Here are are some random pictures of Peru and more of Machu Picchu. Unfortunately, I can faithfully say that I won't be traveling to Peru again. I did have a good time, and while Machu Picchu was marvelous, I was not impressed with the culture or food. Machu Picchu truly is a once in a lifetime experience.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Farewell Peru
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Back in Lima
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Machu Picchu
Our hike from the town below at Aguas Calientes started at 3 am when it was still dark. We climbed up over a hundred stairs to get up to the entrance. As you can see from our sweaty faces, we made it to the entrance having adequately gotten enough cardio.
Monday, August 17, 2009
3 Days of Machu Picchu (Part 3)
Brit and I woke up at 7am for the day of hiking. We ate a bread roll for breakfast and on we went.
After a shower, Brit and I did some shopping and worried about the whereabouts of our friends. They were supposedly supposed to be picked up from the tour agency that morning, but no one seemed to have any answers.
Thankfully, they turned up as a lucky chance because the bus dropped them off but failed to let them know what hotel we were staying at. By chance, our tour guide saw them wandering around the town.
After another meal of chicken milanase, papas fritas, and rice, the four of us decided upon waking up at 3am to start the climb to Machu Picchu. Apparently in order to make the really big hike up to the top of Waynu Picchu, you had to be at the front entrance at opening because they only let 400 visitors up a day.
Well good night.
3 Days of Machu Picchu (Part 2)
Brit and I before we started.
Our whole group ready to take off...
Here are some pictures of the ride down. It was actually a lot of fun. The air was fresh and the views were amazing.
We were actually riding all the way down to where you can see the river in this picture.
Aren't we sexy in our helmets?
Our ride ended at the bottom of the mountain where we had lunch and stuffed ourselves back into the van. They drove us along a one lane, extremely narrow, dirt road on the edge of a cliff over looking the river untill we reached Saint Theresa. Definately not much to say about Saint Theresa, a shit hole basically.
The street outside our hospaje.
Random cute dog.
3 Days of Machu Picchu (Part 1)
There was a bit of confusion with the tour guide, but we finally arrived at the acceptance that we would not get a refund at all for anything, Catherine would stay behind with Candice to be picked up the next morning for Aguas Calientes, while Brit and I would head out on the biking and hiking tour to Aguas Calientes.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Cusco, Peru
Just checking in from Cusco. We arrived really early this morning from Lima. Half the day was spent being sick with nausea and dizziness from the altitude. Candice and I found that drinking Coca Tea, as the locals do, is a herbal remedy to the altitude sickness. Now at evening, I am feeling great and ready for tomorrow´s adventures.
The day in Cusco today was spent enjoying the sun, scenic street scenes, and quaint mountain town feeling of this city. We went to the center and visited the cathedral and did some shopping. I tried a popular drink called "Inca Kola", very appropriate I know, while watching the children chasing the pigeons at the fountain. It was nice to have a somewhat relaxing day today so that our bodies aclimitize and because we just have no clue as to the days to come.
We booked a guided tour today in which what we know thus far is that we are taking a bus for 1 hour and 40 minutes to an elevation of 4000 meters in the mountains. At this point we will mountain bike down to 2000 meters where we will stay over night in a very small mountain town. There we can enjoy the water fall and hot springs. The next day we have a 6 hour hike to the next town Aguas Calientes where we spend the night. The last day we hike up to Machu Picchu. Then we get back to Cusco via train and bus.
I say this all very unassured because in our briefing tonight, we didn´t really receive the fine details of our expedition so we have no idea what to expect.
So I´m sure we are not going to have internet for the next three days, so I will let you all know how this turns out. (I wish I could upload my pictures, but the internet here is too slow.)
Goodnight.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Lima, Peru; Paragliding
Hola! Today I didn´t wake up till noon. Candice and I went out last night with some people from the hostel. We managed to stay out till 4am on a Monday in Lima where normally everything shuts down early. We went to a nightclub where they played everything from House music to songs from Dirty Dancing. Very interesting choices of musica, lol. Anyways, it was dead and us and the other 5 people who came out managed to be the life of the dance floor.
I was so exhausted, I managed to sleep though the hair dryer and all the commotion made from the other girls in our dorm room, including their converse shoes hitting the wooden floor making our bunk bed rattle.
Candice and I started the day sharing a cab to Central Lima. (Sorry more pictures later, camera died while trying to upload.)
We took a walk down to the coast line after central Lima.
Lover´s Park
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Monday, August 10, 2009
Lima, Peru; On Foot in Miraflores
The cliff mall. Larcomall.
A church by the hostel.
A Starbucks in every country...