Day 49: Almost 50 Days in Likes vs. Dislikes

Likes:

1. Popcorn that looks like packaging peanuts. Sometimes, most of the time, you eat 10 to find one good one. Its worth it.
2. Everything you need is at 20ft. intervals on the street ie. chocolate, yogurt, nailclippers, drugs etc.
   
3. The fresh juice and empanadas also on every corner. Although we can´t actually drink the juice.
   
4. Llamas.
5. People LOVE to dance here. All the time.
6. 80´s Kareoke Bars that have middle aged men singing their hearts out to Shakira and light up floors like the Michael Jackson music video.
7. Helado, helado, heladitos!!!! Icecream/frozen yogurt machines EVERYWHERE!
8. $2 Lunches or Almuerzos
9. Free T-Shirts.
10. Mojitos, although they could be considered diabetes inducing.
    
11. Peruvian flute bands, especially when they hop around with 4 ft. flutes.
12. Every store is a dollar store but has nice things.
13. The food. There is a lot of it. They like to eat.
14. Internet cafes are easy to find.
    

Dislikes:

1. Lack of toilet seats and toilet paper.
2. Sometimes you have to pay to use the bathroom.
3. Bathrooms in general.
4. Close calls at ´pedestrian crossing.´ We´re tired of almost being hit every time we cross the street.
5. People who laugh at you when they think you can´t speak Spanish, but you can.
6. Sharing a room with 10 people and several drunk girls and boys confuse your bed for their living space.
   
7. Re: Likes #2: You can´t find anything you need when you neeeeed it specifically.
8. Being overcharged because you have blue eyes, except we´re almost used to it.
   
9. Instant coffee when you know they export the good stuff.
10. Waiting a ridiculously long time for your drink/food; over 45 minutes. (This doesn´t happen all the time, only when Dana is really hungry.)
11. Having to calculate kilometers to miles to feet.
12. Most internet cafes, although everywhere, rarely have equipment that works.
13. No spell check on the computers, hence the mispellings in our blogs
14. Can´t breathe and dry skin
    

Composed by both Allison and Dana.

Day 44-49 La Paz and Death Road

La Paz, capital of Bolivia, the highest capital city in the world. Elevation, about 12,000 ft. It reminds Dana and I of New York. Everyone is in a hustle and bustle. There are kids handing out flyers, beggars asking for money, sky scrapers, and cars honking their horns at you as they come within 2 inches of hitting your legs, literally. Ok, so maybe that last one only happens in South American cities, but you get the idea. There is also security, police, or military personel on every corner which makes you feel very safe...or maybe not.

The other day, when we went to go buy our Death Road trip we passed lots of soldiers with shields and big guns. On down the street at another intersection there was a demonstration going on in the street. We kept walking to the Vertigo office. As we walked, we heard several loud claps in the distance. I think they were just firing into the air to scare off a crowd or something or possibly backfire from the cars. Later after booking our trip with Vertigo for the mountain bike trip down Death Road a man walked into the office. He looked homeless with no shoes and dirt in his arm hair. Later I noticed he had old, black tatoos all over his arms. He asked where we were from and said he was from New York and that he had been in the San Pedro prison in Bolivia for 11 years. You should know, they offer tours through the San Pedro prison because its very unique. You can probably look up some stats about it online but all I know is that lots of tourists take the tour and that you can even stay the night or several nights there. (It brings in money for the prison since its not run off tax dollars.) Its also the only prison that houses a cocaine factory inside. Anyway this man was promoting the tour and then asked if we would like to hear a joke in exchange for a bowl of soup. We didn´t say anything and he told the joke anyway, I wasn´t really listening because I thought he could be full of crap anyway. Tom, the guy that went with us to the Vertigo office gave hime the change in his pocket and we went on our happy way. This is just one of the days we had in Bolivia...

