Glama llamas, soccer uniforms, and raw meat

Day 67:
Arrived in Nazca for a fairly uneventful night, we did however have a private room with a television, and the real excitement was to come tomorrow.

Day 68:

We woke up at 10am thinking that we would be flying over the Nazca Lines by 11am, however, due to poor communitcation, we ended up waiting around until 3pm and almost missed our other tour for the day. But needless to say, it was well worth the wait! They were maybe the coolest things that either of us had seen, and learning about the history of the Incans and why they made the lines made them that much more impressive. Though we both got a bit woozy flying over the lines in a 4 passanger plane seeing the lines from that height made it obvious why they thought the gods would think them a good offering.

    We returned to our hostel after the Nazca lines to get picked up for a tour of a cementary which houses mummies that date back to 500 AD. At the tombs, our guide told us the history of how the ancient Nazcans would sacrifice a variety of civilians (i.e. servents, wives, children) to go along with the death of a warrior. This was in the hopes of creating a more substantial afterlife and to create an offering to the gods in hopes for bringing water to Nazca, where we learned there´s an average rainfall of 5mm per year. After a long , but very interesting day, we returned to our hostel to prepare for our night bus to Cusco.

Day 69:

We arrived in Cusco feeling groggy after the long bus journey, but pushed through our tiredness for a day of sightseeing and shopping, thanks to the extra strong coffee our hostel offered us. After a full day we treated ourselves to a fine dining experience at a restaurant that overlooked the main plaza, Plaza de Armas. Our dinner consisted of two bottles of red wine, a pizza, and an entire roasted guinea pig, i.e. cuy. Delicious! Though it was rather hard to eat around those tiny little bones...

Day 70:
We spent another day touring Cusco, but the city was surprisingly dead due to some random holiday. It wasn´t too much of a concern though because we had to prepare ourselves for our early morning journey to Aguas Calientes the next day.

Day 71:
Thanks to Molly´s dad, we were picked up for our luxury tour of Machu Picchu at 6:30am. First stop, Aguas Calientes, the base city to Machu Picchu. Upon our arrival, after 2 hours in a shuttle and 2 hours on a train, we feasted on a buffett lunch that was included in the package. After digesting our lunch, we went up to the thermal baths for which Aguas Calientes (¨Hot Waters¨) is known for. We made it an early night because we had to be at the bus stop for a 30 minute bus ride up to Machu Picchu at 5am the next morning, and the bed & breakfast that we were staying at insisted that we make time for a 4:30am breakfast.

Day 72:

We got to Machu Picchu around 6am, got our 10am reservation stamp to hike Wayna Picchu, the neighboring mountain to Machu Picchu, and began our 2.5 hour tour. Our tour was very informative because our Peruvian tour guide spoke great english; we learned all about the Inkan´s rituals, and their strategies when the Spanish invaded. Our giggles only interupted the tour once, when we saw a picture of a guinea pig dressed in a sparkling top hot, suit, and tie. While we thought this was hilarious, our tour guide thought it was perfectly normal, and said that they always dress up the guinea pigs before they slaughter them to dine on.         After the tour, we had just enough time for a quick snack before getting in line to hike Wayna Picchu. Of course, at that very moment, the flood gates decided to open and pour down on us. However, despite the rain, we made it up Wayna Picchu in record time, though we refrained from going to the tippy top because it looked over-crowded, wet, slippery, and steep... no thanks!

   We got back to Aguas Calientes around 1pm and were exhausted from a full day because it had started so early, but our train wasn´t scheduled to leave until 7:30pm, so we did our best to occupy our time in the small town.
   We finally made it back to Cusco, uttery exhausted, around 11:30pm, yet we were unable to get a wink of sleep due to the durnkards sharing a room with us who kept forgetting we were there, one of them actually sat on Kristin during the middle of the night because they didn´t see her on the bottom bunk.

Day 73:
Took an early morning bus to Puno. We were hoping to make it to Bolivia, but due to border hours it turned out not to be plausible. So we spent the night relaxing and prepared for our early morning bus to Bolivia.

