2500 bone crunching steps

                     I realize I didnt finish the last post and left you all in suspense. I havent forgotten! Decided to write about the Inca Trail while it was still fresh on my mind. The Lonely Planet says that the trail has ¨2500 bone crunching steps¨ it felt like twice that, but we all survived. The Incans loved their stone steps, we walked for 4 days up and down steps summiting mountains. I am so glad that I did it! Glad it´s over as well. I think it made the experience of Machu Picchu so much more intense because it was like we walked 4 days to get there. While hiking I kept thinking of this Donald Miller quote from A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, which is in regards to him hiking the Inca trail ¨The pain made the city more beautiful. The story made us different characters then if we´d showed up at the ending an easier way. It made me think about the hard lives so many people have had, the sacrifices they´ve endured , and how those people will see heaven differently from those of us who have had easier lives.¨
                   So here´s a quick breakdown of the hike:  
Day 1-  We left at 530am.  First day hiking was pretty easy. We hiked for 2 hours stopped and had lunch and then hiked for three more. The food was so impressive there were always 2 to 3 courses. A soup and then a main dish and sides and then sometimes hot jelly for dessert. It was relatively flat on day 1 just a few stone stairs here and there- a little preview of what was to come. This was the first time I saw the porters in action. Oh my gosh I am in awe of them-they were carrying 50 plus lbs of equipment (tents food etc) they even had a small table and chair set that we ate our meals on, and would run up the path ahead of us to get everything set up before we got there. Never ceased to be amazed by these men.

Day 2
This was the hardest day (possibly the most physically challenging thing Ive ever done). The first 5 hours were uphill! We climbed (by climb I mean walked very slowly) to 13, 700 feet, up the thousands of stairs to get to the top of Dead Womans Pass (the name of the really high mountain we summited). The altitude was fierce, I felt my heart racing and was out of breath every few steps.  We had a really nice guide named Nayruth who walked behind us and kept saying take your time, your supposed to enjoy this, you have all day, this is not a stressful activity. It felt great to be at the top, beautiful views and a sense of accomplishment that only comes when you push your body to the limits. We had a little ceremony to thank Pachamama (mother earth in Quechua) involving rocks, coca leaves and blowing breathe to each mountain. We had a much easier  2 hours downhill hike full of lovely stone steps and arrived at the campsite in the afternoon with plenty of time to crash and relax. It was the most beautiful place to camp, right in the middle of the Andes. Was on top of an old Incan cemetery so there were some spooky ghost stories too.

Day 3
We covered a lot more ground on Day 3 (16km) but it was not near as steep as the day before. Beautiful scenery on relatively level ground = my favorite hiking day.  We hit two mountain passes but none as tall or as steep as Dead Womans Pass. I had a lot easier time really noticing and appreciating the beautiful Andes mountains as I hiked, we did a lot of group singing while we hiked too.  Saw some really cool ruins this day. Food continued to be incredible (ie fresh quinoa soup, fried chicken, potatos etc). Day ended with a little ceremony to thank our porters-I continued to be impressed with them-those dudes work hard. 


Day 4-Machu Pichu
We really wanted to make it up to Wayna Picchu which is this mountain top next to Machu Pichu--its like the post card shot people always take of Machu Picchu. Most people that do Inca Trail dont usually do Wayna Picchu (i see why now) because only the first 250 people are allowed up the mountain top so people get up really early to wait in line to go. We were about two hours away from Machu Picchu so we needed to wake up extra early. We woke up at 330am had breakfast at 4 then went to get in line at the control station that opened at 530. We were the second group in line and we knew we had to hurry to get to Wayna Picchu in time. So we power walked-jogged to the sungate which is 6 km at 530 in the morning. Yep its still dark outside so we were wearing headlamps and running through the trail in the dark. We all made it to the sungate exhausted (I may have shed a few tears out of exhaustion) and we had about 30 more min to go to get to Machu Picchu. Everything worked out and we got there in time to get the tickets--yay! Our tour guide said that this was the first time she´s ever done Inca Trail and Wayna Pichu. Then we summitted  a huge mountain-more stone steps and it took about an hour of steep uphill climb. The view was breathtaking and totally worth the strain. We get to the very top and sit down to admire the view and we each have been saving a cliff bar for 4 days to eat at the very top. Im opening it and I say Im so excited to eat this Ive been waiting four days, I open it and it jumps out of the package and falls down the mountain. I immediately start crying and laughing at the same time. Its kind of funny now. We hike down the mountain and then Nairuth takes us on a tour of Machu Picchu. It is really spectacular. I was so exhausted I had a hard time enjoying the tour. Afterwards though we got like an hour to just sit and look at it and I enjoyed that, I could just not walk anymore every step hurt-the bone crunching steps had done their job. Took a train and a bus home and were exhausted by the time we got to the hostel. Ive never appreciated a luke warm hostel shower like I did that night.

