James and I left Barbara and Benny in their capable hands, whilst we picked up the pace and strode back to the hostel at our own pace. We stopped off for a little bit of delicious soup at the Cloud Forest Hostel, which was just next to Mama Hilda's, and our bellies rumbled appreciatively.

That evening we were joined for dinner by an lovely Australian couple from Melbourne (seriously, are there any Aussies left in that city?) who were on their honeymoon. They'd decided to do the loop as part of a whirlwind tour of South America.

Bright and early next morning we were up and awaiting our next mode of transportation, the local milk truck. For a dollar each we hopped into the back of the truck alongside half a dozen other locals and the "milkboy". This was such an enlightening experience for us. We were jostled by both the locals and the truck, and frequently the truck would stop for people, usually children, standing patiently by the side of the road for this beat up vehicle to appear. There would be one of three types of pedestrian, and would either want:

1) to buy milk

2) to sell milk

3) to be picked up by the truck as another passenger

The first of these would be holding an empty vessel of some description, and would speak to the driver about how much they wanted and pay him. Then the milkboy would open up a huge barrel of milk that had been wildly sloshing around, and measure out the required amount, passing this back over to the customer with a huge grin.

The second type would also be standing with a container, but this time it would be full of the white liquid. This would be tipped into the bright blue barrel to top up the stock on board. The driver would pay them the agreed amount, and the milkboy would return the empty with a huge grin.

Lastly, if they wanted a lift, it would involve us shoe-horning on more and more people, along with any bags/crates/boxes they happened to be carrying. Then, fully sardined-up, the truck would carry on it's merry way. How we managed to keep everyone on board is beyond me.

We arrived at our destination of Sigchos, but only stayed here for an hour and a half before catching the bus back to Latacunga. We'd had such a fantastic time on "The Loop" and were so glad that we'd decided to do that than spend more time in the jungle. It is a trip that we have strongly suggested to every other traveler we have met who has Ecuador on their agenda.

Only spending one night in Latacunga, the next day we caught the bus to the county's capital, Quito.

Baños and the Amazon Rain Forest

We were both looking forward to the prospect of going into the Amazon Rain Forest, but were still unsure where we were going to access it from and how long we would spend there. First of all we were heading to Baños which is just on the edge of the forest. When we arrived the weather was pretty poor, as it had been since we arrived in Ecuador, but here it was even worse, constant heavy rain. We spent that first afternoon around town and dodging the rain.

We planned to go for a small trek the following day providing the weather was good. When we awoke it was cloudy but the rain was holding off. We headed up the mountain behind town and unfortunately the weather broke and the rain started to fall. By the time we got to the top the rain had stopped and the cloud began to break giving us a stunning view over the valley and the town below.

In the afternoon we had a wander around town and met a couple of guides that did trips in the forest. As the weather was bad, and did not look like improving we decided to just do a one day trip into the Amazon for the following day. Later that afternoon we hopped on a bus that took us along the road from Baños to Puyo (in the rainforest). The bus goes passed, and stops, at a number a beautiful cascades, and we also had the opportunity to take a cable car across the valley, which was a pretty scary experience for me with my fear of heights (see my vice-like grip on the picture). Had the cable car and equipment been better maintained I may not have been quite so worried!

The final stop for the bus was the "Devils Throat" waterfall, which was a 30m high waterfall with a huge amount of water cascading down into a ravine and river below. The cascade gave off a huge amount of spray and a walkway had been constructed to enable you to get up very close to the falls, which meant you got totally drowned in 5 seconds flat, as we both found out. You could also venture behind the falls, which I tried to do, but the combination of the amount of spray coming off the falls and the shear power of the falls making me feel very insecure, I managed to get within about 6 foot, before I decided to turn back. Both Mel and I were wearing our rather attractive plastic ponchos, which offered little protection against the forces of nature. After visiting here we headed back to Baños for a slice of Mexican food, yum.

The following day we were heading into the Amazon Rainforest, an experience we were both really excited about. We had chosen to do the trip in Ecuador as it is a much less traveled route, and we had heard lot of stories from other people who had visited the rainforest in Blovia and Peru about how touristy it was.

Our first stop was to be at a newly opened monkey sanctuary, which had been set up to look after injured monkeys and monkeys that were formally pets. As soon as we got off the minibuses we could see the monkeys running and swinging around, and immediately knew we were going to be in for some fun. Within thirty seconds a lovely spider monkey came running up to us and climbed his way up my leg and onto my torso. He seemed to be immediately very taken with me, and after giving him a bit of a scratch on the head he cuddled up to me in my arms for a few minutes before clambering his way onto my head and making himself comfortable in a hat-like position.




