Arequipa

Since our last blog we took an overnight bus to Arequipa, the 2nd largest city in Peru. We had a free day to explor the city - so we visited Santa Catalina Nunnery (which is like a city within the city) and Juanita Museum. Juanita is an Incan mummy discovered in the 90s and dates back to 15th century. She was a 13 yr old girl sacrificed to appease the gods. There were also 3 other mummy children discovered in the same area (on the side of a volcano).
We then had a tour within a tour as we got a minivan to the Colca Canyon and stayed overnight in Chivay. ((Mel this will get your geo juices flowing). It is the deepest canyon in the world and lays at the foot of the Andes Mt range. The Andes are totally incrediable, very jagged and steep. We went for a hike and saw some Condors - which are the largest flying birds, and stil they manage to look graceful! We did have to get up at 5:30 to see them but it was worth it. Had a soak in the thermal baths and returned to Arequipa.
The last of our long bus trips is today, 12hrs to Cuzco. Luckily for the 1st 7hrs we have our own mini van. Should arrive about 10:30 tonight.
Praying that a miracle will happen and somehow the train line to Machu Picchu will be open. We will get to hike the Larre´s Track but no Machu Picchu at the end :(
Gotta go get some supplies for the bus trip.
Go the Nix.