We arrived in Arequipa after an overnight bus journey and went straight to the main square. We stayed in a nice hostel which did great breakfast - we were sick of bread and jam all the time, this place gave everyone pancakes and eggs. Arequipa itself is surrounded by canyons and volcanos. The view of the mountains from the city is really great. Close the main square there is a very old huge convent (400 years old or so) that was only opened to the public in 1970. Until then it was shrowded in mystery. Its like a little town in itself and is still standing.

Next day, we took a 2 hr bus to Chivay and watched a local soccer match where Sile got extremely burnt. It was kind of cold out so we didnt notice the sun was burning us. Being at that altitude makes you realise the dangers of the sun!! Obviously there was an Irish pub there that claims to be the highest irish pub in the world, we signed our names on the wall alongside everyone elses. Cruz del condor was a 2 hours bus away and to catch sight of the condors (Big Birds) we had to get the 4am bus. Up at 3am, that was really hard! The mountain side was freezing when we arrived. After a long cold wait we finally seen a condor. Up until then the sun coming over the mountain side to light up the valley was making the wait worth while, and we were the only ones there for 2 hours which was nice becuae we got to see the place beofre it packed up with other tourists. Later that day we went back to Arequipa before heading onto Puno.