Somerville B - Peru Update

Hola

We haven't posted much yet as we have been having such a wonderful time here in Peru. But to catch you up here is a brief overview...

We started our adventure with a tiring journey from Brisbane and finally arriving in Cuzco on the 28th of December. Spending a few days in Cuzco we were able to visit ruins, museum and churches. We also spent a day at the Pisac markets buying many Peruvian gifts etc.

We did out community project in the small village of Quilla Huata. We were the first group in and got the extremely exhausting but rewarding task of carrying over 3000 mud bricks each weighing more than 6kgs. In our spare time we taught the children, played games and also participated in soccer and volleyball. The children sang songs and danced tradition dances as we said our farewells. They made us cards and presented us with flowers as some of us (iszy) made our teary goodbyes.

We spent a day at Macchu Picchu, were we took many photos, walked to the sun gate and climbed the steep stairs to the top of Wacchu Picchu. It was an amazing experience one which we are sure to remember.

On day 12 we began our 4 day trek of the Sacred Valley. It started of fairly easy but we were soon surprised when we found ourselves walking through snow. This turned out to be quite eventful, especially as we reached the highest point of our trek at 4750m as we stood there in a blizzard posing for a photo. As we came to the end of our trek we had a couple of hours at the hot springs. This was a great place to relax and rub of the accumulating dirt from the past week.

After an 8 hour bus ride we arrived in Puno. Our two day tour began with a visit to the floating islands, were we continued on to Island Amautani. Here we spilt into small groups and stayed at the homes of locals. They cooked us traditional meals and we were lucky enough to attend a community folk dance were we dressed in traditional costumes. We also visited Island Taquille before our return to Puno.

We were stunned by the city life when we arrived in Arequipa. Our day here included visiting the monastery, cathedral and the Inca mummy museum. In our afternoon of shopping we discovered a chocolate shop, which just happened to have the best chocolate in Peru. YUM YUM

The next day we began out two day tour to the Colca Canyon. Stopping at various places along the way to experience the magnificent views of the Canyons. We spent a few hours waiting to see the Condors, we eventually saw 12. 2 massive buffet lunches later we made our way back to Arequipa were we are currently spending the night.

Tomorrow we set off to Lima were we spend a fun filled two days before our return home. So far our trip has been an amazing experience one which we will always remember.

Adios amigos,

Iszy George and Alice-Anne