Translation of dryness in Spanish

I am Spanish Teacher. I graduated last year, in August. I studied mostly in Germany. I have been working for nine months as a teacher in many language schools but soon I will be a student again.
Our first station was a temple from which one could see the sunset in the best way, as it was a on hill leaning westwards. It was a walk uphill of more than thirty minutes and quite steep.
We had decided to fly to Lima (instead of Buenos Aires, Argentina) and to visit Machu Picchu just a few weeks before leaving Europe.