I had somehow managed to be convinced to book onto a tour starting at 3.30am, even despite the nightmares of the 5.30am start reverberating throughout my brain. Yet this one went a lot smoother on the whole. We were actually picked up from our accommodation and at the right time. We were however the last ones to get onto the bus and this created slight difficulties. I let Emma have the nice normal seat and I made my way to the back of the bus for the last remaining seat in the aisle (no seat belts in 95% of vehicles we've been in so far).
This would have been ok but for the juggernaut of a man from Uruguay who lacked personal space boundaries on one side and a woman from Germany who I imagined must have been handy at the shot put. Nevertheless I was simply so tired that I was able to sleep for a fair amount of the trip there with Shania Twain in my ears for company. This was until I was rudely awoken by the Uruguayan man clambering over me. He'd had enough of the lack of space and the occasional elbow to the kidney when he ventured too close and had decided to ask the guide for his seat at the front of the bus.
After breakfast the Uruguyan man offered to swap seats with Emma. This was a very successful trade deal (for me at least) and I was gifted with probably double the space I had been afforded beforehand.
Our first stop on the tour was to a standard marketplace in a small village in the mountains. It had the usual sights of market sellers flogging bright and colourful bags and jumpers along with other small things that were mostly junk. What was interesting at the market however was the animals on show. There were several large hawks and quite a few alpacas ranging from ones you could hold in your arms to ones that you would be able to ride. These animals were used as a money making scheme as people would pay the owner to have a photo with the animal. If you were wearing a hat then the hawk would climb onto your head. Something I'm sure the health and safety demons of the UK would have particular trouble with. Especially when a boy as young as 6 enjoyed having a 3ft hawk sit on top of his head. That hawk could have crushed the boys skull like it was made out of meringue.
Nevertheless we continued on our tour for the main purpose of it; to see the deepest canyon in the world. At it's deepest point it reaches 4000m - not something you'd want to slip in and fall into. It was very difficult to get pictures that justified it's size. At one of the stop off points we were treated to the viewing of the highly endangered Andean Condor - the largest land bird in the world. It's wing span can reach up to 10ft; a bit bigger than a pigeon. We were even treated to two of them! Quite amazing when there are only about 45 of them in Peru.
After we'd finished watching the birds do their thing we went to some hot springs. They were in such an ideal location; next to a lake, tucked away in between some mountains. After paying the toll to go over the bridge and get into the water, it was time to relax (Emma's forté). Thankfully we beat the rush and it was basically deserted when we were there. By the end of our stay several bus-loads of tourists arrived to dirty the water. Thus it was time to leave.
A long morning had commenced and it everyone was hungry. Thankfully we were given a buffet full of Peruvian food; a perfect time to try alpaca steak and was I glad that I tried it. It's just a delicate beef with a slightly different taste. At our meal we had a chat to an Indian guy about cricket (thrilling for Emma). He was confused as to how many different accents there were in the UK; to which we demonstrated most of them, badly.
Barring only a short stop off to view five volcanoes that were scattered around South Peru, one of which was seemingly erupting at the time, only a little though. We were off home. More sleep commenced before we went out for dinner. More chicken, banana and rice. Washed down with some fresh lemonade and it was time to hit the hay. An exhausting but interesting day.
