Cuzco y mas

At last we have completed our trek to Machu Picchu after months of planning! It was the most difficult (and longest at 4 days) hike I have ever done! The second day we climbed about 1,000 feet and it was about 6 hours of hiking straight uphill. Jess and I were the first of our group (aside form the porters of course) to arrive at camp- Ramon arrived about an hour later. I am going to put up a few pictures from the journey, which was ridiculously beautiful. We kept repeating that we couldn't believe how amazing the scenery was. The only downside was that we really didn't have enough time in Machu Picchu on the last day. I definitely want to go back and just chill on the lawn capturing the energy.

When we returned to Cuzco after the trek, our hostel in San Blas had no water- which is apparently a frequent problem in this neighborhood. This was especially shitty since we hdan't showered in 4 days, except for baby wipe showers. Yesterday we switched hostels, however, and took loooong, hot showers. Amazing.

Cuzco is an awesome city, full of hippies from around the world. There are plenty of great places to eat, and even more places to go out and listen to live music. Our first night here (before the trek), we saw a small band that consisted of a singer/guitarist/accordian player, a clarinet player, and a stand-up bass player. They played a sort of jazz fusion type music with heavy french influence. Hard to describe but it was incredible! Our second day here consisted completely of preparation for the trek- buying last minute necessities and packing our backpacks as lightly as possible.

We had a great group on the trek; us, 2 other Americans (of asian descent), 2 Brazilians, 4 Argentinians, and 2 Austrians who were around 60 years old and rather high maintenance. We had a blast even though we were constantly sore and exhausted. Now I am battling the repercussions- feeling still pretty weak and tired.

Tonight we are taking an overnight bus to Puno- the starting point for Lake Titicaca. We are hoping to do a homestay on a floating island, as well as one of the other islands. Traveling with Ramon and Jess has been awesome- we have been cooperating very well and been keeping up good communication for our needs. por suerte!

Until next time, besitos y abrazos fuertes!