Our next destination was Arequipa. It is a city at the edge of the Andean highlands. It is at about 2400m, but less than an hour drive west is the coast and less than one hour drive east are mountain passes at 4800m. Arequipa is called "cuidad blanca", since most of its buildings are made of white stone. It is also the most geologically active area in the Peru and there are multiple volcanoes in a close proximity.
Arequipa has an old convent, which was a city within a city. Still today, there are about 15 nuns living in it. Most of the convent is however open for tourists. It makes for a very interesting visit. From Arequipa we made a two day trip to Colca canyon. It is one of the deepest canyons in the world (at places it is said to reach depths of 3500m). It also contains one of the most extensive agriculture terracing we have seen. The terracing was developed in the years 800 A.D. until 1200 A.D. The fields are inherited from generation to generation and are still used these day and well kept. Another highlight of the canyon is the opportunity to see Andean condors. Every morning, they leave their nests and use the thermos to climb from deep in the canyon high above the mountains.
From Arequipa it is a 12 hour drive to Lima. Most of the direct buses go overnight and since this was our last night in Peru, before a night flight from Lima, we took a first class bus (double-decker with very comfortable seats). In Lima, we spent the last day confirming that the downtown is really grim, but also discovering that there are brighter places. We visited a private museum featuring an incredible collection of pottery. Towards the evening, we made it back to the ocean and to the same place, where we started three weeks earlier. The circle was completed, our incredible trip was over.