The land of canyons

The land of canyons is truly harsh and beautiful.
First of all there is not much in term of settlements between Puno and Arequipa.
After wizzing through various valleys we eventually stop to fill up our bike to a very rudimental "petrol station".

The price per gallon is obviously higher than normal but then I guess you pay for the service......ah and they do not take AMEX.
We carry on climbing up until we reach the beautiful pass of lagunilla at 4300 where we can enjoy the view of a blue laguna.

After the pass the road becomes flat for a good 100 kms.
Sand twisters are lifting dust all around us. The wind is strong and the bike moves constantly to the point that I have to ride leaning 30 degrees against the wind.
The shape of the "misti" volcano is looming ahead of us in the middle of the pampa.
That is a good sign, Arequipa must not be too far away.

It is now time to come down from 4900 to 2400 meters.
There is a huge canyon on our right side with snow topped mountains far in the distance and to be honest is quite difficult to keep our eyes on the road.

Elena is taking pictures left right and centre, lets only hope our camera does not melt down.

We eventually arrive in Arequipa to our hotel, nicely located in front of a beautiful park.

After one month of deserts, pampa, canyons and generally very dry land, the smell and green colour of cut wet grass is absolutely refreshing.