3 Days of Machu Picchu (Part 2)

Brit and I rode on this cramped van for a hour and a half, although I was half asleep the whole time. I finally became coherent when we reached Ollantaytambo.

We drove and drove up to a ascent of 4000 meters in the mountains untill finally the driver stoped off on the side of the road in a turn off. The driver and guide named Oscar unloaded and gave us all helmets, gloves, and a bike. The only instructions we recieved was "stay on your right side of the road".

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.

A couple people from the tour and Brit (on the right) eating our fabulous sack lunches consisting of two sandwiches, one with cheese, one with a single slice of ham, a bannana, juice, a nasty granola bar, and a piece of chocolate.

Our hospaje was a simple room with a bed. No hot water. Our dinner consisted of milanesa chicken, papas fritas, and rice.

Brit and I fell asleep to the noisey sounds of the other tour groupers drinking the night away.

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3 Days of Machu Picchu (Part 1)

So to recount what has taken place over the last few days is going to be a long story. As I left off, Candice and I had booked a 3 day adventure at the Loki hostel where we were staying.

A picture of Candice walking up the stairs to the Loki hostel on arrival in Cusco.

The next morning we were to be getting up at 630 am in order to be picked up from the operating company at 8am. Turns out that Candice got sick during the night. Her stomach was uneasy and she was puking throughout the night. We were sharing a dorm room with two girls named Brit and Cathrine who were absolutely wonderful in helping us to find a doctor and who later turned out to be our spanish translators. Cathrine is an English girl our age who has been in Peru for a couple months doing volunteer work in a hospital. She knew someone to call and quickly had an English speaking doctor on their way over to the hostel to diagnose Candice.

While all that was going on, Brit and I worked on trying to get a refund for the tour we had all booked. We waited for our guide to show up at 8 and tried to figure out what we were to do considering it was evident that Candice would not be able to go. The doctor diagnosed her with gastric enteritis, a bacterial intestinal infection treatable with oral antibiotics.

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.

How great were our new friends who had only known us for 24 hours and yet so willing to act as such a team.

So I split off from Candice and on I went...

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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.

Leia Mais…

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

Somehow I got talked into jumping off a cliff.

I´m hanging on tight...

Haha, she has no idea that I´m scared shitless.

Me.

Candice.

Our victory pose.

Okay, okay so it wasn´t that bad. Just really cold. The view was awesome and I lived to tell about it.

Off to Cusco tomorrow. Ciao!

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Lima, Peru; On Foot in Miraflores

It was a little hard to sleep last night. It was a little chilly, and the street was a little noisey. I changed accomidation today to the Flying Dog Hostel. I spent most of the day walking around Miraflores. I walked down to the coast where I snapped some photos. The beach here is very expansive, and is far down from the cliffs of Lima. There were many surfers out. There was a neat mall called the Larcomall built into the cliffs over the beach.

At the park above the beach.

The cliff mall. Larcomall.

I had lunch in a local resturant accross the street where I sat and talked to other American travelers. Tonight I´m going to share a taxi with them to the airport when I go meet Candice. They gave me some really good advice about Cusco and Machu Picchu. I am excitied to leave Lima, as I find I do with every big city. My impression of Lima at this point is that it has very little to offer besides crowded streets and smog.

A church by the hostel.

A Starbucks in every country...

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Lima, Peru

Hi. Im alive. It always makes me nervous arriving at places so late at night. I didnt want to risk my safety so I took the official taxi from the airport and had the driver take me to a reasonable hotel. I am in Miraflores of Lima. I think this place is called the El Executivo. I am 3 hours ahead of you people back home and its 2am here. Surprisingly, Im not freezing my ass off. Not particularily as cold as I thought. Around 63 degrees. My phone is able to recieve text messages, but apparently I cant make calls or send any out for some reason.

Anyways, tomorrow Candice is comming. Good night.

Leia Mais…

Peru 2009

MY 5th wonder of the world. Whew. I've got two more after this one.

So Candice is coming with me on this little ten day adventure. I am leaving this Sunday Aug 9th, and she is coming on Monday. We couldn't get on the same flight because, well that's a really long story. I was originally supposed to be going on this trip as a school project to bring medical supplies to people in the Amazon jungle, but the whole thing became a mess and I was stuck with a plane ticket. Anyways, I think I am still going to have a blast.

We are arriving in Lima, the capital of Peru. We are not going to be there long because we want to get to Cuzco where we are going to embark on a hiking/camping deal to get to Machu Picchu. We are prepared for the trip as we have bought new hiking shoes, water purification tablets, first aid kit, flashlights, sleeping bag, wool socks, waterproof jacket, protein bars, and of course camera. This trip is a little different because I am actually going to be camping. And of course whatever we bring in our packs, we must take on the hiking trip. It is crucial to pack light!

After Cuzco, we are going to either Lake Titicaca (yes, said exactly like "titty" lol), or we may just head back over to Lima and spend a day or two there. I hear they have some nice beaches.

So that's it... Leavin' in 6 days... write ya'll from Peru!

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