Mas de Peru

Tuesday, May 29 - 10:45 pm (Hotel in Cusco)
Today was a chill day. To tell you the truth, I started the day off with a cold shower so I could wake up. The purpose of today was to relax and take a break from the strenuous activity we have been so accustomed to. In reality, I am dead tired right now and about to pass out. We went to two different cathedrals in the Plaza de Armas and took tours of each. Each church competes with each other, like who has the higher ceiling, the better pulpit, how many clocks there are on the outside, etc. Then it was a free afternoon and evening. We went to the San Blas neighborhood and had really tasty crepes at an Andean restaurant. It was nice because we sat with some new people. Then we walked around a little and did some more shopping. I only got a couple things, but then we went to a really good bakery and got a piña pastry. Yum. Then back to the hotel, internet cafe, and I figured out how to use skype! Then a group of us went to dinner at Chez Maggy. It was me, Megan, Rosanne, Jen, Sarah, and Lianne. I really like that group. I was able to talk to them without feeling like my IQ was dropping. We got free pisco sours b/c you never pay for drinks here. Then we walked over to an Irish Pub and had another round of drinks. I really am never going to drink again this trip. I can´t believe I drank this much. So we stopped by the salsa place where everyone else was at, but only stayed for a few minutes. Megan and I weren´t in the mood. We went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and got a Machu Picchu, some pisco mixed drink that you drink upward/sip while pulling the straw up. So, I´ve drinken/drank too much for my values. Bed time to sleep it off.

Wednesday, May 30 - 8:55 pm (Hotel in Cusco)
So I´ve O.D.ed on ruins about a week ago. And I´ve been here a week. We went to Sacsayhuaman which is a really important ruin because it was for all people, rather than Machu Picchu which was for the elite. Out guide was Guido, and he had a Chicago Bulls hat on. He was cute. He got really excited about everything. We saw the excavated skeletons of llamas and alpacas, along with a human skull. It makes me wonder what went on back then. Then we took some horsesto a couple other sites: Kenko, Puca Pucara, and Tambomachay. My horse´s name was Santorí and he was a really good horse. It was really cold today and it even started to rain. One of the places we went was supposed to have a fountain of youth, but it turned out that if you drank from one fall you would never marry but if you drank from two, you would marry within one year. Hence, no one drank any water - we didn´t like either option. It was a long day made longer by the lack of food. We don´t eat lunch until 2:00 in the afternoon and that is just way too late, especially when you eat a breakfast of fruit and toast at 7:00 in the morning. The food was needed and it was so good. Trout is big down here - trucha - and it was so tasty. Then we went back to the hotel, and I slept from 3:30 pm until 6:00 when we had our daily meeting. It was another birthday (Neil) so we had some cake. Then we got ready for an early dinner. Megan and I wanted to go get a burger at this one place, but it was empty so we walked down Gringo Alley hoping someone would offer us free something. We picked La Procurador because we could have a three course meal for S/10 ($3) and free wine and piña coladas. I highly overestimated how much I would spend on food, and I´m glad. The restaurant had really good guacamole and freshly made tortilla chips. It was a good meal. Now, bed and up at 9:30 for 2nd to last day before THE HIKE...