As we walked into the sanctuary proper Mel then got swamped with woolley monkeys, an extremely cute variety of monkey, which gets its name from it very thick woolley coats. One in particular really took to her and made itself very much at home in her arms. There were two Chinese women on the tour with us who were terrified of the monkeys, and it seemed that the animals could sense their fear. One of the cheeky little monkeys climbed on top of one of the women and started to jump up and down on her back, whilst yanking on her hat. She was yelping out, and unfortunately all that we could do was laugh at the comedy situation.

In the sanctuary we also got to see some very talkative parrots, which as a group cackled like a group of old women, which was hilarious, and some 60 year old tortoises.

After 30 or so minutes we left the sanctuary and made our way deeper into the forest. It became very apparent very quickly that this part of the forest was also quite touristy, as roads and infrastructure were being constructed all over the place, and not really in the most ecological methods. Unfortunate, but a fact of reality, and needless to say we started feeling pretty guilty from being there ourselves.

We eventually arrived at the spot where we would start our trek, and walked for about 2 hours through very dense rain forest over streams and rivers before eventually coming across a huge waterfall about 35m high. The waterfall had formed a small pool at the bottom, in which our guide said we could swim. Everyone else stood around trying to decide whether to get in, as Mel and I stripped off down to our swimming gear and got in as quickly as we could! The water was pretty cold and it took quite an effort to inch our way in before we both agreed it would just to best to dive in and get it over and done with. On the count of three we both dived in and after a couple of minutes we both got used to the temperature and swam over to where the water from the fall was landing in the pool. We swam as close as we could but the amount a spray the was been given off and the power of the falling water prevented us from getting too close. It was an amazingly exhilarating feeling and the fact that we were doing it in the Amazon Rainforest made the experience all the more special. After drying off we started our trek onto the point we would be having lunch.

After lunch we made our way to a small indigenous settlement in the rainforest where we would take an hour trip down the Rio Puyo in a traditional canoe. The trip was great, but unfortunately we did not get to see any wildlife. The river was quite fast flowing in some places and we did get a few waves splashing over the side of the canoe. The rain forest looked stunning from the river and we got some great views of several more indigenous villages.

After departing the boat we trekked for a further 20 minutes to a stunning lookout, where we got an amazing vista over the Amazon Basin with the Andean foothills in the background. We spent about 20 minutes there just admiring the amazing view.

From here we visited a small indigenous village and got to go inside some of the traditional village housing and meet some of the locals, who were dressed very western in t-shirts and jeans, which shattered our whole vision of the indigenous people in the rainforest. In the minibus on the way back to Baños we came to the conclusion that the tribes of old probably only exist in deep Amazonia now, the whole area had become so commercial and the tribes people have also now been dragged into the money-making industry. It's very sad but a reality of a world that evolves around making money.

We arrived back in Baños later that evening. And after making a wonderful curry and having a couple of beers, we went to bed, as the following morning would see us traveling further north to a small market town called Latacunga, where we would start the Quilotoa Loop.

Southern Ecuador

We crossed the border with no hitches, and found ourselves in Manchala, the self-proclaimed "banana capital of the world". Other than the fact that they produce a LOT of the yellow fruit, there isn't much else to distinguish it from your average Ecuadorian city. We spent the day soaking up the local feel of the place and getting to grips with a different pace. Everyone in Ecuador seems to be in a huge rush, whether it's the mental drivers on the roads, who make us literally fear for our lives, or the frenetic pedestrians on the pavements, who nearly knock us off our feet.

From our hotel room (options are limited here, and hostels non-existent in certain places) we could hear megaphones constantly blaring. To begin with we thought this was maybe a shop advertising their wares, but we later realised that it was a political party canvassing for support. National elections were in less than a couple of weeks, and we found out the voting was compulsary. The government can fine citizens who do not vote, and can even take away certain rights.

Anyway, after exploring the streets, going to our first Chinese restaurant in South America and visiting an internet cafe, we made our way back to the hotel. We only stayed in Manchala for one night, which was more than enough.

