A day in La Paz

Spent a full day wandering the busy streets of La Paz today. A mid-morning saltena (baked pastry filled with meat and spices, carne is the best) which I really like alot. The girls aren't as fond of them though and had a jello tart and chocolate pudding. Stopped into the Museum of Musical instruments which was full of guitars, charangas, drums and even a few mandolins. There were a couple of display instruments that the girls enjoyed playing with, no violins though. I did some charanga inquiring there and would purchase one later in the afternoon! I will be looking into lessons in Argentina.

We stumbled into the presidential plaza and sat for a while while Meghan and Helen fed the pigeons, tons of pigeons, some eating out of their hands. Also walked through witches alley (no pointed hats) where women were selling offerings of good luck, trinkets, herbs and llama fetuses! Very interesting to see but llama fetuses don't pack well so we moved on. The unusual continued after dinner when Debby and I were offered an apertif. Our choices.... a couple standards which looked good, but then our waiter pulled out a large jar wrapped in cloth. Bolivian Pisco he called it and when the cloth came off I felt we were staring at a boa constrictor that filled the jar. After we oogled at the snake and confirmed that this was a real drink, we went for it. I rationalized it by eqating it to tequila with a worm, plus we had passed on the llamas!

Mucho Mejor

The view on the way to Coroico was beautiful but unfortunatly me and Helen were sick. I didnt eat anything and my stomache hurt like crazy because of the road. Once we got to our lodge we got to swim in the pool(it was freezing) and then my stomache started to hurt again. It hurt all the way up to when I was about to go to bed and but the good thing was I fell asleep right away. I woke up the next morning starving because I had only eaten french fries for dinner but much better. We ate breakfast at the little restaurant next to the hotel and went to town. We had a stove in our room so we could cook everything we needed. In town we got all the groceries(using our limited spanish) and decided that we wern't hungry for lunch and went back to our hotel. Helen and I had a swim after that and then I went up to the Salu Mayu. The Salu Mayu was the meditation room that noone used so I could go there basically whenever I wanted. I would lie on the bed(which was a pile of blankets and foam matresses) and sometimes I would sit on the floor. I would go there when the birds or my sister were driving me crazy!!! The birds were very pretty with bright yellow tails but they made tons of racket. Every morning we got woken up by 5 million flocks of birds flying out our window. Our hotel was above the city and it contained lots of property. It was a 3 minute hike to the Salu Mayu one was a 5 minute hike another and a 10 minute hike another!!! You never got bored going the same way 5 different times. Helen and I spent hours walking around, we went the shortest way up and the longest way down!!! We cooked our own meals (that were very good) and everyone took turns in the kitchen. Today we were very sad to leave but we took a bus back to La Paz and are at a nice hotel. Ohh I forgot to mention it. TODAY IS MY DADS BIRTHDAY!!!!!! We are going to buy him a Charanga for his birthday and we get to go to a show tonight!!! First birthday in South America was pretty good. We cant wait to have another one.

Slowing Down

Yesterday we took a beautiful trip down into the Altiplano of Bolivia, to a small town called Coroico. This is the first time we've ever just shown up somewhere with our bags and waited for a bus to take us. Fortuneately, we didn't wait but 1/2 an hour to fill a car. I'm so glad it was a 8 passenger minivan-like vehicle. The path of the vehicle was down the beginning of the "Most Dangerous Road in the World". The government has now paved a new road across the valley - but our road did not feel like a walk in the park. There were several crosses around every bend and a few in places I couldn't quite figure out what had happened (perhaps an animal in the road or something?).

When we finally arrived into town, our driver found us a taxi driver to bring us up to our hotel. It's a good 20 minute walk to town from here (all downhill - I'm sure the return trip would take us a good 40 mins, but it's only a $15-20 Bol.($2-2.50US) taxi ride back - I'm pretty sure we'd never walk back. :)

This morning, we went into town and tried our hand at grocery shopping. We did okay, I think. Probably spent about 100 Bolivanos (@ $15) on what we think will be 2 days worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner (minus the beer we'll be buying from the restaurant here b/c they don't really sell beer in the bottles to us foreigners - there's a deposit on the bottles).