Day 74:

We arrived at the border in the afternoon scared that border patrol would find a reason not to give us our tourist Visas, but as it turns out all they wanted were our US$. It cost us US$135 and proof of a yellow fever shot to get in, but other than that it was a breeze. Our Visas are valid for 90 days a year for the next 5 years, so we´ll be planning another trip to Bolivia.

   From the border, Copacabana was only a short ways away, and there we took a boat to the pleasant yet beautiful Isla del Sol. Though the island didn´t seem like much at first, we quickly discovered that a little path would serve as the gateway to heaven. About 30 minutes into the trail and about 100 yards from the top, 3 little local kids beckoned us over, it was there that we witnessed the cutest thing we have seen yet, about 7 little piglets nursing on their mother. We stayed there for 45 minutes, while letting the kiddies entertain themselves with our cameras, before making it to the top and then heading back down just in time to avoid the rain. That night we caught up on some much needed sleep on some very hard and lumpy beds.

Day 75:
We took the first boat back to Copacabana in the morning and then hopped on a bus to La Paz, the highest capital in the world. Though our hostel was rather shabby, we were immediately enthralled by the city. Shockingly, within 30 minutes of being in the city we ran into a friend from Panama, and after saying our hellos, we made plans to meet for drinks at her hostel later that night. Meanwhile, we walked around the city a bit and had delicious Morocon food for dinner.

Day 76:

After sleeping in, we were ready to thoroughly explore the compact yet energentic city. We started our day with a surprise lunch of llama, it was unexpectedly not bad. From there we got lost in the city and ended up at destinations such as the Museo de Coca and the Museo del Instrumentales Musicales. It was easy to get around the city on foot and it became one of our favorite cities from the trip, not to mention the weather was beautiful. That night we indulged in good old fashioned american food, cheesebugers and onion rings. Though not the best burger we´ve ever had, it definitely satisfied the craving.

Day 77:
Little did we know, this would turn into one of the longest days ever. We left in the morning for Cochabamba, a supposedly young and vibrant town, only to discover that we held a different opinion. After just 2 hours of walking around, we knew this wasn´t a place we could spend a lot of time. We would have been willing to at least spend the night, however, there were only night buses to our next intended destination. So we made up our minds to hop on a bus that evening to Sucre, because 28 more hours in Cochabamba would be too many.
   We arrived at the bus terminal 15 minutes before the bus we wanted was scheduled to leave, thinking that it wouldn´t be a big deal. However, the bus was sold out and we were forced to buy our tickets through scalpers. This turned into a rather interesting experience and we´re just glad we made it on a bus, and we plan to never buy scalper tickets again.

Day 78:
Made it to Sucre around 8 this morning. We had a rather relaxing morning and then walked around the street markets in the afternoon. Tomorrow we´re off to see dinosaur fooprints!

Churrascos and Cheese

Day 53
Finally we were able to get away from the cold rain and made it to Canoa on an overnight bus. Although the weather may not have been ideal it was a def pick me up from Quito's dreary mountain climate. We were happy to be in a pleasant little non-touristy beach town where we were able to relax in hammocks and cruise through our novels. We had the company of Ned's friend, Hans, and his travel companions, Alex and Rob.

Day 54

This morning the 5 of us went on an adventure to some cove side caves. The sun came out that afternoon so we spent the majority of that day watching the waves and lying on the beach. That night at a local surfer bar we heard about this shot known as "la uña de la granbestia" (the fingernail of the beast) which only one person in the entire world makes, it consists of coca leaves, marijuana, centipeds, and scorpians, and is soaked in a sugar cane liquor. The men who told us about it spoke so highly of it and said that they would take a shot of it everyday. Obviously we needed to try this local concoction, but the bar was closed that night, so the 5 of us made a pact to try it the next morning.

Day 55
We quickly learned that a) it is not an everyday thing, and b) it is not ideal for breakfast. But live and learn, right? We had plans of spending Thanksgiving in Baños, but had to make, what we thought would be quick stop, in Quito. That night we bid farewell to our new friends and took the night bus back to Quito.

Day 56
Arrived in Quito at 5am with no place to go besides a 24 hour coffee shop, and unfortunately, Kristin was sick as a dog. We revised our plans to stay the night in Quito so Kristin could get some much needed rest. Thanksgiving was completely uneventful but at least we got to skype with our families.