                                            Day 1, starting the hike

                                           Day 2-ceremony to Pachamama

                                           Day 2-on top of Dead Womans Pass

                                           Day 4-on top of Wayna Picchu

                                          Day 4-hanging out at the Machu

                                            Staying warm in all our llama gear

                                           Our crew on top of Wayna Picchu


Am currently in Lima, Peru anxiously awaiting one more World Teach Marshall Islands friend, Cassy, to come and join us for our last 15 days of travel. We are heading to some sort of beach town in the North of Peru to spend our last days relaxing and enjoying freedom and unemployment.  As much as I know I will miss the travel lifestyle when I get back, am pretty pumped to be in one place for a while, close to family and not having to carry all my belongings on my back. Can´t wait to see all your faces when I get home. 

Music, Mountains, Meat Sweats, and Meditation

            Disclaimer: this internet connection at the eco yoga park is too slow to upload pics so this post is picture-less. If you only look at this for the pictures check back later, will have them up at some point. So it's been close to two months since the last blog. Lack of blogging has been due to being busy with visitors, laying at beaches, dancing at music festivals, trying to find peace and balance at "yoga camp," and not wanting to be stuck inside writing during this beautiful fall weather in South America. Will try and catch you all up on the last 7 weeks of my life: The main events have been broken down into "M" titled categories. Unfortunately Uruguay did not fit into any of these categories. We went there for 10 days after Puerto Iguazu. First to Punto del Diablo, a sleepy beach town,  and then to Colonia, a cobblestone street cute but touristy town. To sum up Uruguay in 2 words I would say it was tranquilo (calm) and chill.

MUSIC
        We took a ferry from Uruguay to Buenos Aires and bused from Buenos Aires across Argentina and into Santiago, Chile to go to Lollapalooza (a music fest). It was the first time South America has hosted Lollapallooza and so there were some kinks to be worked out (such as having everyone get their tickets at will call and then putting 10 people in charge of thousands of people getting their tickets, and using police on horses as security). However once we got in we had a blast. Lots of dancing to great music: flaming lips, edward sharpe, cold war kids, ghostland observatory, kanye, were some of my favorites. Another personal favorite at the fest: dulce de leche filled churros. Definitely worth the long bus ride to get there.
          While in Santiago I emailed a sweet Chilean girl named Mara we had met in a hostel in Cusco to ask for suggestions on places to go. She was so kind and invited all 5 of us to her house to eat typical Chilean food. I was just so inspired by her kindness to have 5 people into her home 4 of whom she had only met briefly months ago. We ate pastel de choclo, which was like a cream corn casserole with meat in it, it was delicious. Then she took us on a tour of the city-very greatful that she took the time to show a bunch of gringos around her city. Continually wowed by the kindness of the people here.

MOUNTAINS
     After being in the big city for a week we were all anxious to get to the glorious lake district in Argentina. It's the northern boundary of Patagonia and it is one of the most beautiful places Ive ever seen (I know I say that a lot in this blog but its right up there with Iguazu Falls and the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia). We went to Bariloche first, the biggest city in the lake district, known for its chocololate. Celebrated Brigids birthday at a nice restaurant where we ate two pots of fondue (one cheese one chocolate) and I ate the best steak of my life (see meat sweats section for more on steak in Argentina). Went on two beautiful day hikes one was 30 min straight up a hill that ended with a gorgeous view of the 7 lakes.
     After Bariloche we took a two hour bus south to El Bolson, a smaller city in the lakes district famous for its hippie craft fair. We found a hostel that had a wall of windows that overlooked the mountains, one of our mornings there was the first snow of the season and we could lay in bed and see the mountains covered with snow. We did some more relaxing, looking at mountains and shopping at the fair.