The afternoon is consisting of the girls taking a dip in the pool, Mike spending some time in the sun, and me in a hammock with my book - minus this foray inside to type a note to the blog - which can't be posted until we are somewhere with internet (for our hotel doesnt' have it).

The views out of our little cabin are beautiful. They would be moreso if the farmers here didn't burn their land this time of year to prepare it to plant in the spring. This town is perched 1/2 way down the side of one of the mountains in the Andes. We're experiencing the first really warm afternoon of our trip. The view is hazy but I can tell it is breathtaking when the smoke is gone. Our cab driver this afternoon said it hasnt' rained here in 2 months and that if it would just rain a little it would clear the sky.

We are enjoying the feel of our bare feet on the tile floor (minus sand) and having our windows open to hear the birds calling and the crickets chirping. The girls are taking a nature walk by themselves. I'm thinking about heading back to my hammock with a beer. :)

Crossing the Border

We walked from Peru to Bolivia today - at least the 100 yards right at the border. I don't know why you can't ride across on the bus but you can't and I wasn't about to make a scene, although Meghan and Helen probably would have enjoyed it. The imigration office was uneventful... we had read and heard that we would need proof of travel itenarary and extra photos (which we didn't have) but it went smoothly, just costly. Americanos pay $135 US to cross into Bolivia when other nationalities pay fractions of that. Some sort of retribution for acts that I am not aware of.... Bart, some help here please. Anyway, we stood in our own special line for Americans (proud, not embarassed), paid the cash and here we are!
Our route today followed Lake Titicaca with a stop in Copacabana for lunch, a ferry ride, and then following the giant snow capped peaks that we could see from the Peruvian isles of Amantini and Taquile.
We are in La Paz for the evening. Weren't planning on staying here but we got in a little late and were unable to move on to Croico today. In the short time here in taxis and on foot, I may want to spend an extra day exploring.... we have to pass back through on our way south and may have an extra day.

My Fun and Scary Days

Three days ago, we were sitting on the balcony of a restaurant having drinks on the Plaza de Armas. One guy with a funky on, on the sidewalk below, shouted "OIY!" and then he threw a piece of paper up to us with a rope. We caught it and looked at it. It had a man wearing a mask swinging ropes that had fire on them. It was a fire show.


In the morning two days ago, we sat for a long time in the Plaza Regocijo. A smaller, quieter park than the Plaza de Armas. We were sitting on a bench reading our books when three girls came out holding a small baby llama. Dad took us over there and we got to hold the baby llama while he took our picture with all of the girls. It was fun, the llama was so soft and cute. His name was Pepito.

On that afternoon, we visited the Central Mercado, we also went to the theatre to buy tickets. Later in the night, we went to the show. It was amazing! At the beginning of the show, the actors were out greeting the people there to see the show. Many of them had on masks. There was a baker, his wife and a drunk guy. One guy, without a mask on, had a pretend camera and was going around taking fake pictures of the audience.


The best part of the show was when many guys came out of the curtains wearing stilts with funky clothes on over them and masks. They jumped up into the air and flipped each other over.

The other best part of the show was the acrobatics. There was a small table on the stage with two small pieces of wood mounted on foot long poles hammered into the table. One acrobat climbed up on the table holding onto the boards. He did a handstand on the boards and balanced his whole body on one arm on the board. He was very strong.

Yesterday, we took a bus from Cusco back to Puno. On the way, the tire on the bus popped. It was the tire right below where we (Meghan & I) were sitting. It was scary! The bus leaned a little to our side. We sat on the side of the road while the men tried to find a piece of the bus that had broken off behind us and the other men changed the tire and pumped it up. By the time we reached Juliaca (still 50 minutes from Puno), they decided that the bus could not make the trip. We got on a tiny bus and it took an hour to go to Puno.

Finally, we reached the Mosoq Inn (our hotel). We were very tired and hungry. We went to a close restaurant and we had a big bowl of soup with lots of vegetables. When we got back to the hotel, we made hot tea - but we didn't drink it because we climbed in our comfy beds and fell right to sleep (we drank it this morning!)

