Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru but is completely different to Lima. Lima is a bustling slightly dirty, overpopulated city where Arequipa is surrounded by 3 beautiful volcanoes, has a population of 900,000 and is a city of old colonial white washed buildings.

We spent 3 nights and two days here and during this time we visited the Canyon de Colca. The Canyon is famous for being one of the world's deepest canyons and for the giant Andean condors who live in the canyon. A lot of people hike the canyon but at 3,500 meters above sea level we didn't think we would be fit enough so we opted for the lazy man's bus tour. We had to be up at 2:30am to start the tour at 3am. The bus ride was long and windy and surprisingly it was the South Americans who all got motion sickness. During the tour we stopped at a view point to take pictures of the Colca Valley and have photos with the indigenous woman and their Alpacas. We then carried on to view the famous canyon and to try cactus ice cream which was delicious. We also had the opportunity to enjoy the hot springs before driving on to the highest point at 5000 meters above sea level to view the beautiful volcanoes that surround this region.

During the tour we heard about the famous 'mummy' of Juanita which is a well-preserved frozen body of an Inca girl who was killed as an offering to the Inca gods around 500 years ago. She was discovered in 1995 when her body slid down from the crater of the volcano and was discovered by a hiker. We were also able to visit 'Juanita' in Santa Maria museum.