This was followed by a a visit to Cuenca, which was a beautiful little colonial town. It was much more charming than our last stop, with a lovely plaza edged with old buildings and containing pristine gardens. It was a great place to explore, with little street packed with shops, cafes and, much to my delight, a plethora of heladerias (ice ream parlours). Cuenca also had a sweet-smelling and colourful flower market and a small patch of Inca ruins, which were unmistakable in their style.

The next day we caught the local bus to Parque National Cajas, where we found the relatively small (well, anything is after Machu Picchu) Inca ruins of Ingapirca. By now it was raining heavily, which we were getting rather used to in Ecuador. This didn't stop us from having a soggy but thorough trek around the whole site, taking in views of both the buildings and a large face which nature and man had carved into the side of a cliff.


Our third stop in Ecuador was the town of Riobamba. Once again we were able to sample a large slice of Ecuadorian lifestyle. The layout of the town seemed to be quite linear, with everything centering around 3 main roads which ran parallel along the entire length.

We should have been able to see a volcano from the town, but the thick cloud blanketed the town the whole time of our stay. There were some very pretty buildings and squares here too, and an exceptionally large and crazy Saturday market. It felt like the whole of Ecuador had descended upon the town, and were hustling and bustling through the narrow gaps left by the overflowing stalls. We spent hours just picking our way through and marveling at the madness, before catching a bus to our next destination, Baños.

Lima and Mancora

We were only having a short stay in Lima for two reasons. Firstly, from what we had read there was not a huge amount to see and do in there, and secondly, we wanted to be in a little beach town called Mancora for Easter Sunday.

We arrived on Good Friday and headed straight into the city. In the main plaza stood the Cathedral de Lima, and a huge crowd was gathered outside for a Good Friday sermon. The square was heaving with about five thousand people all carrying small figures of Christ during the crucifixion.

After watching the sermon and soaking up the atmosphere, we went for a walk around the city, and it soon became apparent that everyone else was doing that also. All the locals were wandering from church to church around the city, the crowds trying to get into each church was incredible, it was literally clogging up the street outside each of the churches to the point that you could not move. Despite the huge crowds going in and out of all the churches we had to see what was going on. Inside, the locals were walking around the church touching the statues of all the saints and walking out again, then they would move onto the next church and so exactly the same thing. After shuffling in, around and out of one church we decided we needed to get away from all the crowds and craziness, so we headed to a cafe for a coffee.

Lima has a wonderful park area to the East of the city where we thought it would be good to go and have lunch, unfortunately it was not as peaceful there as we thought, due to Good Friday celebrations. For the rest of the day we walked the city, of which some part were nice some were not.

We were staying area of the city called Barranco, an upmarket area and one of the few it is safe for travelers to stop. It is situated on the coast, so when we arrived back to the hostel we were just in time for sunset, so we found a bar with a roof terrace, got a couple of beers and watched the sun sink into the Pacific Ocean....again!

The following day we spent around the beautiful neighbourhood or Miraflores, which runs adjacent to Barranco on the coast, and is full of stunning apartment blocks set on the edge of a cliff over looking the sea. We also experienced a South America first in Miraflores, a Starbucks. We have managed not to spy one for the last three and a half months and all of a sudden one popped up when we least expected it, we couldn't bring ourselves to go in though. The day was very relaxing, which was just what we needed before embarking the bus that evening for a 17 hours journey north to Mancora.

When the bus pulled up in Mancora the next day the sun was shining and it was lovely and warm. We arrived at our hostel to find everyone still in bed due to the festivities the night before. We were given a quick tour of the hostel and the grounds, which led straight out onto the beach, by the crazy manager, before heading up to the open air restaurant for some breakfast. The Point hostel is beautifully set right on the beach front, but is away from the touristy part of town (you need to get a noisy "moto" to get there). The buildings themselves are rustically chic, like something that would be found on a desert island, with grass roofs and lots of open space. The balcony directly outside our dorm overlooked the sea, where you could watch the sun set. Every day they have a "sun" themed song to accompany the sunset (e.g. Beatles Here Comes the Sun, Arctic Monkeys They Say It Changes When the Sun Goes Down, etc)

As it was Easter Sunday the hostel were planning a big day of food and drink. Things kicked off at 1pm with a lamb spit roast and unlimited rum punch as well as a festive easter egg hunt. We signed up for day and headed off for a shower. When I got into the shower and looked up at the fitting that holds the soap and shampoo I spotted an egg with free meal written on it. So I popped it in my wash bag. I later found out that the egg entitled me to the whole day of food and drink for free!