Mercado Central

We have spent 2 more days back in Cusco after our trip to the Sacred Valley. These days have been very chill without the schedule of Spanish lessons during the day, we actually promissed ourselves that we wouldn't plan anything and held to it. Not much to write about..... getting some supplies, laundry, feeding pigeons in the plaza, eating & drinking. But there was the Mercado Central!

I wish we had found this place earlier during our stay here. Just off the main tourist scene, making up a large city block is an open air, covered food market. There are a few clothing vendors but the majority is food, veggies, meat, fruit, breads, cheese and grains. My favorite is the meat vendors with an incredible selection of animal parts, all animal parts. Also saw some interesting looking frogs and butterfly or moth coccoons (maybe they go well in omlettes) for sale.

We ate lunch today in the food court section of the market. Rows of tables and benches and stools with women preparing meals. You choose a station by the small menu board above each, if you know the dishes, or by the smiling face waving at you to join her if you don't. We picked a smiling face and were imediately served the best bowl of chicken soup that we have had. After a nice conversation with our host and bench mates we went to visit the Juice Ladies at the other end of the market. With their blendors whirling away behind a pile fruit, you can order any combination of fruit, vegitables, milk (and beer) imaginable. We hit this 2 days in a row and if we were here a couple more days I might experiment with the beer punch but was very happy with my virgin smoothies. Thanks Juice Laddies!

Tomorrow we are heading back to Puno and then on to Bolivia, changing our plans a bit and busing it to Argentina rather than flying.

Saying Goodbye

Today we said goodbye to Ollantaytambo and headed back to Cusco. I really wish we could have stayed because that was probably my favorite town so far. We took the train from there to Aguas Calientes and went to Machu Picchu. The name of the Inca town was acctually not Machu Picchu. Noone knows what the town was called but Machu Picchu is the name of an old mountain because Machu Picchu literaly means Old Mountain in Quechwa. Then we went back to Ollantaytambo on another train and stayed there one last night. This morning we got in a cab and had our driver drive us all the way back to Cusco. We stopped at the Salt Flats (Salinas) and walked around. We all felt the water, IT WAS WARM!!! It felt like perfect water to take a bath in but unfortunatly the place had lots of tourists. The "flats" were squares of salt that hardened when the workers blocked off the water. The workers took shovels to the dry flats and got the salt and carried it back. After "Salinas" we went to Moray. Moray is where the Incas built terraces into the ground for hotter climates to grow different plants. Mom, Dad, Helen and I went down all the way to the bottom of one circle and climbed all the way back up. Going down was definatly much easier than going up because the Incans built bigger stones out of the walls that formed stairs all the way up. The up climb was also really hard because our legs were also really sore from horseback-riding but thats another story... Left is a picture of the salt flats and the right is a picture of Moray. This trip has really been amazing, each day is crazy and not how we expect it to be but we are always ready for the next!!!

I've Lost My Heart to Peru

Machu Picchu was fantastic! Very crowded at the entrance and exits, but there is so much space there you didn't feel it when it opened up. It was kind of fun to keep running into the people we had been on the bus with to Pisac. It was a comforting to see familiar faces in the crowd. We took an amazing walk up the Inca Trail to the Sun Gate - that's where the people who hike the 4-day Inca Trail come out to first set eyes on Machu Picchu. It's beautiful.

A special note: First photo is me in my gifted skirt from Holt and my gifted earrings from Ana. I wanted them to know I was thinking about them. :)

So backing up a bit, we took a bus to Pisac and Ollantaytambo and got off there and went to stay at Winn & Roberto's new hostel (Casa de Wow!). Winn is a girlfriend from West Asheville who has moved to Peru. For those who know her, I am thrilled to report she looks fantastic and radiates a new intense light. She's very happy and it was clear from our time there that this situation suits her perfectly. Winn's parents, Bill and Gatra, were also visiting.
They were such neat people, I am so grateful that we got to spend some time with them. We took a group photo with them before they left.