MEAT SWEATS
      This title is inspired by the slight sweat on your brow that you get after you have over indulged on steak./ Am not too proud to say that this happened to me more than once in Buenos Aires. I was very lucky and greatful to have my time in Buenos Aires filled with visitors from the states. To be continued......

MEDITATION (to be continued)

Saved by a cheese and mustard sandwich

                 So I´m going a little out of order here and am going to write about Iguazu Falls before the Carnaval post. I´m in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina right now. Wanted to write a quick update (will add pics later) to say we´re all alive and happy in case any of yall saw news of the recent accident at Iguazu Falls. So yesterday the girls and I went to Igauzu Falls on the Argentian side and purchased a ticket for a boat ride. The boat rides are very common; they leave every 20 minutes and run all day. Almost all the travelers I talked to that went to the falls said they did a boat ride and that it was a blast. So we hiked around the falls, which are spectacular-one of the most beautiful things I´ve ever seen in my life-and decided to sit down and eat our cheese sandwiches before going on our boat ride. As we are walking towards the area where you get on the boat we hear sirens and are pushed aside by firemen carrying stretchers. Some people tells us that one of the boats has flipped and that all boat rides are cancelled for the rest of the day. We hiked around and saw helicopters and rescue boats-people being pulled from the water. It was really scary to think that if we hadnt decided to eat our cheese sandwiches before the boat ride that could have very easily been us. I have since found out that 2 people died both American tourists and one of them was a 25 year old American girl, which hit pretty close to home. I am sad for those families. I know the title of this blog is silly and catchy but in all seriousness want to give a shout out to all friends and family to say I love and appreciate you! I´m safe and very happy to be doing what I´m doing and weird shit (sorry mom) can happen anywhere.
                          Before Iguazu falls Argentina we saw the falls from the Brazilian side and it was just as stunning. There are less actual waterfalls but I think you can see more of them because you get a panoramic view of the falls on the Argentian side. While looking at the falls a butterfly landed on my hand and hung out there for a while-there were also several rainbows almost hugging the waterfalls it was very magical.  Will post pictures when I can. Headed today to Uruguay to see some beaches before it turns into Fall weather. Sending you all love, sunshine, rainbows and butterflies!!

oh sweet January River you never cease to amaze me

Rio de Janiero (aka January River in English) was a surprisingly beautiful and warm city. We did a lot of good beach time, ate great fresh fruit and did some dancing for pre-carnaval. Oh guest blogger Diane Spitzfaden is going to finish my Rio post for me (aka Im being really lazy and copying and pasting her Rio post onto my blog with her permission of course. All the writing is hers but Im adding in the pictures and captions). Look forward to guest blogger Carly coming up in a few weeks to blog about Carnaval in Salvador.
So in the words of Diane:
             We got into Rio after a day a half bus ride and instantly fell in love with the city. So many people had warned us about getting robbed and to be super careful because it could be a super sketchy place. We experienced none of that. It is a large city so of course we were cautious but it was such a lively, beautiful and exciting place I could have stayed much longer.
We checked into a really great hostel and ended up spending 10 days there. We were in a friendly neighborhood called Catete that is next to the infamous Copacabana. (We geekily sang that song almost everyday) On our first days there we went to the beaches, walked around and got familar with the city. People in Brasil are just prettier than most. The beaches were white sand and clear blue water. It was a great atmosphere of the city being all around you as you relaxed on the beach. The waves were huge and we got worked several times. You had to swim out past the breaking point, but once you got out there it was so nice to swim in the ocean. We also went to Ipanema beach where the ´rich, beautiful and young´ go (according to our book). It was just down from Copacabana but it was much livelier. Tons of people playing soccer, running, sunbathing, and swimming. The waves were quite bigger there and we watched some surfers and swimmers have a go at it.
      


