Alicia & Rich's Roads to Everywhere London to Australia on the route less traveled

Hot water! Yes its 5am and Rich gets a hot shower. I'm planning on getting up and jumping in after him, when he yells; "You'd better get in the shower now, the waters getting cold." That's enough to make me hop outta bed and into the luke warm shower, which turns icy cold within 2 mins. Well that's one way to wake, forget the coffee.

We're meant to leave to see the canyon at 6am, but we're still waiting when the clock strikes 7. We find out the bus has a flat tire and it's not until 8am that we eventually leave. Up at 5am for nothing!

By the time we get there the canyon is full of clouds and we can't see far into the canyon. Still the view is amazing. The other reason for getting to the canyon early, is to see the awesome Andean condors. We see one sitting on a branch and later, further along the canyon, three of the giant birds decide to grace us with their presence. It was worth braving the freezing cold just for this scene.

We're back in Arequipa by 6pm and although we'd thought about taking jumping straight on an overnight bus to Cusco (our next stop), we decide instead to stay and have a hot shower and good nights sleep. We'll take the bus tomorrow...