We wanted to head up the beach into the town before all the good stuff started at the hostel so we made our way up the beautiful white sand beach to the town. On the way up we bumped in Jules, one of the Aussie guys we did our Machu Picchu trek with. We told him what our hostel had planned and the unlimited rum punch sold it to him, so he said he would make his way down and meet us. After a wander through town we headed back to our hostel for some much need food and drink.

The afternoon was great, Jules brought a few friends with him from his hostel and we bumped into another couple from Manchester who we had met on a bus journey in Bolivia. We fed and watered ourselves, played a couple of games of cricket and football on the beach with everyone else from the hostel and generally had a brilliant Easter Sunday. They even provided us with home made Easter eggs, which were delicious! In the evening we joined Jules at his hostel, along with Megan, one of the Canadian girls who was also on our Machu Picchu trek, and drank till about 4am at a few of the local bars in town.

The following day I had to be up at 11am for my first surf lesson. I knew it was going to be hard work anyway, but not having a great deal of sleep the 48 hours before, along with the Easter day of drinking, was going to make the whole experience all the harder.

All was going well to begin with, I caught a couple of waves, with the instructor's help, and almost managed to stand up. Unfortunately my energy was quickly sapped and it became very hard work, especially after I lost my balance paddling out and got caught up and dragged under by 2 pretty big waves. Its not pleasant when you got dragged along under the water by your board.

While all this was going on Mel had the right idea and was sunning herself on the beach whilst reading. It looked very tempting, so I left the surf, collapsed on the beach, had a good rest, some lunch and headed back out when I regained my strength - I was not going to let this beat me. I paddled back out, but unfortunately the surf had died down and there were no waves to be had. I would need to continue my surfing when we got to Central America.

Later that evening we headed up to Jules' hostel to meet him for a few drinks and a game of poker with about 9 guys from his hostel. We all threw 10 soles into the pot and 3 hours later I walked away victorious.

The following day we were heading up to the Ecuadorian border. It was hard to have to leave Mancora, we could have easily spent another couple of days there, but we did not want to cut short our stay in Ecuador, so we decided that we must head off. We said our goodbyes to Jules, but arranged to hook with him and Olly again once we arrived in Oz.

Nasca and Huacachina

We arrived at Nasca earlier than expected, 6am, and we were approached by a couple of touts trying to sell flights over the famous lines as soon as we stepped off the bus. One of the guys could offer us a flight that morning, he also had a hotel so could offer us a room to clean up before we departed. We took him up on the room but reserved judgement on the flight until we got a couple more prices.

After a much needed scrub in the shower we had a chat with the owner of the hotel and managed to broker a good price for the flight and got him to let us have the showers for free, so after only 2 hours in Nasca we were on our way to the airfield for our 45 minute flight over the lines.

Neither Mel or I had been in a light aircraft before, so that on its own was going to be just as much of an experience as seeing the lines. We took care of all the formalities when we arrived at the airport and then made our way to the plane. We were joined by two really nice Irish girls and an older woman who didn't speak to any of us. I was a little apprehensive as I'm not a great flyer anyway, but I got to sit up front with the pilot and watch him work his magic, which I have got to be honest looked like a piece of cake. Before we knew it we were bombing along the runway and were up in the air soaring over the Peruvian desert.

We were all given a map before take-off, so we knew the order in which we would fly over the lines. The lines were very impressive and it is hard to image how they were created without being seen from above. Our favourite was definitely the curly-tailed monkey, with the hummingbird coming a close second.


The flight went really quickly and we were soon flying back over Nasca and approaching the landing strip. After the trip we made our way into Nasca for brekkie. 30 minutes of wandering around the town made us realised that all the stories about Nasca were true, apart from the lines there is nothing there, so we grabbed our backpacks and jumped on the bus bound for Ica.

There was only one reason to journey to Ica. The town itself had nothing of any interest, but it is just on the edge of the desert and not far from the town is a little oasis village called Huacachina, which is famous for one thing, sandboarding.

The bus to Ica from Nasca was only two hours and a taxi to Huacachina 10 minutes. We checked into a really nice hostel with a pool, and as the weather was hot and it had been a long day, we slipped on our swimming gear and chilled out by the pool for the afternoon.

We got up the next day and booked our sandboarding trip. They either depart at 10am or 4pm, we opted for the 4pm trip as you get to see the sunset over the desert. We spent the morning and early afternoon lazing by the pool and at 4pm the dune buggy pulled up outside the hostel. The dune bugger drivers do have a reputation of being slightly tapped, and they did not disappoint, we went screaming over the dunes and at times all four wheels of the buggy left the floor. The drive really shook you about and after 20 minutes of flying up and down sand dunes you were glad to get out and start the real highlight of the trip, the boarding.