The Death Road bike ride was amazing! A van picked us up outside our hostel at 8 o´clock in the morning and we rode up to the top of the mountain where we began. We started at like 4,800 meters. They gave us an indtroduction and we put on our saftey gear, helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves and we off. The first part was an open flat road that we basically just coasted down...very fast! We took a couple of breaks to check the equipment and to take pictures. After about an hour we made it to the official Death Road. The road was still down hill but very bumby and narrow. It was so bumby that it jarred your whole body and made your hands hurt. We took several breaks and they gave us snacks along the way. Our guides were really cool and would come up quick beside you to take a snap shot or a video. We had a lot of laughs with these guys. There were waterfalls that we had to go under and corners to cut very closely and carefully. There were crosses all up and down the road for the people who had died doing ride. The view was amazing though. When you weren´t focused on keeping your bike straight you could look out and see the mountains forever. It was so clear and beautiful. We continued to descend from the top to the bottom and the terrain changed as well. It got hotter and hotter as we neared the bottom the forest around us turned to rainforest. The road opened up a little toward the end so it wasn´t so narrow and got a little flatter as well. Out whole group made it to the bottom of course and celebrated with an overpriced beer. (Still cheap though because you´re still in Bolivia.) After the celebratory beer we got back in the van, which had followed us down the whole way, and went to the hostel where we enjoyed a nice dip in the pool and some lunch. It was a long ride back up the mountain to La Paz that night but it was nice and slow. On the car ride back our guide told us the stats of the road and it turns out that about 27 people, tourist and guides, have died in the last 15 years and that about 200 people a year had died in cars and buses along that road. About 3 years ago they built a new road that is paved and is at least 2 lanes wide so the road we actually biked on isn´t used by many people much any more which is safer for everyone. Sadly, the most recent person to die riding down death road was our guide best friend who was also a guide. He died about 8 months ago doing the ride with a group, just like we had done today. Our guide didn´t cry but you could tell it was still very emotional. We walked away with a little more respect for the ride itself ater that story.

Overall, we had a great time. La Paz was definitely an experience that we´ll never forget.

Day 43: Puno to Bolivia

Every once in a while we forget we are in South America and then we have a day like today where there is no possible way to forget that fact. At 7am we woke up with Allison feeling quite ill and prepared for a day of traveling to Bolivia. The plan was to go to Copacabana on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, then stay one night on the Isla del Sol before traveling to La Paz. However, the day did not go as planned.

We crossed the border to Bolivia with no problems, thank God. They didn´t have customs at the border, which we found slightly odd. We just carried our backpacks by foot across to the other side. When we arrived in Copacabana, we bought ferry tickets for the island. We had what we thought was about 4 hours to kill so we went to a cafe and had tea and soup. Then we decided it would be a good idea to pay for our bags to be locked up at a hostel, so we wouldn´t have to carry them up a ton of steps on the island. We headed to the port at 1:30 to catch the ferry, but it left an hour earlier. The man told us that it was 2:30, because Bolivia is one hour ahead of Peru. Someone failed to tell us this at the border, so we missed our chance to go to the Sun Island. Thats when we decided to get our bags and the money for them back. The lady at the hostel told us that there will be a strike the following day blocking all modes of transit. That is when we decided to hop on a bus to La Paz. The bus cost $2 USD for the three hour trip. The driver stopped for 30 minutes to change tires while we were all on the bus. It appeared that they were actually making the tires, but we tried not to think about it too much.

All in all we made it to La Paz at 7 in the evening and ate dinner at the hostel.

...this is how you know you are in South America!

Day 42: Lake Titicaca, Tequile Island and the floating islands

Our beds finally warmed up by the morning when we woke up to a bright and blue morning sky. Matilda prepared for us a breakfast of pancakes and hard boiled eggs. Every meal, the family had tea set out with fresh mint from thier garden. The mint did wonders with my sinus infection and cough. After breakfast we said goodbye to the family and headed onto the boat for Tequile Island.


Tequile Island maintains most of their culture from hundreds of years ago. When the Spanish came, they made the Incan people on the island wear particular clothes. The men wore black pants, a white shirt, black and white vest, and a white sash around their waist. The women wore skirts and blouses. Today you can see them wearing the same thing but with a bit more color. They also wear hats and head scarves that indicate their marital status. Men with red and white hats are single and men with red and blue hats are married. There is also a hat for men who are engaged to be married, but I dont remember what it looks like. Women who are single have colorful tassle things on the end of their scarves and if they are married, they are plain. I guess this is their form of wedding bands and cuts the small talk if you are looking for women in a bar.