Day 57

 Arrived in Baños that afternoon wanting a light lunch because Kristin was still not 100% and Molly was beginning to get a bit of a bug too, so the idea of some soup and rice sounded perfect. However, the serving of chicken soup was complete with chicken beak, chicken feet, and black hair which really didn´t help our stomach situation. Horrified and still feeling icky, we went back to our hostal to rest. That evening we were able to get our share of relaxation in at the thermal baths for which baños gets its name.

Day 58

We woke feeling better and ready for a day of adventure. Although we didnt get to bungee jump and zip line as we had planned, we were able to have a tour of many of the local waterfalls and got a 1.5 hour massage and facial for $20! So by the end of the day we were feeling good, but things were unknowingly about to get even better. To our fortune, we got to see Volcan Tungurahua erupt with lots of smoke and molten hot red magmay lava!! It was so glorious and def a highlight of the trip, especially after the let down of the daily erupting Volcan Arenal (volcano in costa rica) failed to show us lava. This one was way better anyway because it only erupts once every 10 months, so in your face volcan arenal!



Day 59
We were legally locked inside the hostal all day due to it being Ecuador´s census day where they go around to every house in Ecuador and physically count the residents, besides us. So, we sat inside, played lots of cards, and slowly became infected with cabin fever. Once we were free, we went for a walk and ate a delicious dinner. We were scheduled to leave early the next monring for Cuenca.

Day 60
Arrived in the late afternoon with a couple hours of daylight left to explore the neighborhood around our hostal. Then got to sleep early to prepare for a full day of exploring Ecuador´s 3rd largest city.

Day 61
Spent the day wandering around the majestic streets, exploring squares, churches, and markets. We really enjoyed Cuenca because even though it has a population of 400,000, everything seemed to be very close.

Day 62

We embarked on our 4th border crossing today into Peru. While that part was relatively easy, 13 hours of sitting on a bus was not. We arrived in Piura, a crowded city with very little tourism, famished. The only restaruant we could find was Chinese (which seems to be relatively popular in Peru) and almost as bad as the chicken soup meal. We had no intention of spending more time in Piura than necessary so we booked a midnight bus to Trujillo.

Day 63

 Arrived that morning, checked into a hostal, where we got our own room equipped with a tv and private bathroom, and napped for a bit. Then we took the bus to the beach town of Huanchaco, where we laid in the sand and felt the sun. Here we had an amazing lunch overlooking the beach of ceviche and beer. That night back in Trujillo, we wandered around the quaint little city and stumbled upon a John Lennon tribute band. Then we got onto another bus that would take us to Peru's capital, Lima, the next morning.

Day 64
Got to Lima around 10am feeling surprisingly very well rested. We checked into a hostal in the Miraflores district of the city, the new european-like part of town, and wandered around the area for the day stopping at cafes to sip coffee and people watch. That night we went to see the new Harry Potter movie and were bribed by the doorman of a restaurant with free drinks if we ate dinner there (actually a very common thing). It was an easy choice.

Day 65
Had plans of exploring the center of Lima where many historic sites are, unfortunately these plans were spolied due to bank robbers in that area with lots of guns, big guns. So our day turned out to be similar to the previous. This night turned into one of our most interesting and definitely memorable nights. We were serenated by a man who would only sing Mexican ballots and songs by America, because he said Peruvian songs were ugly. Then we went to Barranco, another district of Lima, where after walking into a bar, were immediately hustled on stage for an apple eating contest. Molly and her partner won the great prize of a bucket of beer. Kristin was then entered into the next competition, but wasnt as willing as the other young ladies were to, shall we say, get dirrty with her dance partner. Then, overwhelmed, we left that bar and were standing outside trying to figure out our next move when two men approached us. Unknowingly, we both chose the same tactic of pretending to not to understand a word of spanish, and that we were lovers. Though it may have not have been the fastest working tactic it was hilarious for us.

Day 66
Kristin got her yellow fever shot, again, but this time she has an international card to prove it, so that she can enter Bolivia. Leaving on a bus for Nazca in 1 hour.