catch up...

Day 3

This day was long but pretty uneventful. We were walking through the jungle so I got about 12,000 bug bites, but thank god at this point I was totally healthy and back to normal. At the end of the hike that day we ended up in the teeniest tiniest town I have ever seen. There were 3 main streets and you could basically walk the entire place in 10 minutes. Most of our group took a bus to thermal baths for a few hours that night but Jessica and I decided to stay in the town and have a look around. Having not showered since the day before we started hiking we paid a little under a dollar for a hot shower.

Day 4

Finally the last day of hiking! We woke up and started our walk through the jungle and were told that we would be taking a cable car across a river. For some crazy reason when I heard cable car I pictured some fancy electric contraption. Of course I was wrong. The river was roaring, full of crazy rapids and rocks, and the ¨cable car¨ was basically a basket attached to a cable. We got in it 2 at a time and basically pulled a rope attached to the cable in order to make it across. After that we walked for a very very long time. Finally we arrived at our lunch where a set of train tracks began. We had lunch and then were given 2 choices. Either we could take the train to aguas calientes (the town you stay in before going to machu pichu) or we could follow the train tracks for 2 to 3 hours to aguas calientes. Jessica and I, along with most of rest of our group, chose to follow the tracks. All of the guys in the group decided to walk really fast in order to make it to the town to watch some football game so Jessica and I basically walked the whole way on our own. At a few points we heard the whistle of a train and had to get off the tracks. After about 2 hours we reached a tunnel. There was no one ahead of us and no one behind us and we were really confused as what to do. Going through a tunnel with train tracks didnt seem like the smartest of ideas but there was no other way to go. We ran through, scared out of our minds, and made it to the other side. A few minutes later we saw our guide doing the same thing...ah Peru..About 45 minutes later we finally arrived in Aguas Calientes, finally done with the trek. My feet hurt worse than I could ever imagine and I was pretty sure that 4 of my toes needed to be amputated. (Sadly Nina, none of those toes were the pinky toe)

The next day we saw Machu Pichu and that was that. We made it back to Cusco with a little more drama I wont bother sharing, and then took an overnight bus to Puno. I used my sleeping bag trick where I sleep in the bag and put all valuables in the bottom, which turned out to be a good idea, as some traveler on the bus had his camera and passport stolen. From Puno we caught the bus to Copacabana, from there a boat to Isla del Sol, and I´ve already told you what happened there. Oooh, I also met a nice German girl, Melanie, and a Canadian guy Owen who I spent the last few days with.

I arrived at the hotel where my classmates are a few hours ago. I have my own room with tv and and private bathroom for 16 dollars a night (rather expensive considering I stayed in a hostel the last 2 nights for 2.50).

Well thats it for now. Peace in the middle east!