On the Island we walked to main square then to the other side of the island where we ate lunch. The views of course are absolutely amazing. We ate trout for lunch then began the walk down 500 and something stairs to the port on the other side. We boarded the boat again to head back to Puno, stopping on the floating islands of Uros.


The floating reed islands are something out of this world. These people were the first inhabitants of Lake Titicaca sometime around the year 800. They were nomadic people who decided to build islands of the reeds on the lake. They stacked reeds about 1 meter thick then anchored them to the bottom of the lake. They built homes, boats, and everything they needed out of reeds. The people who live there today are the direct descendants of the first settlers and now use tourism as a source of extra income to send their children to school. They are completely self sufficient, trading with other families on the 50 floating islands. Each island holds about 7 families and if there is a conflict, the people just cut off the portion of the island their hut is on and float away.

A girl named Gina of about 16 years, showed us her home. Each hut has a bed in it that they share with one other person and hooks on the walls to hang their clothes. Gina was super sweet and told us she is studying to be a chef. The clothes are very bright and super thick. The clothes look funny on me because I just put them on top of everything I was already wearing. Gina showed us the fish farm and potato fields they had. Then we had a brief lecture on building the islands before we headed back to Puno. It is incredible seeing how these people have maintained a culture and way of living for so many years.

Day 41: Lake Titicaca, Amantani Island

We woke up to a raining and cloudy Puno this morning. A pedicab picked us up in front of our hostel at 7:30 in the morning with no top on it. The driver put a plastic tarp over our legs so they wouldn´t get wet but the rest of our bodies did. He swerved in and out of traffic while multi-tasking on the phone and talking to people on the streets. Needless to say, the ride to the port was an adventure in itself. At the port we met our guide Antonio and boarded a 25 person boat to Amantani Island. For the first hour of the boat ride, it rained very heavily and we could not see more than 20 feet out of the windows. Later on it cleared up giving us a view of the massive lake. It is so large that if you look in some directions, the lake dips off the curve of the earth, making the other side of the lake not visible. However, the boat itself could have not gone any slower, but after 3 hours on the boat we reached Amantani Island.



About 8 ladies from different families greeted the 25 people on the boat, including us. The women were wearing their traditional skirts, colorful blouses, and black head scarves. The tour group leaders split everyone up into different homes, leaving Allison, Antonio, and I to la casa de Matilda. Matilda graciously invited us into her home that had an incredible view of the lake. A view like that would cost millions in the United States. The family consists of the mother Matilda, her husband, and three boys. The two teenage boys are studying in Puno, so we were unable to meet them, but I really enjoyed the company of the 5 year old son (although I couldn´t understand him). They speak the language of the native Incan people, Quechua, as well as a little bit of Spanish. The house is very basic, with a courtyard in the middle, several rooms, and a small kitchen. Our room had two beds with plenty of blankets for the freezing cold nights. In the evenings, the home is powered by solar panels.

After we arrived, Matilda made us a lunch of soup, followed by rice, potatoes, tomatos, cucumbers and fried cheese. The people of Amantani, direct descendants of the Incans, are basically vegetarian, only eating meet at weddings or when one of their livestock passes on. Then after a little nap we began a hike up to the two peeks of the island, Pachatata (father earth) and Pachamama (mother earth). The Incans were believers in the balance between male and female. On the walk up we collected a rock for each peak to place in the wall of the temple. Local people are only allowed to enter the temple at the new year with the shaman for blessings, therefore we could only peek through the wooden gate. After placing our rock in the wall, we hiked over the other mountain to watch the sunset. The colors and clouds in the sky were absolutely beautiful over the lake. It started to get pretty chilly, so we put on our hats and headed to the house before dark. As we ate dinner as massive storm rolled over the island. The lightning and thunder were unreal, lighting up the entire sky. Then the rain turned into hail, beating on the tin roof so loud that we couldn´t even speak to each other. There was a party in the square we were all invited to but due to the storm, we could not attend. Instead we tried on the local clothes and took some pictures with Matilda. She was super nice and told us all about the clothes she wears everyday. We retired to bed quite early around 9pm and attempted to warm up our beds.

