Sweet home Arequipa

I stayed here for over a month and made it my home, living in a great hostel with some good guys and girls.

Arequipa, is a pretty town bathed in blue skies, nestling at the foot of two towering volcanoes.

In Arequipa I bought a guitar, hung in a hammock, salsa to dawn, wall to wall with the most beautifull of girls, order bottles of rum to our table, daytime play barefoot footy, race go-karts, endless conversations. It puts living in the UK into perspective. These are some of the exploits.

We hired motorcycles, big 400cc motorcrossers and went exploring off road. Blasted rocks and sand, up sand dunes, fast U turns, donuts, great fun, huge grin, got a new set of scars performing power slides. Fun fun fun. Though writing this some time later I think I might have broken my arm, whoops!

I also gained two permanent souvenirs of Peru. I broke a tooth (unrelated to the above)and the subsequent treatment was so good I got a second tooth fixed up for the fraction of the cost of at home.

Went mountaineering up El Misti which towers over the town. See the photos to get the gist. No guides sussed it out our selves, pretty remote. Had to go to the toilet near the summit. Number two´s, no shelter just perched on a ledge I had kicked into the snow. Heard a massive roar behind me (dont snigger, this is serious) and seeing we had a near miss with a rock fall earlier that morning assumed an avalanche. Shat my self - literally. Instead there I was with my trousers round my ankles and a passenger jet flying just beneth me. Great.

There were numerous other bits of nonsense, but it was a good time that I will miss.