Guest Blogger Diane sippin her coconut at the beach



Ipanema Beach

    In the city there is tons of street art and it makes the whole thing look so much better. I love how a picture can turn decrepit buildings into works of art. There are famous staircases that we visited by a man named Selaron in a part of town called Santa Teresa. This artist has traveled all over the world and wanted to make his neighborhood more beautiful with art. He started decorating this staircase with tiles and for the past 21 years has continued to re-work it. He has a house right there next to his art and he is out most days talking and working on it. You can send a tile and he will add it into his art. It was an unreal experience. I felt so much joy seeing all this beauty around me done by one man who wanted to improve his city. We decided we are making one to send to him.

Brigid with the artist who tiled the beautiful staircase

Group shot in front of the stairs



Escaleras de Selaron-Beautiful tiled stairs

Enough said

Cool street art in Rio

More cool street art

Love the street art


             We attempted to find a National Park that was supposed to have waterfalls but we got a little lost and ended up at a Botanical Garden in the middle of the city. It was a happy detour and we spent the day walking around and enjoying all the exquisite flowers.
         



Can you see who´s up there? It´s Jesus. This is the view of him from the Botanical Gardens.

Beautiful trees in the Botanical Gardens

                        Rio is the place of Samba dancing so of course we had to experience it! Lapa is another part of town within walking distance of our hostel where the parties happen. We went to a great Samba club and got to watch a live band and some awesome dancers. Everyone tried to teach us, but it´s more difficult than it looks. I ended up just kicking my feet really fast and getting lots of laughs at my attempts. We have yet to master it but we add in our own style with it and it is looking much better! We went to Lapa a few times while we stayed in Rio. Every Friday they shut down the streets and have these huge parties. It was unbelievable how many people were there. It was fantastic! Before we left we had the amazing opportunity to watch some of the Samba schools practice their parades for free. During Carnival, Rio is know to have the most amazing parades, floats, costumes and dancers. However, it´s ridiculously expensive to see them so we were super pumped to get to watch a bit for free! We went to this stadium street (imagine a long road with stadium seating for at least half a mile on each side) to watch the show. There are two ´groups´ in these parades. The people who pay to walk in the parade wearing a specific shirt that they decorate and alter and then the costumed dancers. They play tons of music that everyone knows by heart. One of the guys told us that they start playing the songs about a month before Carnival so that the whole city can sing along. It was astonishing to hear thousands of people singing the same song. They were all so happy and everyone was in the best mood. It was a collective great time had by all. The costumed dancers could Samba so fast you couldn´t even see their feet moving! I was blown away by how dazzling they were in their sparkling outfits. We all wanted to immediately start taking lessons, move to Brasil and be one of those people. Even the men were extraodinary dancers.
                  Victoria, one of Jodi´s college friends, came on our last two days there and we showed her the beach and around town. We ate the tastiest sushi I have ever had and then took the 27 hour bus up to Salvador for Carnival!!!

At the Sambadrone watching Samba practice

Samba practice

Brazil: Huge Country, tiny bathing suits

Due to the encouraging and subtle urgings from various friends and family members to update my blog I´m finally sitting down to update you on all our Brazilian adventures.

BONITO
After Santa Cuz Bolivia we headed towards Bonito Brazil. A Brazilian recommended Bonito to us while we were in La Paz and so we decided to include it on our route. We never got the dudes name or saw him again in La Paz. Three weeks later on our train from Santa Cruz to the border he sat in the seat behind us-weird-its a very small traveling world. To get to Bonito it took a short 19 hour train ride, 2 city bus rides, a 10 hour bus ride and a 30 min walk uphill before we made it to our hostel in Bonito. The 10 hour bus ride was supposed to take 6 hours but our bus got stuck in the mud (its still rainy season) and so I had to push the bus out of the mud. See below.