The first dune the drive stopped at was only about 30-40m high, but at that point neither of us were brave enough to try it on our feet, so we lay down on the boards and shot of down the dune. We were both really surprised at the speed we reached over such a short distance, but totally loved it. The next dune was not as big, only 25m high, so we decided, as did everyone else in the group, to try it on our feet. We had a couple of guys who were good snowboarders so they went down no problem, next was my turn and I managed to get half way down before falling spectacularly and getting covered in sand. Next was Mel, who took to sandboarding like a duck to water, first time down and she didn't fall over, she was a natural. While Mel was surfing the dune I was still picking the sand out of my ears!

Me being me would not be beaten, so I ran back up the dune, which was a feat in itself to try again, and I fell again, so this process continued until I could no longer run back up the dune due to the amount of sand in my pants. So we decided to move onto the next dune. Mel went first this time and much to everyones surprise took a pretty evil tumble, that bad that everyone went quite until she got up and put her hands in the air laughing her head off. We were all a little relieved to see her smiling. During the next 15 to 20 minutes on this dune we both started to really get the hang of it, and even one of the experinenced snowboarders commented on how quickly we were picking it up. It was great fun and we really couldn't pull ourselves away, but our buggy driver was getting impatient and he wanted to move on.

The final dune we came to was the big one. We had heard about this dune and had seen several peoples injuries obtained from riding it, mostly really bad sand burns, but an Israli guy had died on this dune about a month before. Apparently he had tried to do it on his feet and had fell when he had built up such speed and broke his neck. The dune was about 250m and so steep that you couldn't see the slope until you stood right on the edge. We were taking no chances and lay down on the board. Mel went first, she lay down and pushed herself away, going slow at first but then quickly speeding up. We could all hear her screams as she descended down the dune and eventually came to a stop at the bottom, where she just lay in a heap for about 30 seconds before picking herself up and jumping up and down in glee at the bottom. Next was me, and I could not quite believe the speed I got up to on the way down. In seconds you are at the bottom with huge amounts of adrenaline pumping around your body.

When we had all had our turn we managed to persuade our drive to take us back to the top for another ride, after which we watched the sunset over the desert before making our way back to town. This had been a real, and an unexpected, highlight to Peru.

The following day we awoke early to have breakfast before making our way to the country's capital city Lima.

Arequipa

Well, this was the second time we had arrived by bus into Arequipa, thanks to the road strike, but this time we were going to stop for a few days.

We arrived early in the morning so we had the whole of our first day to explore the city at our leisure. Arequipa is known as the White City, due to a lot of it iconic buildings being made from a white volcanic rock. With the blazing sunshine that the city gets pretty much all year round, this makes for quite a bright place. The central plaza is very pretty with a huge fountain in the middle surrounded by landscaped gardens. The cathedral, which sits in the main plaza, is quite spectacular and locals are always lining the steps that lead up to it whilst they eat and drink. The rest of the plaza is surrounded by cafes, restaurants and shops. It's relaxing and it a nice place to hang out for an hour or two. There are three huge volcanoes that sit just behind the city and can be seen in the background behind the cathedral, their snow-capped peaks in the background really make for a dramatic view.

Around the rest of the town are lots of lovely smaller squares, all of which have their own ornate churches. The city also has a fabulous selection of restaurants, so after a hard days walking around town went for a meal at a Moroccan place. We ate early as we had to hit the sack early; we were being picked up at 3am for our 2 day trek to Colca Canyon.

We awoke on time, thanks to Mel, and quickly threw on some clothes. The bus was on time and we scrabbled on. Much to our surprise two English lads, Harry and Andrew, who we had met 3 weeks previously in Potosí, Bolivia, were also on the trip. We were also joined by another couple from our hostel. Due to the early hour we didn't speak to them for long as we were all in need of sleep, the bumpy drive to the start of the canyon was four hours, so we all got our heads down.

The first stop at the canyon was the look out point for the largest birds in the world, the Andean Condor. The birds have a wing span of 3-3.2m and they get somewhat close to the look out point so we all waited in anticipation. While we waited we got to take in the stunning views from the look out, from which you could see 1200m down to the bottom of the canyon. This however was the most shallow part of the canyon, the deepest part is another 8 hours drive away and in over 3500m deep, making it the second deepest canyon in the world.