Day 40: Puno, Peru

We are here in Puno for one day before we head to the islands of Lake Titicaca tomorrow. On one of the islands, we will be staying with a Quechan family. It should be really interesting. After Lake Titicaca we are going to Bolivia, so we had to organize our visas at the Bolivian consulant here. One thing for sure is, they don´t make it easy for Americans to get into Bolivia. On top of paying to enter the country they need copies of documents as well as a picture of each of us a certain size. We ran back and forth from the consulant to the bank, to the photoshop and an internet cafe. Two hours later we handed in about 10 pieces of paper for a stamp on our passports. Quite exhausting; therefore we are going to relax for the rest of the day while I recover for a bit of a head cold. My body doesn´t like bounching from extreme humidity to an extremely dry climate at 3,800 meters.

Day 39: Cusco to Puno, Peru

Today was a traveling day, however we did it in style. We woke up and said good-bye to Cusco, our home away from home here in South America. It was really sad saying bye to Garnet, because I believe the three of us would be great friends if we only lived in the same country. But we put on a smile because we are seeing a whole new place the next day.

Allison and I booked a train from Cusco to Puno, Peru before we left the States. The train was really posh, with three course meals, free drinks, and entertainment. It was a bit over the top for backpackers considering we were the youngest people on the train. The train was 10 hours, but it doesn´t seem as long when you are free to walk around a bit. The back of the train had an observatory open to the air. They had live Peruvian music a couple of times throughout the trip. I had alpaca meat as an appetizer for lunch. It was actually quite nice. Lunch was served with wine, then they had afternoon tea a couple of hours later with champagne, cookies, and a small sandwich. Allison and I are low maintenance ladies, so the train as a different element we aren´t used to.

Day 36-38: The Rainforest!

Day 1: Arrival

The rainforest was beautiful and definitely became one of our favorite trips. We arrived in Puerto Maldonado at 9:30AM and it was already 88ºF. From there we took a two hour long dug out canoe ride (motorized of course) up to our lodge. The river was big and wide and the water was very merky and muddy from all the sediment. The lodge was beautiful. All the rooves were thatched and everything was lit at night by candle or by lantern. There was no electricty for the most part. They heated the water with solar panels and turned on a generator to charge camera batteries and things for one hour in the afternoon. All the rooms were screened in really well to keep out bugs, but there were mosquito nets over our beds as well. When we got to the lodge on the first day it was soooo hot that we tried to sleep for the better part of the afternoon just because you couldn´t really do much of anything else. After a sweaty atempt at sleeping we grabbed a banana off the branch at the main lodge and relaxed around until dinner time. The staff and guides at the lodge played volleyball around 5, like they do everyday. After dinner, we changed back into our long pants and boots for a night walk through the forest. On the way back out of our lodge, right at the door was a huge, black taranchula. Dana snapped a picture while I made sure I was as far from it as possible while still being in arms reach of Dana. Our guide Daniel took us on a small trail next to the lodge for the night walk and showed us several plants and animals and lots of insects that are active during the night. I thought I had spiders all over my feet and was absolutely terrified for the first part of the walk, but calmed down after a little while because I was captivated by the intricateness of the forest. The guide turned off the flashlight for a couple of minutes to show us just how dark it gets in the forest at night. We literally could not see in front of our face.

Day 2: Hiking

On day two we woke up early and had breakfast before taking a canoe ride upstream to our hiking point. After breakfast we got to see a troup of howler monkeys right near by the lodge. Today was incredible. The hike through the virgin rainforest is just like you´d expect it to be. The forest itself is beautiful, dense and green and underneath your feet is a soft layer of dead, fallen leaves. The sound of the jungle surrounds you when you walk through. The hum of insects is a constant drone while the birds squawked and chirped overhead. Occasionally, you could hear a howler monkey in the distance. If you looked down, there were always a line of ants going somewhere, carrying something. Most of the trees have really sprawled out roots that fan at the bottom of the trunk. Actually, most of the trunks didn´t even begin until they were way over our head. There is one kind of tree that grows down from the tops of other trees, eventually encapsulating them. The tree inside dies many years later leaving a hollow middle. Here is a picture of Dana and I and our guide inside one of these massive trees.