No but a really a tractor came and pulled us out of the mud not one but 2 times and we had to take an alternate route. When you´re not in a hurry it doesn´t matter too much if you got in at 8 or 12, we were pretty amused by the bus swirling around in the mud.
               We finally made it to our hostel and took the next day to relax at the pool. After that we rented bikes and biked to banheario del sol. The people at the bike rental place laughed at us and told us usually people don´t bike there because it´s so far. We didn´t listen to them and decided to do it anyways thinking it would be a fun and cheap way to see the countryside. After an hour and a half of biking up hills in the blazing sun and we still werent there yet I figured out why they laughed at us and told us not to do it. But we made it anyways and really felt like we deserved to relax once we got there. It was so beautiful, there was a swimming hole full of big fish, small waterfalls, a zipline and parrots. Very Garden of Eden-esque. We had a great day there swimming, eating lunch and ziplining into the water. We got our first exposure to the Brazilian bathing suit. For the women, no matter your size or age it´s a small bikini top with even smaller bottoms-covering your buttcrack is optional. But you know what these people can pull it off here-partly because there are an unusual amount of attractive people here and partly because even the not so typically attractive people wear that small swimsuit with confidence. Men wear speedos or really small and tight boy shorts. You go Brazilians, we need more of that confidence about showing off our bodies no matter how big or old they are in the US.
             We were not too excited about biking back but we made it. On the way back we passed a group of cows that started running alongside of our bikes-it was hilarious and made me wish I had my boots and cowboy hat on. Bonito was beautiful (hence the name bonito) and I would love to come back when I had more time and money to do some of the pricier snorkeling, caving, waterfall repelling tour. After a few days in Bonito we were off to Rio for some beach time. Rio post coming soon. (will update in the next day or so-so check back, it will not be another 6 weeks I promise)


The fishies in the swimming hole at banheario de sol.

Pretty Parrot!! Its claws are digging into my shouler but I´m trying to look like I´m really happy

Biking to banheario del sol.

Rockin some cheerleader moves on the zipline.



Salt and Mosquitos

       First I´d like to give a shout out to my very computer saavy friend Carly for making my blog a little fancier with the map of our travels. I love it.

Salar de Uyuni
After La Paz we headed south to the largest salt flats in the world. We took a 3 day tour to see the salt flats and various colored lagoons, this was by far the coolest thing we´ve done all trip. Possibly one of the neatest things I´ve ever seen. We kept saying that we felt like we were on another planet or that we had fallen into a Dr Seus book.  It was once a salt lake that dried up and left miles and miles of salt. It´s so flat and white that it messes with your perspective, see funny photos below. We hiked up to the top of the fish island which was an island full of cacti and when you looked down onto the salt flat it looked like a huge mirror and you could see the reflection of the mountains and the clouds on the ground it was breathtaking. That night we stayed in a salt hostel. Somehow salt was mixed into the mortar and so there were salt walls, salt beds, salt floors. Most of you know how much I love salty foods so this place was pretty much a dream come true. I licked the wall to make sure it was really salt, it was! Next day was a lot of car time. We were out of the salt but still in the desert. It was strange to be in the car for hours not on a road and not passing any towns or signs etc. We came to a lagoon that was full of flamingos. There are 4 different species of flamingos that live in these lagoons, we´re talking thousands of flamingos in the middle of the desert, beautiful and strange, like I said Dr Seus book. Last day of the tour we woke up early to go sit in some natural thermal bathes and watch the sunrise. Then we drove to a bright green lagoon in front of a volcano. The lagoon had some sort of mineral in it that made it glow green. The fog was rolling over it as we arrived and the fog was green too, once again so beautiful and otherworldly.