We rode horses today. We were supposed to be going to the Incan rock quarry. What we didn't know is that the trail is very advanced and not for beginners. Guess how I found out? I fell off the horse on a steep incline because I was pulling on the saddle and pulled it back so hard that it slipped and slid off the side of the horse. That poor horse! Ok, so poor me, really. I fell into a ridiculously sharp bush and one of the thorns punctured my wrist. When our guide, Wider, pulled the 3/4" long thorn out of my arm I had to sit down hard and put my head between my knees. Aside from being sore for riding the horse for 5 hours, my arm throbs and I feel it even when my arm isn't moving. Check out the thorns on this bush!

Okay, so aside from the pain, this place is spectacular. We have officially cancelled our flight out of here. We're going to Bolivia next - we'll head that way at the weekend. In the meantime, we're going to spend more time in Cusco without attending class. I can't wait to wander around the city for a few days!

Intipinku

Today we went to Machu Picchu and climbed to the sun gate. the steps were taller than my knees and were very hard to climb and was very tiring. When we got to the top we found a good rock to lie on. You could see everything from there! On the way back we saw two lizards one had a green neck and the other did not. There were two mountains one was Machu Picchu and the other was Wynah Picchu they mean old mountain and young mountain. We did not climb ether but the sun gate was higher than both.

Aguas Callientes

Our guide Wider, a friend of Winn's, met us at Casa de Wow this morning with the intention of taking us horse-back riding but there was some problem with the horses (stuck in a canyon or something like that). Plan B was a cab ride up one of the valleys to an Incan temple ruin and a couple hour walk back to town. It was a great hike and other than some locals that we passed along the way, we were alone. The trailhead to the temple passed by a small casa and the woman there stopped us and offered cooked maize and beans to us, Wider said it was very customary for such an offering for passers by. After the snack we climbed up to the ruins and had a private tour of the temple. From there we started our descent back to Ollantaytambo, about 3 hours - passing donkeys, pigs, goats, sheep, bulls, cows and puppies. We hung mostly to the side of the mountains, following many terraces for farming and aquaducts that were installed by the Incans, had to forge a small stream in our bare feet. Amazing!
We walked at a good clip because our train to Aguas Calliente was to leave around 1:50. Meghan had the only spill (small scrape on the knee) and we all made it on time to the station.
Peru Rail was a top notch operation with fancy snacks and chocolate served on our 2 hour ride along the Urabamba River, along side the highest snow covered peaks we have seen. It was a treat. I joke that it is like the monorail on our way to Cinderella's castle (Machu Picchu). Aguas Calliente is a tourist town, exiting the train station we had to find our way through a maze of vendors selling their wares but we made it. Tomorrow is the big day - waking before dawn to see Mickey and Minnie!

Ollantaytambo

We just came from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo on a pretty good bus ride that stopped quite a lot and was very nice. We had a buffett lunch(with two helpings of dessert) and went to a lot of ruins that were on the way. Once we got to Ollantaytambo we met our friend Winn who used to live near us in our neighborhood. She owns a hostal named Casa de Wow(house of wow)and we are spending a night here. She has a dog and we are helping in the kitchen tonight cooking stirfry without a restaurants help!!! I love it here because its a nice city, very clean, there are little canals everywhere and you can jump over them. Helen and I played tag on the street while we were walking to the market. The market was really cool and the stuff was really cheap but the livestock(I call it deadstock) was really interesting. The people here eat every part of the animal beacause they think that throwing away food is wasteful but its true. So in the market they had the heads still on the chicken and there were cows tounges and hoofs on the tables. On the way back we ran up the street beacause nothing was dangerous at night. I am sitting typing this on the sofa in the Casa de Wows living room. I hope that tonight I can fall asleep listning to the sound of the water trickling. It has been a very good day and I hope that there will be another good one tomorrow. Tomorrow we will go to machu picchu and there will be a flood of posts. I am so excited!!!!! This is a picture of Helen, Dad and I on the way to Ollantaytambo.

