The Japanese Tour

• 23 - 24 March
  Colca Canyon, Peru
  
  As much as we hated to see the Colca Canyon in a bus, at this stage we were trekked out from the Inca Trail and couldn`t face another hike. So we resorted to doing the less desirable option - a 2 day tour in a bus.
  
  As the name implies this involved sitting in a bus with continuous comentary by our guide (which lulled us to sleep), and stopping at various viewpoints where everyone in the bus pile dout, took photos, and then piled back in the bus. Us wildlife spoilt South Africans could not bring oursleves to get out and take photos of guanacos (similar to a llama) and could barely pry open one eye to have a quick glance.
  
  Adrian aka DJ Serene - "the hottest DJ in Holland" according to The trip was made for us however, by the awesome group of Gringos
  
  Aaron who needed to do warm up exercises for his cheeks in the morning in order to smile (hum-de-de-day)


• his Bolivian gig advertisement



• Crazy Yankee Kate



• Goofy but lovable Martin



• Amin, an outdoorsy German who detested the Japanese Tour more than us!

That evening we went to a dinner and cabaret show. There was a traditional Peruvian band bearing ponchos and playing the pan pipes, as well as a couple performing traditional dances. One of the dances, had a shocked audience in hysterics when they brought out the whips and they took turns lying on the floor while being whipped and straddled by their partner! Aaron got into the spirit of things when he was pulled out from the audience for a whipping. Unfortunately for his partner, she dropped her whip, so Aaron quickly grabbed it and had a turn at giving a beating!

After the show, we went back to Casa de Anita for a few beers, backgammon and chess.

We had an early start the next day in order to get to the mirador to see the condors majestically soaring in the early morning thermals. We also saw impressive hanging pre-Inca tombs on a cliff face and Inca farming terraces.

On the way home, to our elation our tour guide stopped talking. However our joy was short-lived as the silence was shattered by Nicky`s favourite - the pan pipes blearing through the speakers. On a positive note, this resulted in sleep eluding us, and we were able to see the scenery all the way home (with our Ipods/MP3 players at the highest volume in attempt to drown out the pan pipes).

When we got back to Bothy Hostel we were relieved to find out that our bus to Nazca, which Raul had booked for us, was a couple of hours later, giving us time to shower, eat and pack. Adrian came with us to the bus station to buy his and Aarons bus tickets to Santiago. We were absolutely delighted when he was so impressed with our Spanish that he asked for our assistance in purchasing his tickets!

Our bus left about an hour late much to the anger of our fellow passengers who impatiently stomped their feet and shouted "vamos" over and over - much to our amusement. When the bus finally took off we knew it was going to be a long overnighter when 13 Dead men was the in-bus movie!