Last Computer antes del Camino Inka

May 31 - 3:15 pm (Iglesia La Compañia)
Woke up and took another freezing cold shower, this time not on purpose, and ate breakfast. We went to a convent, I think it was, to see the most beautiful indoor patio (cloister). We saw where they place the host - made out of solid gold with one of the most valuable pearls in the world in the shape of a female siren. It was really beautiful. Then we walked to the Temple of the Sun - Qorikancha. They had turned it into a sort of museum, but it was really neat how you could see the insides of these giant rocks. They look like just a bunch of rocks piled on top of each other, but in reality, they are like puzzle pieces with grooves and notches and canals. And of course, everywhere you go, there are dozens of wall paintings. There was also an exhibit of black and white photographs about the civil war here. Some were pretty grusome, and the point was to show the people of Peru what happened and to sat that it should never happen again. I got emotional, of course, and kind of had to just take a break to let things soak in, and to make sense of what I was feeling. Then we went and saw the famous 12-sided rock that everyone brags about. It was cool, I guess. Then the Art Museum of Pre-Colombino. Not what I was in the mood for, but the stuff was really cool. There were some nose ornaments, but I´m not really sure how they worked. Then we went back to that hamburger place, Norton Rat´s, and had a really good lunch. The cheeseburgers were on ciabata bread and were ginormous. It was so hot and sunny on the patio/porch, but it overlooked the Plaza. Then we (Megan, Jen, Katherine, and I) walked around to do a little more shopping, of course, but stopped at a coffee house for banana splits and chocolate cake. Then we went back to the hotel to see if my pants ever came back. The guy at the front desk said that they had been delivered to the other Hotel Garcilaso (we´re in number 2) but there they were. Just two days late. At least they are clean. We´re in the Compañia church listening to music before our meeting about the Inca Trail at 6:00.

9:35 pm (Cama)
We had a long meeting tonight about the Inca trail, and it put my mind to rest. It´s going to be hard, but if three is a human being that can do the entire trail (46 km?) in 3 hours and 44 minutes, then I´m pretty sure I can do it all in 4 days. I am not going to pack anything at all because I don´t think I will really need a lot. We also watched a movie about Machu Picchu and about the different theories surrounding its purpose, etc. After the meeting, we went to the same area for dinner as last night, and got fought over again and ended up to the place next door from yesterday´s. It was good, cheap food. The same kind of really good chips and guacamole. I´ve spent about $200 so far I think which is pretty much what I expected. I need to be even stingier about my money though. Tomorrow, one more trip to our favorites: ruins and a church. Like every other day. Oh well.

June 1 - 5:35 pm (Hotel in Cusco)
Rabbit Rabbit. Today was the last day in Cusco before the hike tomorrow. I´ve been packing, but I´m already worried I´m taking too much. Today we went to the Sistene Chapel of Peru - Andahuaylillas. It was very pretty, but I´m churched out. Then we went to the ruins of Tipon. I was worried because I´m so sick of ruins, but it turned out to be the most fun I´ve had at ruins. All it was was giant terraces, but there were stone stairs coming out of each wall. They were fun to climb, and soon, a bunch of us found ourselves atop a bunch of newly excavated ruins. We even came across a man asleep in the middle of his work. We saw someone working and heard him yelling "Pasen! Pasen!" for us to come to him. He drunkenly hugged each of us and told us his name was Chris and he was excavating the ruins. He was slurring his words and reeked of pisco. Plus, he was chewing on a huge wad of coca, so I´m sure half of his body was numb. But he tried to explain the ruins to us. It was entertaining. Then Anna and I wandered around a lot and came across a white square in the ground, which looked like it contained talc or a lot of salt. We´re pretty sure we were in someone´s backyard, too, because there was a whole field of corn. Then we all came back to Cusco and Karen, Megan, and I went to the Witch´s Garden for lunch. It was an expensive place, but the fact that we got to sit on squishy pink couches helped. And that the food was amazing - I got chicken parmesan with pasta and we all split spring rolls. It was the most I´ve spent on food so far, but Yum. Then we came back to pack, I got to check my messages on my cell phone and there were 10 from Ramon but he didn´t say anything - I could only hear him in the background. Now I´m clean for four days, and hoping this trip won´t kill me. I think it´ll be a super challenge, but nothing will beat the feeling of arriving at Machu Picchu.