It's Been A While

I have been learning a lot of espanol but still need more. :)

The week in Cuzco passed so quickly, I barely noticed that I hadn't posted to the blog. We have been having second thoughts about leaving on Tuesday for Argentina. Seeing those phenominal mountains of Bolivia made us second guess our want to avoid paying the hideous fee that Americans pay to visit Bolivia (I have heard from Germans, Austrailians and Canadians that it's only the folks from the USA that pay US$135 to enter the country)

Still, we have decided to take our time. I think now that we didn't have any idea how addicting this travel thing could be. I only wish there was a bottomless money pit to spend most of the next year on the road.

So, I think the last time I posted we might have been in Huanchaco. We've done a lot since then but I've been trying to sift through my feelings about this country. There is so much to love about this place.

From Huanchaco we headed south on an overnight bus. We arrived in Lima in the early morning and changed to another bus station and headed to Ica. The hotel we stayed in was charming (El Carmello) and they arranged our day trips. The following morning we headed to Isla Ballestras on a boat. Known as the poor man's Galapagos, these islands (that you cannot disembark on) have sea lions, gigantic pelicans, and penguins. It was neat to see penguins walking around and not in an exhibit.

The next morning, I left (solo) for a tour of Nazca and a sobrevielo (overflight). My guide and I drove for two hours from Ica to Nazca. When we got to the airport, he asked me for my passport. Oooops. Noone had told me that I needed a passport. I was very lucky, he asked the guard for personal favor and they let me fly after all. Whew!

I can't begin to tell you how moved I was by the whole event. It was breathtaking (not to mention stomach lurching). It's taken me a while to process it. The kind of people that the Nazca's must have been is fascinating. We have learned alot about how advanced these cultures were - how it was necessary for the Spaniards to portray them as savages but that they were really an amazing culture with tons of knowledge.

The time in Puno was a little scary with Helen's illness and altitude sickness. We are all hoping that is the end of that. We were able to meet Mike and Meghan on day to and spend the night on a straw mattress on Isla Taquile. Once we hiked to the top of the island and saw the Incan Ruins and the distant Bolivian mountains, I think we were sold on seeing more.

The week in Cusco passed quickly. School was tough. I learned a bunch but it just made me realize how far away I am from mastering this language. I feel much stronger about speaking - but I realize quickly when I screw up (right after I finish my sentence)

This weekend, we are headed to Winn's house in Ollanta and on to Machu Picchu. I am so excited I can barely stand it. The best part is that it's supposed to be warm! That means I can wear my "Machu Picchu Outfit". My earrings from Ana and my skirt from Holt! I promise to post more soon!

Happy Hour

We have been hangin' out in Cusco since Sunday and started a second round of Spanish classes monday. Debby and Helen have class in the morning and afternoon while Helen and I take only a morning class and then get to goof off in the afternoon.... ice cream in a plaza, getting supplies or sitting in a cafe with wi-fi waiting for Debby and Helen to join us for happy hour. We try to perch ourselves in a cafe overlooking one of many plazas here, complete with fountains and great lighting as it turns dark around 6pm.

We are staying with a host family just outside of the downtown in the urbanization La Florida, and the color of the houses and tile roofs remind me of Florida but nothing else. Our family is great, Father Victor is a lawyer and doesn't speak English but his two sons that live at home, Fernando and Carlos both speak english well. It has been nice to get some local perspective on this city and Peru from this family and they adore the girls. Mom has been away all week in Lima. Leo, the live in housekeeper prepares all of our meals and enjoys the girls as well.

Each day after desayuno we take a cab for 3 soles downtown for class 9-11 and then have some time to walk around town before returning to la casa for almuerzo at 2pm. Then we are back in a cab for the afternoon class/helado from 3-5. Dinner with the family at 7pm after happy hour.

We have hit a few ruins nearby, seen a dance performance and visited a museum in our free time, and we feel rather busy here. Classes end tomorrow after only a week and we are off to the Sacred Valley by bus and train.