Our guide pointed out so many plants to us along the way. He lived with a tribe and studied with a Shaman and this is why he knew so much about the different kinds of plants. There was one tree he showed us that if you were bitten by a snake, you could mash the potato that was underneath it, put the mush in your snake bite and not die. This tree in paticular saved his uncle´s life when he was bitten by one of the deadliest snakes in this part of the forest. He was 10 days way from a hospital and should have died whithin a 5 hours of being bit, but he lives today because of this plant. Another tree is used as an extreme laxative, that if you drink its milk it will get rid of any parasites you may have contracted in you stomach or intestines. There was leaf from another plant that we rolled between our fingers and it died our fingers a pretty purple red color. He said tribes people used this die for fabrics as well as blush, lipstick, and war paint.

On a short canoe ride to see the huge tree above, we fed pirahnas in the lake. No fingers were lost, only crackers. We returned back to the lodge, ate lunch, then did an afternoon excursion to a nearby farm. Here we saw how the people of the jungle make a living by farming. This man in paticular, had banana trees, pepper plants, yuca plants (yuca is a really tasty potato-like root that we´ve eaten several times now), avacado, papaya, and pigs. Before dinner, at night fall, we went out on the boat with the other groups to look for caiman. We actually saw several, at least 4 or 5 if not 6.

Day 3: Long hike in the Rain

It rained all morning long but that didn´t stop us. We went downstream with our guide to a 6 mile long trail. It was about 3 and a half miles to the large lake that we paddled on. The hike was just as beautiful as the day before, just very wet and very muddy. Its dangerous to walk through the forest when the wind blows really hard, or when it rains a lot because branches fall...big branches! One fell pretty close to us and made a really loud noise. It scared us to death. When we reached the lake, we paddled out and got absolutely soaked. We were really trying hard to see an anaconda. We even went into the reeds where they live and waited but didn´t see anything. Then! on the other side of the trees we saw....a palmconda! (as Dana calls it) It was huge, its belly was as big as the circumfrence of your arms together. Ok, so really it was a sort of palm tree floating up and down on the water, but it looked like an anaconda and after a 2 hour hike and an hour of being drenched on the lake, we´d take what we could get. We had lunch at the lake and took a short nap under a thatched roof platform and then headed back. (It stopped raining on the way back of course.) The afternoons at the lodge are for relaxing and volleyball which we enjoyed watching this last day We also got to talk to and practice our spanish with the staff and other guides.

Day 4: Leaving the Jungle

I´m proud to say we left the jungle in one piece. We had such a good time. Our guide was excellent, the food and fresh fruit was always good, and the wildlife and plant life was fantastic. Oh, and yes we did listen to Guns N Roses ¨Welcome to the Jungle¨whilst there. We also sang all the other jungle songs we could remember -- ¨The Lion King- In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight¨, ¨George of the Jungle¨ and ¨Jungle Love.¨

Day 28-35: Cusco, Peru

We have found a little home away from home here in Cusco. Since we had a week of nothing after our trek, we considering going on a little three day trip out of Cusco. However, we love it here, so we decided to stay. This is the longest we have been in one place so far on our trip, but we have been filling our days up easily. We decided to take up salsa dancing and we have been working on our spanish (at least I have been.) Allison has been able to use a lot of her Spanish because we dont (i cant find the hypostraphy key) stay in the hostel much. We made a really awesome friend here from Australia named Garnet. He happened to be on the same Salkantay trek as us with a different group. We immediately grew a bond as we passed each other on the mountain huffing and puffing. Garnet has been going to salsa lessons almost everyday, which keeps us dancing. We really love learning salsa and hope to grasp it a bit before we leave South America. I hope to continue back in the States, dancing up a storm with some latino flavor.

We went to Pisac yesterday to go to the markets. It was a beautiful ride there, minus the motion sickness I had again. The markets were massive with lots of souveniers and silver. We did a little shopping, then headed back to Cusco for dinner.

More or less that sums up the past week. We are sad to leave tomorrow, but we are going to the Amazon. We dont really know what to expect, which is always exciting. We wont be able to post for a few days, so hold on for the next one.


.... This keyboard is really frustrating to type on, that is why this post lacks detail.

Day 22-26: Salkantay Trail and Machupicchu!

