9th October 12:10 AM .On my way to Mexico city .Arrived in Mexico city at 6:10 AM .I had about 3 hours lay over at the airport before catching my next flight to New York .During those 3 hours I spent some time walking up an down the window shopping. Then it was time to check in and I was told that I need to get immigration clearance before I check in, I don't see why because I was in transit but every country has its own rules.
9:10 AM It was time to board the plane and everyone had to be searched before boarding , what was so funny was that in one of the outside pockets of my backpack I had a small bottle of water which I totally forgot about it , the security officer who searched my backpack did not see it . Mean while few feet away from us there was a big sign saying "NO LIQUIDS ON BOARD" . Where is the security ?! .The flight to New York was smooth an nice and we landed at John F Kennedy airport around 3:20 PM .On the way home the traffic was bumper to bumper as usual . It took me an hour to get home.
I must say Peru is a lovely country and so are the people , they are friendly and helpful. Doing the Inca trail to Machu Picchu was a great experience that I will never forget in the years to come . I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and hope that you too one day will visit Peru. Peru es bonito !

For more photos of other countries I have visited check out

www.pucaru.us

8 th October 5:30 AM We had breakfast and were all set to continue our trip to the canyon , stopping only in a small village ,then continued on our way . Arriving at the canyon it was crowded with many tourists all waiting too see the condors flying by . Waiting and waiting no sign of condors yet , some people already started to leave disappointed but our guide told us that we must wait and so we did , at around 11:30 AM a condor flew by and everyone got the camera ready , then an other , roughly we saw 4 or 5 condors . We stood there for an hour watching the condors and then trekked for an other hour at the canyon where later drove back to Arequipa stopping once for hot chocolate break. I also got myself a nice sweater . I arrived at the hotel at 5:30 PM , picked up my luggage and jumped in a taxi to the airport on my way back to Lima. My trip to Peru sadly is coming to an end. The flight took off at 7:50 PM and landed in Lima at 8:20 PM. On arrival I went straight to the check in counter for the next flight at 12:10 AM to Mexico city.

7th October 8:30 AM Today I m taking a 2 day tour to the Colca Canyon which is the deepest canyon in the world and to watch the condors . While I was waiting on the sidewalk to be picked up I was informed that my tour was running little late , meanwhile I met couple from Estonia who were also going to Colca Canyon but on a different tour.9:20 AM Finally the minibus showed up as I was afraid that the tour was cancelled or something else happened. On the way to Chivay which is the town were we spent a night before continued the trip to the canyon we stopped to watch the llamas and alpacas and at some other places with nice scenery . We arrived in Chivay at around 1:30 PM , where we had buffet lunch . Afterward we checked in at the hotel and went out again this time to hot springs also known thermal waters which were great, later that evening we went out for dinner , we also had a live band that played Peruvian folk music which I think they were amazing.

10:00 PM we headed back to the hotel for some good sleep .

6TH October 7:30 AM waking up in Arequipa exactly a couple of houses down the Monasterio de Santa Catalina , which it was the first place I visited after I had breakfast .Today ‘s breakfast was also served on the roof where I had a great views of the Monasterio , La Catedral and Elmisti volcano. From the Monasterio I walked down to the Plaza de Armas which is crowded with local people and tourists alike ,then I visited the Cathedral and afterwards visited Inglesia de la Compania. 12:00 PM I stopped for lunch and a Pisco Sour which is a Peruvian traditional drink . After lunch I decided to go for walk around the town where I stopped at the Inglesia San Francisco followed by a visit to the travel agency to book a 2 day tour for tomorrow to Colca Canyon which is the deepest canyon in the world .
1:30 PM It was time to visit Museo Santuarios Andinos where Juanita the ice princess is found in an enclosed freezing glass box .
15:00 PM . I took a taxi to the suburb of Camay to meet Fr. Giovanni Cefai MSSP and Father Victor Zammit MSSP that both of them come from the same village I grew back in Gozo . We spent some time together showing me around and explaining what work they do over there.

8:30 PM it was time to say goodbye and return back to the hotel for some sleep after along busy day .

5th October 7:15 AM When I finished my breakfast which was served on the roof of the hotel I went down to the reception waiting to be picked up at 7:30 for a full day tour to the islas flotantes also known as the Uros islands and the island of Tequile which are on the lake Titicaca. From my hotel we went to pick up some other people and from there we headed straight to the docks in Puno where we met our tour guide for the day and we got on board the boat.
It took us about 30 minutes to get the Uros islands . The islands are made and maintained of totora reed which are grown on the lake and they have other uses such building houses , boats, cooking , making tourist souvenirs and the root of the reed is also edible.




We spent about 30 minutes on the island where after we took a ride on one of their tortora reed boats to an other island which was similar but slightly larger. On this island they had a mini market as well.
From here we left to the isla Tequile which was an other 3 hours boat trip. To reach the center of the island we had to walk all the way up from the port where we had lunch and a walking tour around the small town .
We left isla Tequile around 2:30 PM back to Puno. I arrived at hotel at 5 30 PM and from there I took a taxi to the bus station to catch a 6 hour long bus trip to Ariquipa.

4th October 5:40 AM
I m on the train station in Aguas Calientes on my way to Urubamba . On the way the train stopped a couple of times due to construction that was going on and from Urabamba I took a bus to Cusco Arriving in Cusco around 9:30 which I spent some time on Av Sol before it was time to get a taxi to the airport to catch a flight to Juliaca .





2:30 PM I was on my way to Juliaca a 50 minutes flight . From Juliaca I got on a minibus to spend a night in Puno . On the way to Puno at times traffic was slightly slow due to the political demonstrations that were going on due to the coming elections next month. I checked at the hotel around 5:00 PM and early that evening I went out visiting the city of Puno and booked a full day tour for tomorrow's to the islas flotantes (floating islands) . Before I returned to the hotel to call it off for the day I stopped at a restaurant for dinner where I had the Peruvian traditional dinner the cuy ( guinea pig) served with golden brown roasted potatoes.

3rd October 4:00 AM
The climax of the Inka trail is reached today when we get to see Machu Picchu . We had to get up very early and have breakfast by 4:30 AM so we could get to Machu Picchu before sunrise. The trail is about 2 hours long to Intipunku (the gateway to the sun) and is mostly flat so not much of steps to climb . We left the campsite around 5:10 and had to wait till 5:30 before park wardens let us cross the gate .
I walked really fast to try to make it before sunrise , stopping at times to catch my breath. The air felt good and the sky was blue , in fact the only time it rained it was yesterday for couple of hours , otherwise it was sunny all the time .
I made it to Intipunku in about 90 minutes and just before sunrise , but I was not really there yet I had to climb these last 52 very steep steps before I could claim myself that I have made it through . They were so hard to climb I had to stop a couple of times .
There were already people up there waiting for the first sun rays to break out over the mountain tops down over Machu Picchu. I walked over the edge sitting down next to my partner enjoying the marvelous views and taking photos . When everybody of my group made it up , and rested we trekked down to the ruins of Machu Pichu where we had a tour of the ruins .
12:45 PM we took the bus to Aguas Calientes where we met again with Casiano the tour leader for lunch

3:00 PM It was sad seeing everybody going separate ways, some left to Cusco others stayed in Aguas Calientes like I did but were staying in different hotels.


4:30 PM . Being all by myself again I went exploring the town which is very small, it has rail station ,an outdoor market and plenty of restaurants and small shops.

But before I returned to the hotel I decided to visit the thermal springs which was a real treat for my feet after 4 days of trekking .