Off for a walk...

...into the foothils of the Andes which involved travelling inland via four buses - setting off at 9am and getting there at 1pm. We travelled on the Pan Americana (a road that links South America with North America and covers nearly 25,000km or 15,500 miles) to Chosica, a pretty town where, according to Sarah, 'the sun always shines.'

From Chosica, the final bus took us upwards into the mountains, past glorious scenery to a place called Matucana. The town is also pretty and has tiny streets barely big enough for the bus to drive down.

We bought some rolls and satsumas for a picnic and began the walk. We stopped for lunch fairly early on to save carrying everything and then climbed up and up and up. The views were absolutely breathtaking, but as we were also at an altitude of 2380m I think some of our breath was stolen by the effort of the climb! We finally arrived at a waterfall where we all paddled for a while, but the water was so cold that if I left my feet in for too long they went purple. Re-booted with cooled off feet we made our way back to Matucuna for a very welcome cake and a drink.

Our journey back was a little quicker as it was downhill, but it still took about three hours to get back to the apartment. But, despite the travelling, I had the most amazing day and I am so glad that I've been able to see a bit more of Peru than just Lima.