Day 1 trekking:

The first day of our trek began at 6am when the company picked us up from our hostel. We were greeted by people coming into the hostel from a big night out on Halloween (men dressed as women and whatnot) smelling of booze. In the van we said good morning to our guide, the cook Martín, and the Dutch couple, Gea and Martin. They drove us about 1.5 hours to a little village where we ate breakfast and then another 1.5 hours to the drop off point to begin trekking. The first day was fairly easy, only walking for about 2 hours. We reached our camping spot for the night, where we set up the tents and had lunch. Every meal we ate was massive, including soup, some sort of meat, vegetables, rice or pasta, and potatos. After lunch we relaxed and then had another big meal before sunset. Our campsite had an amazing view of Salkantay mountain, the one which we were going to tackle the following day. We layed down for sleep that night, struggling to keep the tent warm. I must say that was the coldest night of my life.



Day 2 trekking:

Martin woke us up at 5am with a warm cup of amazing tea. What a saving grace on a freezing cold morning. Day two is the longest and hardest day of the 5 day trek, climbing over 800 meters to a peak at 4,600 meters. After breakfast we began the 8.5 hour walk up Salkantay mountain. Dana was feeling a bit sick again this day, so it was an extra challenge in the altitude. After about 3 hours ascending, we reached the top of the mountain. The wind was howling and the ground had snow patches here and there. We could see the glaciers on the peaks surrounding us as we were filled with a great feeling of accomplishment. At the top, Incans used to stack rocks as an offering to the mountain gods, so today people carry on the tradition. The view was absolutely incredible. We continued on down the mountain, descending for another 2 hours. The terrain changed as we went on from rocks and snow to occasional flat green fields. The cook passed us along the hike with 4 mules and a mule-porter to set up lunch for us. By the time we reached our lunch camping site, there was hot tea and garlic bread waiting for our arrival.

The day was not over after lunch. We descended for another 3 hours, which was really tough on our ankles and feet. As we descended another couple hundred meters into a cloud forest the air became a bit warmer. Climbing down the mountain proved to be pretty tough. The trail itself was very rocky and we were glad we´d chosen the shoes with the extra ankle support. It felt like we´d never get there, working on hour 7 of our long day. We reached our campsite for the night at about 4:30 in the afternoon. Right as we were putting our things in tents, it began to downpour, and we were grateful we didn´t get caught in the rain. Dinner was great as usual, although Dana had trouble eating that day. Martin made Dana a cup of magical tea (boiled celery and lemon) that settled her stomach. It surprisingly worked and she also started taking some antibiotics for the bad water she ingested and few days before. Night two was a lot warmer, which meant a much better night of sleep.

Day 3 trekking:

We woke up on the third day with sore legs in a little village to another cup of Martin´s wonderful morning tea. We began our 6 hour hike at 7 am and Dana was very grateful to be feeling a lot better. (Magic peruvian tea worked!) The hike was primarily downhill putting a lot of pressure on our ankles and feet. Within the first 5 minutes of the walk, we had to walk across a terrifying landslide. Seriously, it was crumbling as we crossed. Let´s just say we were really excited to have made it across in one piece. (We were scared shitless.) As we descended the climate changed, getting warmer and more humid. Of course it rained for about two hours when we go into the rainforest area. Through the rainforest our guide, Felix or Gato (cat), kept pointing out the different wild flowers and fruits along the trail. He showed us a large green bush looking plant that was actually used by the Inca, and the indigenous people still today, to relieve headaches and joint pain, especially in the knee. We also saw wild orchids, papaya trees, coffee bushes, pecan trees, and lots of pretty hummingbirds. We had to cross many different rivers and streams over bridges that were made of reeds and wood. After 6 hours of hiking we made it to our lunch destination that was swarming with the terrible flies we´d heard about. We saw backpackers with more than a hundred red sores on each leg from the little things. We had the option to stay in the noisey, fly infested area or to take a short bus ride down to a hot springs...we chose the hot spring. The hot springs was an amazing little resort type place that was recently built within the last couple of years. Although there were still flies, we didn´t mind them as much as we relaxed our sore muscles and feet in rock bottom pool that was the spring. After a well deserved two hour bath in the natural pool, we had dinner as always with the Dutch couple and Felix and it was amazing as always. The Dutch couple were actually great to trek with because they were really funny had plenty of energy. Everynight before we tucked into our now homey tent, we sat around after dinner sharing stories and each other´s company.


