Haven´t written in awhile, the last 10 days in Chile were really crazy and I just haven´t had a chance. I went to Buenos Aires from March 16 - 19. It was pretty cool, although I think it would have been more fun with a group of people. I went sola because I really wanted to see the city. It seems like a nice city but as far as touristy things to do, there aren´t many. Then my mom arrived in Chile on March 23, and I proceeded to get deathly ill with tonsilitis and was confined to my couch for about the first 4 days she was in town. Then my dad arrived on the 26th and I finally started to feel better. I left Chile on the 29th, pretty sad to leave but so happy that I had such a good time while I was down there. I met so many interesting people and made friends that I know will be life long. But it´s hard without my brujitas :(
Late at night on the 29th I arrived in Lima, Peru, where I met up with my friend Brittni from Minneapolis. We stayed over night in Lima and then flew to Cusco the next morning. Cusco is a really beautiful colonial type city. There are mountains surrounding it on all sides and some of the views from rooftops are spectacular. My only complaint is that Cusco is VERY touristy, therefore anyone not looking to be of Incan descent will get hassled on the street. And I mean hassled. At one point we were surrounded on all sides by people selling different things (necklaces, art, hats, etc.) It does get very overwhelming and annoying at times.
On April 1st we began our Machu Picchu trek. We had to meet at the tour office at 5:45 am. The bus ride took about 3 hrs (stopping for breakfast along the way) and finally at about 10:00 we began our trek. The first few hours were pretty simple, not too steep, but then it began to get steeper and steeper, until finally after lunch it was pretty much straight vertical. It was really tough for me. The second day was even worse with us climbing over 1300 meters. The sun was so hot and it was actually really awful. Several times I considered catching the train back to Cusco. I wasn´t sure if my body would physically allow me to finish the trek. I made it however, with the help of our guide John Cesar, who was excellent at motivating me (as well as really cute :)) Finally at the end of day 2 it proceeded to rain all night, and into most of day 3. Day 3 wasn´t as bad, I was able to keep up with the group most of the day and we only walked for about 5 hours. Then we stopped at our campsite where there were hot showers (!) , beers, and salsa dancing until the late hour of 10:30 pm. The next morning we had to get up at 4:00 am and walk 2 hours to Machu Picchu. The trail was pretty flat and easy with the exception of the Gringo Killer (a set of stairs so vertical you basically had to crawl up them on hands and knees). After 4 days and 33 kilometers, we finally arrived at Machu Picchu, and to our disappointment it was so cloudy we couldn´t see anything! There were some extremely upset people, myself included. But after about 2 hours things started to clear up and we could finally see. After a short tour, we had free time, so I just walked around and took about 200 pictures. After I´d had enough of Mach Pich, I took the bus down to Aguas Calientes with some other group members and got some well deserved beers.
So anyway, tomorrow we are on our way back to Lima, then Brittni goes home, and I head off to Quito, Ecuador.