Tambomachay, Puka Pukara, Q'enqo & Saqsaywaman

Today we all went to see the 4 Incan ruins. Each one you could walk through. The 1st, Tambomachay and the 4th, Saqsaywaman were my favorite. The 1st you could not walk into but at the top you could climb up a small mountain and then climb the big one. At the top of the mountain there were many paths - we took the one that led you back down. There was a waterfall in the rocks that went underground and down to a stream.The 4th ruin had many walls that looked like castles and we walked through them. We went the wrong way once and had to climb over the rope to get out. At the top you could look over the city of Cusco. There were more stairs that you went down and you reached a small valley. Mom and Dad went up more stairs to see what was up there, me and Meghan stayed in the shady grass and looked around. When they came back down, we saw someone performing a video and we got to watch.We clibed back down and our taxi was not there we waited but he did not come me and my dad got tired of waiting so we clibed up another mountaien and mom and meghan came and got us.

Puno and Cuzco

We just got to Cuzco from Puno on one of the best bus rides yet. We got to stop at certain tourist places and look around. I met a Spanish speaking friend on the bus and we got to talk and play on my Itouch which she was enchanted with!!! In Puno, we went to islands on Lake Titicaca and stayed with families. The first island we visited was Los Uros- floating islands. The islands were literally floating on totoro reeds and the houses were made out of them too. I got to go inside them and see all the beautiful skirts that the women wore. Then we went to the Isla Amantani and stayed there one night. We had a really kind family and the food was amazing. We did a hike to the top of the island and saw the sunset which was spectacular!!! After dinner we were getting ready to go to bed and a girl knocked at our door. When she came in I thought that she had brought extra blankets but instead they were clothes for us to dress up in and go dance!!! We danced for about a half an hour and then I needed to go to bed. The next day we took a one hour boat ride to Isla Taquile and hiked up a enormous hill. Once we made it to the top with our group we had lunch. It was delicious!!! Then we met our family while the rest of the group went back to Puno. Our family owned a restaurant so they were more busy in the day than the last one was. We also hiked to the top of Taquile to an Incan Ruin now used as a church by the local people with just our family and stayed there for a while. When we came back down we ate dinner and went to bed.The next day we went back to Puno and came to Cuzco. It was a pretty good week!!! Above is a picture of me in my local clothing with the niece of the family.

Lake Titicaca

We spent the last 3 days visiting the Uros, Amantini and Taquile islands. Meghan and I headed out a day ahead of Debby and Helen on a boat with 20 or so other Gringos. We made a brief stop on the floating islands of Uros - an interesting community of many small floating islands made of reeds. Sadly to say it is very commercialized and I guess we are partially to blame. Then we were off on our slow chug (3 hours) to Amantini where Meghan and I spent the night with a host family -who fed us in their very modest kitchen, dirt floor and open fire. The islands are very scenic with their cobble walks (no cars), terraced farms and simple life. After a late lunch with our family of soup and potatoes we hiked to the highest point of the island to watch the sunset over the lake... it was a sunset topper! Dinner back at the casa and then they dressed us up in traditional clothes and we were off to the "disco-teca" for some dancing with the rest of the group and some locals. Yes, I danced.

The next day we got back on our boat and chugged over to Taquile, a smaller island that was definitely my favorite of the 3. They seem to be protecting their traditions well despite of the tourism which is mostly a mid-day excursion for lunch. Few folks stay over night on that island (I don't know why) and Meghan and I were the only ones of our group to do so. After a group lunch we said goodbye, met our host family for the night and waited for Debby and Helen to arive on another boat from Puno.

After about 3pm the tourist crowd died down, the trinket shops and sidewalk vendors closed up and we had a great time exploring the island. Marco Antonio - 13 old son of the family we stayed with, gave us a private tour to the Incan ruins and temple at the highest point of the island. The walks are all lined by stone walls that have been in existence for ever and the views were georgous. Snow peaks across the lake to Bolivia were hard to keep your eyes off every time they came into view. There was a festival in the main plaza that day and you could hear the music from most places on the island, we stopped by after our hike and felt as though we were special guests on the island (I only saw about 10 other tourists there). Omlette and rice dinner and we were off to early bed after looking at the stars which were amazing - a benefit of the thin air at this altitude.