Surviving the Bolivian Jungle
From Salar de Uyuni we headed  North to Trinidad to work for 2 weeks at Chucchini a wildlife conservation center. Although it did not turn out the way we had hoped I cannot say enough nice things about this place. The family was so kind and welcoming and the reserve was beautiful, we just happened to come during the rainy season which also means mosquito season. So we started off with a bang by taking 3 overnight bus rides in a row and then took a cab to Chucchinni. The cab dropped us off and said Chuchinni is 2 more kilometers and that he couldnt drive there because the road was too bad. So we put on our packs and started walking. Turns out it was more like 5 km and yes the road was very bad and full of water. We waded through knee deep puddles while being swarmed by mosquitos. When we got there the family was so shocked to see us, they said how did you get here? The men are in town waiting to take you here by boat. Apparently they had sent this news to us in an email but since we had been on buses for 3 days we hadn´t checked it. So we started out like rockstars-the family was very impressed that we had arrived on foot. The swarms of mosquitos we encountered on our walk continued to swarm us for the next 6 days. We´re talking 50 to 75 bugs on your body if you stand still for a second outside. We attempted work the first day and put on long pants and a long tshirt and they loaned us hats with mosquito nets. We did some manual labor, clearing the area type work, which wasn´t bad, it was the mosquitos that were so bad. We realized later on that these bolivian mutant mosquitos can bite through clothes and so after that one day we were just covered in bites. (I´ll spare you pictures) We explained to the family that we loved their home but we needed to leave early due to the mosquitos. They were so kind and understanding and told us that they wanted us to enjoy chuchini and wanted us to stay and not work. They then proceeded to get out their homemade liquor (bolivian moonshine) and their guitar and have a celebration with us because they said they were so greatful we had traveled so far to be with them. So we ended up staying 6 days and not working. The highlight of the week were the boat trips-because when you´re on a boat with a motor there are no mosquitos. We also got to see some cool animals, a prehistoric bird, turtles, snakes, alligators. At night Ibis (the son that´s a vet) took us on an alligator tour in which we go out on the lagoon and he shines a light looking for the orange glow of a gator eye. Then he drives the boat right next to it and pulls the gator out of the water! You hold it by the throat so it won´t bite you-dont worry mom they were little gators (Having some issues with the pics will put them up soon). We caught two and named them Seymour and Reynaldo, they spent the night at Chuchini and then we set them free. After Chuchini we headed back to Santa Cruz Bolivia to relax and let our bites heal. In the next couple of days we are headed to Bonito Brazil and then to the coast of Brazil. Pretty excited to spend the next month exploring Brazil. Thanks friends and fam for the continued thoughts and emails-miss yall!!

Lago Pachamama

        After Cusco we headed to Puno, Peru which is a town right outside of Lake Titicaca. We took a 2 day tour around some of the islands and learned that Lake Titicaca was formerly named Lago Pachamama which means Mother Earth Lake in Quechua. Rolls off the tongue so much smoother than titicaca so I´ve decided to veer from my usual food inspired blog post titles and dedicate this one to Pachamama. We went to the Uros Islands, also known as the floating islands. The islands are built out of dirt and reeds and then anchored down. The houses are made of reeds and so are the boats. It was really cool, it did seem pretty touristy and Im a little unsure of how authentic it was but still good to see. From there we went to Isla Amantani which was absolutely gorgeous. This was my favorite of the islands that we went to and ít seemed a little more legit than the floating islands because people actually lived there. The four of us stayed the night with a host mom named Gloria that dressed us up in traditional clothing and took us dancing. During the day we went on a hike to the top of the mountain on Amantani. Okay so Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world so it´s already at a very high altitude and hard to breathe, then we decided to hike to the top of a mountain on top of the highest lake. It was tough, but like most things that are tough it was worth it and felt really good at the top. The guide told us about some herb to pick that you rub in your hands and sniff it and it helps open up your lungs, even if it was just the placebo effect it seemed to help. After the hike was the aforementioned dress up the gringos in traditional clothes and dance with them party.
           After our island tour it was time to deal with crossing the border into Bolivia. It was a bit of a pain to try and get a visa at the border while a busload of non American citizens whose lovely governments dont make them pay for a visa wait for us, but we got in!! We went to the copa-copacabana (literally). It´s on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca and enjoyed our first run in with the sweet cheap lifestyle that is Bolivia. We can be happy and healthy on about 10 to 15 US dollars a day including hostel and food. From Copacabana we bused to La Paz to obtain Brazilian visas. After 4 trips to the embassy we all have successfully received our visas and were so happy we took a victory picture outside of the embassy. A guard with a gun promptly told us we were not allowed to take pictures of the embassy, woops! La Paz has been a pretty fun place to hang out for 5 days. It´s HUGE! It´s the capital but I didn´t expect it to be quite so big. It´s noisy and crowded, but also has its charms. There are parks dispersed throughout as well as jugo ladies that squeeze fresh orange juice.  La Paz is famous for a bike trail called death road, we opted not to do this activity, your welcome Mom. The other highlight of La Paz for me was the street food, aka people that sell food from a cart. You can get a freshly cooked empanada for the equivalent of 50 cents. We continue to meet wonderful friendly interesting people that are slowly shaping our trip. We´ve recently decided to go to Bonito Brazil after a very convincing recommendation. This will probably be my last blog post for about 3 weeks. Tonight we are headed to Salar de Uyuni (salt flats) and then to volunteer at a wildlife conservation center outside of Trinidad Bolivia for 2 weeks.  http://www.boliviabella.com/chuchini.html