We for an hour and were about to leave when the birds finally decided to come out to stretch their wings. Four in total flew by and it was amazing watching them glide passed effortlessly riding on the heat thermals to increase their altitude as and when they needed to.

After spending 20 minutes watching the condors we jumped back in the minibus and made our way to the trail head. The first 3 hours of our trek would see us descend 1200m to the bottom of the canyon. It was all down hill so we figured it would be pretty easy....how wrong we were. The track from top to bottom was steep and the surface was made up of loose small stones, so keeping your balance was challenging. We all fell over a couple of times, but it made the trek all the more interesting.

It also turned out that our guide was somewhat of an expert with herbal medicines, so every five minutes he would stop us and tell us what he illness he could cure using a particular type of plant. At one point Mel had a bit of a headache, so he ran off to find this plant he could use to cure her! It was all very amusing. The scenery on the way down the canyon was spectacular and after 3 hours we reached the bottom. We took a 5 minute break and then started our acent back up the other side. We only had about 200m to climb and then it was onto a flat path that would take ua to a little village called San Juan, where we would stop for lunch.

We stopped at a little resturant that served up some fab soup as a starter, followed by chicken, rice and vegetables....for a change! The resturant owners had an abundance of pets including two dogs, three cats and 3 of the biggest chickens we have ever seen, these things were huge! The cats and dogs obviously pestered us the entire time we were eating, but we didn't mind as they were all pretty cute.

After an hour and a half stop for lunch we continued on our way to our final destination, The Oasis. The Oasis was exactly that, an oasis of lush greenery at the bottom of the dry arid canyon, on which they had built some extremely basic cabins. It took us about 3 hours to reach the oasis, passing through some beautiful mountain villages and walking down through the bottom of the canyon again. Upon reaching the oasis we were shown to our cabins, which was just a mud hut with a straw roof and a mud floor, basic but very cosy. We got changed into our swims and went for a dip in the pool and had a bottle of beer. The evening was really relaxing, we sat around drinking and chatting with our new friends and at around 8pm dinner was served. After dinner we managed to stay up till about 10pm, but the early morning and the moderately hard day's trekking had taken it's toll. We also had to be up at 5am the following morning for the toughest part of the climb, the 1200m ascent back to the top of the canyon. Much to our surprise when we climbed into bed it was extremely comfortable, so our heads hit the pillow and we were asleep.

The following morning we were woken by our guide knocking on the door of our hut, bugger, we had overslept. We quickly jumped up, got our clothes on, ate some chocolate and bananas and we were off. We knew the climb was going to be tough, it was steep, uphill all the way and would take between 3 to 3.5 hours. We set of at a pace that Mel was comfortable with, not too fast but not that slow that we would be there all day. The other couple who were trekking with us opted for the easy option - they hired a couple of ponies to carry then up!

We started well and were slowly making our way to the top, the guide recommended that we break every 30 minutes, which we did after the first 30, but from then on we took a break as and when we needed one. The guide was impressed with the pace we were going as we were speeding up all the time and we eventually reached the top after just 2 hours and 15 minutes. We took a 5 minute break, took some pictures and then headed into town, as our stomachs were rumbling and breakfast was much needed.

We had breakfast in a little town called Cobanaconde in a little cafe right on the main square, which was lovely. Afterwards we just soaked up the sun in the local square for half an hour and waited for our bus which would take us to the local hot springs.

We couldn't wait to get into the hotsprings after our strenuous climb that morning so as soon as we got there we were changed and into the pool, which was soooo hot, perfect for the aching joints and muscles. The springs also had a waiter service for drinks so Mel and I, despite it only being 10.30am, indulged in a Colca Sour, a local drink made with the Peruvian spirit Pisco, egg white, sugar and the fruit of the San Pedro Cactus. It went down very well while we sat in the warm waters of the springs.
After the springs we had a 4 hour drive back to Arequipa, during which we took in a couple of view points, the most spectacular being at an elevation of just over 5000m, from which you could see five different volcanoes from. It started to snow after being there after 5 minutes, so we all quickly jumped back in to minibus. The last viewpoint was a stunning one over a beautiful part of the Canyon. After stopping here we made our way back to Arequipa.

We arrived back in Arequipa at 6.30pm and our bus for Nasca was due to leave at 9.00pm, just enough time to grab some food.