This morning we had breakfast on the patio overlooking the lake and peaks of Bolivia and then spent a couple hours walking the islands many paths and stumling on a few temples and Incan ruins with no-one around other than the locals. Back on the boat after lunch and we arived in Puno around 4. Will post some more pics soon, ther are a bunch but it was hard to set my camera down!

My Day with Mom

Today Meghan and Dad left early to go to Amantani Island to spend the night. My mom and I did not go because I got really sick and got a throat infection and the doctor said I shouldn't go.

When I was sick, the doctor came to my hotel room. He even had them bring an oxygen tank and put it on my face. It felt like I was in a hospital but I felt a lot better after breathing the oxygen.

The sidewalks here are very small. I could hardly walk on it. When other people were walking towards me, I had to walk into the street.

Mom and I went out to lunch and sat on a little balcony and spied on people below us. We liked to watch the women in their dresses with their aprons and hats. Every single one had their hair in braids down their backs. It was cool, I had never seen anyone dressed that way before.

Mom and I are going to Taquile Island tomorrow to see Dad and Meghan but they don't know that we are coming! They will be surprised!

Thin Air

Sorry for the silence.... we are focusing on breathing her in Puno. Got in on Monday eve after our 18 bus ride (I somehow thought it was only 14 hours) from Ica. We imediately felt the effects of being at 12,000 feet. It was hard to get out of my bus seat which surely has a permanent mold of my a_ _! This picture was early on and not at all how we looked toward the end of the trip.

Helen has come down with a throat infection which we were certain was altitude sickness, but were greatfully wrong. Had a doctor make a hotel call to our room and she is on the mend.

We have been staying close to the hotel for 2 days but I have been venturing out. Puno is a nice town, the city center is compact and easy to walk or $2 Soles will get you anywhere you want to go in a motor-cycle rickshaw which the kids love. I talked my way through a hair cut yesterday (all Spanish) and we have been outfitting ourselves with winter wear.... it's cold at night here.

Meghan and I are going to split off tommorrow for 2 nights on 2 of the lake islands. We will be staying with host families and visiting their small communities. I have been looking forward to this.

Our hotel in Ica was really cool! It had a pool with freezing freezing freezing water. We went exploring for the first time and all we saw were only doors and big open hallways. On our last day, we went really exploring and the first thing we found was this big yellow tower. It had a bridge with peacocks!

Later in the day, we saw many girls going through this little path that showed the back yard. The back yard was amazing! The owner loved animals he had birds like chickens and peacocks and a parrot and parakeets and geese. Right behind the geese were beautiful white bunnys and to the left was a llama!!!!!

The next day we took a 18 hour bus ride and came to our new hotel tired, exhausted and grumpy.

On the Gringo Trail?

I read in one of our travel books that we picked up the Gringo Trail in Lima and will follow it to Cusco and Machu Pichu, but we haven't seen many gringos. Maybe we aren't looking in the right places, missed the trail markings, or after a month from our native land can't recognise one of our own. Meghan is starting to look and talk like a Peruvian. I almost bought a pack of chicklets from her on the street yesterday.
We are definitely hitting some major attractions, Paracus and the Islas Ballestas were full of camera toting touristas but I didn't hear much English spoken in the crowds..... embarrassment? Hotel and tour prices have increased and prices in US$ are quoted so we must be nearby, just skirting the main trail I suppose. We continue our journey tonight, a 13 hour bus ride to Puno on Lake Titicaca where we might find a freshtrail marker, maybe we won't.
My eyes tend to gravitate toward light skin in a crowd and often I am sure that I have spotted fellow Americans until mouths are opened and some language comes out. Some times, French, German or Dutch but most often it is Spanish or maybe Portuguese. My preconceptions are rarely correct and I enjoy being surprised. Most folks here continue to ask where we are from even after we have butchered the Spanish language while trying to ask a simple question. I always feel that "American" is stamped across my large forehead but I don't think they are trying to be polite either.... it must be our Peruvian daughter that throws them off.