Boats made out of reeds on Uros in Lake Titicaca. (Im not in this picture because you had to pay extra to get on the boat)

sheep wearing earrings on Uros

At the top of Isla Amantani in Lake Titicaca. Striking some warrior poses



Mama Gloria helping me get dressed



On top of Isla Taquile in Lake Titicaca

Sandboarding and Guinea Pig Croquettes

            After Lima we headed south to Ika and took a cab to a small town called Huacachina. It´s a little town in the middle of the desert that has a small lagoon. There´s all this life that´s sprouted out around the water. Plants palm trees and of course hostels and restaurants. The main attraction is sandboarding. We rented sandboards from an old man who told us to call him Señor Lengua (Mr Tongue) because in addition to the sandboards he told us old Peruvian legends about Huacachina and Cusco. The sandboarding turned into sand sledding due to fear of a broken appendage at the beginning of the trip. Still very fun.
             After 3 days of lounging around Huacachina we took our first overnight bus to Cusco. The bus was very classy complete with movies pillow blanket and meals. The scenery was unbelievable. Our main mission in Cusco was to book our Machu Pichu trek in June which we accomplished. After we did that we wandered around the city. We wandered very slowly due to the altitude, which took about 3 days to get used to. I didnt mind an excuse to relax and walk slowly around a city. I loved the vibe of Cusco, people have a lot of pride in their city, when you ask someone if they´re from Peru they would say Soy Cusceña (I am  a Cuscan). Kind of like when if you asked a Texan if she was from the United States.
            As far as food goes Peru is famous for guinea pig and alpaca meat. Well we wanted to try guinea pig so we ate it the woosy yet delicious way- at a fancy restaurant in the form of a cheesy potato croquette. It was delicious, might be brave enough to try it on a stick on my next go around in Cusco. Another one of my favorite things about Cusco are the jugo ladies (juice ladies). At markets there are rows of jugo ladies with all sorts of fresh fruit that you choose what you want and they blend it fresh right there. 
          Currently in La Paz Bolivia will do another post soon about touring islands of Lake Titicaca which we did last week. Next up for us are the salt flats in bolivia. Thanks for all the warm emails and messages sure do miss all of yall but am still loving this travel lifestyle. It is so fun to wake up and not have any plans and live in the present and soak up whatever the day has to offer.

Diane and I hiking up the hill pre sandsledding

Sunset over the lagoon in Huacachina, yea it really is this pretty

Katrina, Brigid, Diane and I in Cusco

Baby Alpaca in Cusco!

Ceviche is delicious

Well since my mom and brother had both written the only posts on my blog I decided it was time to compose one myself. We got into Lima on the 30th and it felt so good to see a driver from our hostel holding up a sign with our names on it. We stayed 5 nights at a hostel in Barranco, a suburb of Lima and have quickly adjusted to our new lifestlyes of being ¨funemployed.¨ We´ve done a lot of eating delicious ceviche of all different types of ocean animals. I dont discriminate, fish clams shrimp squid its all good when you cut it up and add spicy lime sauce. Theres also been a lot of relaxing, either in hammocks at the hostel or the ocean is across the street. On New Years we went to a bbq at the hostel and then out dancing. It´s challenging being thrown back into the spanish speaking world but I´ve been loving it and my spanish is slowly getting better. We explored the city a little bit without much of an agenda. Luckily my friends dont mind wandering around new places at a leisurely pace like I do. Theres a cheezy quote posted on our hostel wall that says ¨When you don´t know where you´re going any road will get you there¨ I thought it was appropriate for the beginning of our trip. We´re just soaking it all in right now and talking to other travelers to figure out where all we want to go. This afternoon we are headed to Ika where we´ll take a cab to huacachina. Its a super small town but its supposed to be beautiful sand dunes with a lagoon. Will keep you posted on how sandboarding goes.