After the Amazon we flew back to Lima directly to take a couple of days for recovery and organising. We were absolutely spoilt with delicious foods in various restaurants, and in general Lima exceeded our, for some reason quite low, expectations. We never felt unsafe and the food was a very big plus, a couple of times we walked along the scenic coastal footpath and enjoyed the view of the tough surfers defying the cold pacific waters. After struggling with the humidity and heat, the temperature in Lima was a real treat.
We used the tiny hotel gym for a bit of exercise and did some work that was still on the list of todos in our heads. All in all, Lima came at a perfect time for us to recover and regain our strengths after the exciting and exhausting adventure in the Amazon. Next up was moving on further south after a couple of days.
We then took the day bus from Lima to Ica and then Huacachina, a small town belonging to Ica surrounded by desert and built around a lagoon. This place is very touristic but has very pretty surroundings. Local people don't live there, most local people just work there and live in Ica 10-15 minutes away.
We went for a sandbuggy and sandboarding trip that was astonishingly badly organised but still a lot of fun once we actually found our buggy after being moved around 3 times. The overpowered buggies flew over the dunes with ease and forced out one or two excited shouts from the 10 passengers on board.   

In Huacachina, we constantly had to fight off street vendors trying to sell every imaginable thing, from sun glasses to bandanas to fruit with non-stop "no gracias"s. The following day we booked a  wonderful excursion to Paracas and the Ballestas Islands where we got to see Humbold Penguins, seals and my (Oli) personal favourite, the Peruvian booby. Again this trip was touristic but this time it was better organised. It would have been a hassle to organise it ourselves so we decided to go with a prepared tour. Both our highlight was the remoteness of the Paracas desert and I even enjoyed a dip in the pacific ocean to refresh.
That night we had to change our hostel from Viajero to Wild Rover Hostel in Huacachina, both of which are known as very sociable party hostels, which we only found out after guy at the reception warned us not once but twice. Last thing to see when we went to bed were five girls giving it their best at a twerking competition on the bar.
Despite the wild night some at the hostel had, the two of us still got some sleep and got up early for a little exercise walking up the sand dunes - harder than we thought it'd be by the looks of them! This activity's reward was an far-reaching view of a warm, sandy desert and the blue lagoon that Huacachina is built around, and the sheer pleasure of running down the dune again that felt like running on a cushion. 

For the afternoon that day we decided to do a Pisco tasting tour before taking a night bus to Arequipa. Whilst we generally had okay experiences with the buses this one almost knocked us out when entering, the smell and stuffy air was quite something. Though once we contributed it was alright and we arrived safely in Arequipa 13 hours later.
We used the time in Arequipa mostly to prepare for the Salkantay trek, a five day trek towards Machu Picchu, that we were already very much looking forward to. That, and eating delicious Peruvian food. The city itself has a Plaza de Armas (like almost any other city in Peru or South America as a matter of fact) that stands out with its cathedral with an astonishing amount of detailed carving work in its white façade.
After having geared up the next preparation step was getting acclimatized to the altitude. We decided to go to Puno after a day in Arequipa that sits on 3800m. While Anna coped well with the altitude apart from being a bit short on breath, I woke up as if I had a wild night before and struggled with a banging head ache. But I swear I didn't drink the night before. Really.
We took it slow these two days in Puno, walking along Lake Titicaca and spending some time shaping our future travels. It was great that we took this time, we got used to the altitude and now felt ready for the trek. The only part was getting to Cusco where we were to start the trek another night-bus away. Having arrived safely there, we also decided to do some hiking in high altitudes. The famous rainbow mountain was a good option for that, housing on over 5000 masl and providing allegedly great sights. In order to avoid the big crowds, we got up at 2.30am (the earliest we've both ever got up for an event) to be on top at around 7.30am. Unfortunately, the views weren't great due to fog, but we did get to see some of the seven different colours on the ridge of the mountain.

Even nicer though in our opinions was the red valley next to it, as it is more quiet and gives you even nicer views. After that excursion, both of us were in a bad state, as the altitude got to us strongly. Both struggled with immense head aches and Anna additionally felt nauseas. Luckily, it didn't last too long, during the course of the afternoon and evening all symptoms disappeared again for us both. 
After this excursion and inconvenience, the only thing to do the next day was to go for a final delicious dinner before starting the Salkantay trek. But more on that in the next post!