Day 4:

Needless to say it was hard to leave this wonderful little hot spring early in the morning. We took a bus back up to our jump off point and began our trek through rocky mountain side. My ankle was killing me from the day before but I took some Ibuprofen and contiuned on. It was a much quicker walk to our lunch spot-the hydroelectric station that they are so proud of- only two and half hours. This was our last lunch with Martín. He really worked harder than everyone else we felt like, so we bought him and our selves some ice cream. After lunch we had the option to take the train or hike another two and a half hours along side the train tracks to Aguas Calientes, the base camp for Machupicchu. Since my ankle was still sore with no signs of getting better, Dana and I decided if the train was an option, we´d take it. Well to make a long story short: there were no tickets available for the train, so we decided to walk it but since it was my boots that were killing me I changed into my sandals, it started to rain, my sandal broke, and two and half hours later Dana and Allison roll into Aguas Calientes soaked to the bone, Allison with one shoe on and one shoe in hand.

You might be surprised that despite all this we were actually in a very funny mood and laughed about the whole thing alot. Dinner was at a cute little resturant in Aguas Calientes where we all kind of celebrated with a beer or a glass of wine. We all had to be in bed early though because we had to wake up early the next morning (4AM!) to get on one of the first buses to Machupicchu and insure our tickets to Huayapicchu. (They only allow 400 people a day up on Huayapicchu.)

Day 5 We made it! Machupicchu!:

We´ll skip the part about waiting in lines for an hour to get on the bus at 4:30 in the morning. The early morning mist was just lifting off the tops of the mountains as we walked into site. They keep it very well groomed and clean there; you can´t bring in any food or disposable water bottles. Felix allowed us to take all the pictures we could stand before beginning his tour. We began by getting in a circle and holding hands (the circle represents the earth and sun and continuity of all living things) and taking a moment to appreciate where we were and what this beautiful place means. Felix is actually indigenous himself and as such a descendant of the Inca
so this tour was very special to him, you could tell. The tour lasted about 3 hours and we walked all over the site, except in the middle because the site itself is apparently sinking. The mechanics and thought that went into the physical aspect of this sacred city is incredibly impressive. Obviously much as been restored, but there are many original walls whose architechture is astounding compared to the later restored walls. The rooms and different temples all have there special purposes. Machupicchu itself was a place for the elite, the religous leaders, and for the girls that were to be sacraficed. (Being sacraficed was an honor in which you prepared for your whole life.) As you look around yourself as you stand at Machupicchu, all you can see is the surrounding mountains covered in a thick, green forest. The Inca chose to build their sacred city in this exact spot for a couple of different reasons: there was a spring in which they could irrigate their fields and bring clean water down to the city with, and the mountain range surrounding it looks like a face turned up (mother earth) and of course Inca lore.

After a quick snack, it was time for the famous hike up Waymapicchu. Its 800 steps straight up. There are some places that are so steep you have to use your hands to help crawl up. - On a side note, this part of the tour would definitely be closed off anywhere else in the world. There are several places that are just plain scary and dangerous becaue you climb up stairs that are narrower than your foot is wide and is right alongside the edge of the mountain that you could definitely fall off of in one slip.- No worries though, we made it up that day and back down and to our knowlegde no one fell off...while we were there. The climb is hard and we had to take a couple of breaks and just when you think you can´t go higher the stairs continue on. Finally you crawl through a cave and when you come out the other side you are standing on the top with a panoramic view of Machupicchu and everything else. We were told by several guides and people who have done the trek before that you feel something very special and unique when you reach the top. Its absolutely true. Dana and I agreed that we felt a strong sense of being ¨home¨ or the feeling of being part of something bigger, universal. There was also this overpowering feeling of love- love for the environment that is so important everyday, love for yourself for actually getting your butt up that dangerous staircase after days of previous hiking, and more than anything love for the people who helped get you up there -everyone at home, reading this blog supporting us.

It was a long and even scarier hike back down the mountain but we made it. From there is was all downhill. Down from Machupicchu on the bus, then the train, and eventually the car back to Cusco where we find ourselves again. We are currently resting, sort of, and preparing for the next step.

(Dana and Allison both worked on this particular post so if there are any discrepancies with the I´s and names it was Dana who got sick on day 2 and Allison with the hurt ankle. Also we are both terrible spellers and apologize for any words not spelled correctly. It took a while to sum up our thoughts and then type them out. Enjoy!)