Jamie isn’t happy with the title because it was actually a mule. My sincerest apologies go out to any mule fans out there – I’m doing my best!

We may have cheated a little bit on the third, and hardest, day of the trek. Well we tried to cheat, but it didn’t go perfectly. We paid to ride mules up to the top of the canyon to complete the trek. Jamie’s legs were knackered and I just thought it would be good fun.

SPOILER : IT. WAS. NOT.

I’ve learnt 2 things about mules from this experience. Two things that are just wonderful to find out when ascending hundreds of sheer drops for 2 hours.

1) they turn like buses

I.e. they will go right to the very cliff edge and then turn. It’s terrifying!

2) they are incredibly competitive

I started the 2 hour ascent ahead of the pack, but the mule behind me was having none of it, and so the game of leapfrog began as they looked for any opportunity to get in front of each other. If you have any illusions that a mule up a canyon might be fun, let me quash that now 😂

Beyond this ordeal, the pain we tried to avoid in our legs, was given straight back in our butts! Don’t know if it was the mule, or the saddle but damn it was uncomfortable! So yeah, we’re bad cheaters – the worst kind…

A quick stop for lunch, and then on to see an Alpaca and Vicuna reserve. We headed back towards Arequipa which awesome views of El Misti volcano – an old nemesis of mine from the first trip to Peru in 2013.

Andddddd rest!