And It Ended With This..

the last few days of the trip were spent in the beautiful city of Arequipa, Peru

we got there late at night again due to a long long bus ride

we stayed at a really fun hostel called Arequipay Backpackers Downtown

there were lots of cool people there

a lot of people were traveling for like months 

I really don't know If I could do that life style for that long

one I would run out of money real fast 

and two I feel like living in hostels for that long would get really old really fast!

so anyways our time in Arequipa started off at a little cafe where I had these cute little toasts that were so cute and really good!

then we set off to find a museum that we read about in our travel book

It was a museum about the Incas and the human sacrifice they made to the mountian gods

I was such a neat place we watched a little movie about the Incas Sacrifices and the children they used 

and then we went through the museum with a guide that told us all about the artifacts they had there

the "grand final" was an actual preserved child they found in the ice on top of the volcano

It was so neat to see it was preserved so well that the organs and everything are still in tact

It kind of sad to think about the child be killed like that but the Incas thought of it as such an honor to be selected for that purpose. they were sacrifice themselves for the safety of the rest of their people

after the museum we were just walking around when we found this place called the

 Cuzco Coffee Company

im not much of a coffee fan but my travel buddies were so we stopped in and got some drinks 

well I tried to get a drink but everything had coffee in it so i went with a cookie instead

man was I glad that I went with the cookie because it was so darn good I craved it the rest of the day

we then headed off to find the big monastery

this place was really huge it was basically a city with in a city

there were small little houses where the nuns lived 

tons of little nooks and corners to explore

after that we just wondered around the city for the afternoon 

while we were wondering we found a Starbucks so we went in we wanted to get a coffee mug 

but that one was out of them so we asked if they knew were another one was and they gave us directions and so we set off on a mission to find it.

well we had no luck fining the Starbucks but we did find a really fun market

they were selling everything from hats to buchard meat

it was so neat and such a fun environment I was really glad we stumbled upon that place!

we did set off to find the Starbucks again and ended up back at the other one to get directions again

we ended up getting a taxi because we were struggling

luckly we got the taxi because that place was really far away I don't know how they ever thought we would have found it walking

but it was in a really cool mall very fancy for Peru

So we found out mugs and looked around the mall for a bit and headed back to our hostel

the next morning we started our journey back to chile

we had an early but that left at 7 am so that meant we had to be at the terminal at 6:30 so we were 

up and at em around 5:30 that morning

our bus ride was about 7 hours to Tacna and then from Tanca we had to take a taxi across the border to Arica Chile.

on the way in we asked to be dropped off at the airport because its on the way right off the high way they take and our guy told us yea sure just let me take the others to the bus station and then on the way back ill drop you. well we got to the bus station and the guy proceeds to tell us that he is now a taxi and it will be 10 mill (20 American dollars) to take us the mile to the airport.

needless to say we got out of that taxi and found one for less than half that price.

once we were at the airport we had to try and get a plane ticket.

we didn't originally plan to fly because we thought we had enough time to bus it the 32 hours back to Vina. technically we did have the time but we didn't have the patients to do that.

I was so tired of buses after that week I truly don't think I would have made it back sane on the bus

we missed a flight back that night by 30 minutes we wasted with the taxi driver

so our flight left out at 8 the next morning 

so we made the decision to spend the night in the airport

it was the smallest airport I have ever been in literally had 2 gates that shared the same door

we found us some chairs and camped out

It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be but by the time 6 am rolled around I was ready to go!!

once we got on the plane I passed out before it even took off

and I vaguely remember stopping along the way

we ended up getting back to Vina around 3 that afternoon

we were all super tired and ready for our own beds and nice hot showers

I planed on showering and watching Grey's Anatomy

but as soon as I went to watch there was a black out all over central Chile

it was kinda fun we had dinner by candle light and then i read my book in my room by candle light to

I actually kept the candles going once we got power back a few hours later.

Church on Plaza de Arms with the volcano behind it

the really fun market

late night snack in the airport

I'm positive that I'm leaving out so much from the trip
but there is no possible way to put the whole trip in words
you just have to go for yourself and experience Peru!
All in all we had such and AMAZING trip

I really loved Peru and I really hope to get to go back there again someday!!!