Titikaka and Machu Picchu

Week 1:

I made my way from Arequipa, Peru north to the small town of Puno which is on the shores ofLake Titikaka, the highest navigatable lake in the world. It is also home to the Uros tribe who live in the middle of the lake on man made, floating islands! There are around 900 families living on these islands, isolated from the rest of Peru. Only around 20 of the islands are open to tourism. The following pictures are of the people on the islands and their little huts made from reeds.



Besides going out on Lake Titikaka there isnt much to do in Puno. So I caught the next bus out of town and made my way to Cusco. Cusco, Peru is the tourism capital of South America. It once was the ancient capital of the Incan people. It is also the town that you have to pass through to get to Machu Picchu. I only stayed for two days before I booked a four day three night trek through the jungle to Machu Picchu. Man I didnt know what I was in for.





The first day was biking all day downhill through the jungle. By far the most fun of the trip. The bikes the tour opperator gave us were a joke. I'm supprised we all made it down with only one person getting mildly hurt. By the end of the first day we all had seriously sore back sides and were were all covered from head to toe in dust.



This is what my arms looked like by the second day. We were eaten alive by jungle flies. You dont even feel them biting you but I'm still scratching the bites.



In the middle of the first night I woke and felt the urge to run for the bathroom as quick as possible. Needless to say I got food posioning from something and was sick the entire second day of the trek. Try to imagine hiking through the jungle mountains in the humid heat while throwing up, sweating and no sleep. Yeah...doesnt sound fun does it. It wasn't. I still dont know how I made it through the day. We hiked all day but somehow I made it. Luckily it was only a 24 hour kind of sickness and the third day I was just fine.

We hiked into a little town of Augas Caliente for lunch and afterwards we climbed up a mountian to get our first peek at the ruins of Machu Picchu. It was an intense hike almost straight up this mountian but it was well worth it. This is a picture of some of the people in our group. We had people from Ireland, Austria, France, Israel.



See Machu Picchu behind me? This was our first look at the ruins. The following is taken also from the mountain top. After we decended we ate a quick dinner and got to bed.




We woke up at 4 in the morning to make our way up to the mountain. After a two hour hike we finally arrived.

Every day 5,000 tourists go into Machu Picchu. Getting there early is key to getting some good pictures and enjoying the place without crowds.

When you get up to the ruins you are in awe at what you see. These pictures do no justice to what you experience.






I'm writing from my hostel in Lima. I fly out next Monday to San Jose, Costa Rica. I havent taken many pictures here in Lima and I doubt that I will becasue its so dangerous.

I'll write again from San Jose. Thanks for all the email and prayers.

Trecking North (Huge Update)

So I´ve finished teaching in Chile and I have started my travels North. I would have updated earlier but I haven´t come across a computer that I could upload my pictures and take the time to update. Luckily I´m staying at a hostel in Puno, Peru that has a computer that lets me upload pics. without paying extra.

I found a post on craigslist looking for travel agents in San Jose, Costa Rica. I applied and after three interviews I got the job. I fly out of Lima, Peru so before my flight I'm touring Peru.

I took a 24! hour bus ride from Santiago, Chile up North to Iquique, Chile. I paid a little extra for a cama "bed" on the bus and it was a suprisingly smooth trip. The first pictues are of my hostel in Iquique. It was right next to the beach and really chill. I spent a day and a half there to kick it and relax then I caught a 6 hour bus to Arica, Chile. Its on the border of Chile and Peru. I didnt waste any time there. Its not much of a city...probably more of a little border town. I took a collectivo (a shared taxi) from Arica to Tacna, Peru. Tacna also isnt much to look at or anything to do so I spent a day there and headed to Arequipa, Peru.


This was the view from Arica, Chile to Tacna, Peru. Kinda felt like I was in the middle east.



Up to this time I had been flying solo. It was cool cause you can kinda just do what you want and not have to take a partner or a group into consideration. Well i met two guys on the bus from Tacna to Arequipa who were both traveling South America alone and we all headed for the same hostel. Being that we were all in the same boat we all kinda naturally just started hanging out and exploring the city together.

Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and its nicknamed The White City because most of its important buildings are built out of a white volcanic rock.





Our bare boned hostel was just a block away from the Plaza de Armas which is the center of the city. This made it really easy to explore the city from a centeral location. Above are two pictures of the cathedrials that border the plaza. The following are of the Plaza de Armas. We had coffee on a terrace resturant on the plaza and afterwards they let us climb to their roof for come birds eye view pics.







Arequipa has warm weather year round and we were enjoying the sun in shorts and sandals.
I have probably put on 10 pounds just eating in this city. I feel like thats all I have been doing non stop. Our favorite place to eat was at the centeral market. The following pic are taken there. You can find food, fresh fruit juices, fruit and veg., and a ton more there.










We were walking around the market when an old guy started calling us over. He just motioned for us to go into the room next to him. We look in and they are in the process of butchering bulls! Intrigued, we had to snap some pictures. We have found the people here a lot more welcoming than Chile. They are always game to just stop what they are doing and chat. Even the taxi drivers try to strat discussions when you get into their taxis.










I'm writing from Puno, Peru. Its on the boarder of Lake Titicaka. The plan is to explore around here for a day or two and then either head off to Cuzco, Peru and hike up to the Incan ruians of Machu Piccu or I might meet up with the guys I met to go fishing off the coast. I'll keep you updated. It might be another long while till I find a computer worth of throwing up an update.