Sacred Valley - Arequipa

The day after the inca trail I spent in Cusco, seeing some of the sites. Namely the Koricancha and the inca Museum. Then for my last day in Cusco I went for a trip to the sacred Valley. I first went to Pisac Market.. unfortunatly didnt have enough time to climb pisac as it takes about 3 hours. Then we went for lunch in a very lush restaurant, and then to Ollantaytambo.. to which i have been twice already which was a bit annoying.. but saw the ruins and they were very goog. Learnt about how the Inkas carried the stones 7 km to where they built the temple.. how they manage to lift them onto eachother and many other fascinating facts.. but not enough walking!
When I got back at 6:30, I quickly ate and headed for th bus station and bought a night bus ticket to Arequipa.
WHat on earth is here you may ask! Well... i wandered the same thing, but it is actually the second biggest city in Peru, and is absolutly stunning. Very colonial, but very safe feeling. Not too many Gringos.. which is always good! Also there is a volcano 5897m that you can climb, and a mountain 6087m. There is also Colca Cannyon which you can trek through which is what I am doing tomorrow. It is a 3 day trek, into the second deepest cannyon in the world. It is over 3000m deep! I will also be stopping at the hot springs and hopefully seeing Condors! The largest birds in the area with a wingspan of over 4.5m. They were one of the most inmportant symbols for the Incas, along with the Puma and the serpent.
Unfortunatly my journey to Arequipa was pretty aweful. Despite taking a first class ticket.. again... this time i FROZE!! It was sooo cold all night.. and also there was a cat on board! It would not stop meaowing the entire night!! Then it wee'd in the middle of the journey and stank out the whole bus!!! I was soooo not a happy bunny this morning. But managed to make it to my hostel without getting ripped off.. and found a friend from Quito...!!
Anyway... will let you know how the colca cannyon goes!!!!
xxxxx