Casa Colibri Ecolodge Urubamba

... the strain - especially on the 3,000 steps downhill. We spent some time at an incredible look out point, used by the Incas, over the Aobamba valley and Aguas Calientes town. We arrived early at the camp, named Winaywayna ('Forever Young'), which gave us time to view the 'mini machupicchu' which was really impressive. We had our first shower in days, which was amazing, and so to celebrate we had a great supper with cake, followed by alot of Rum ...

The next day Vlady & Samantha (she couldn´t do the trail either due to knee surgery) picked me up from my hotel and we took a taxi to Ollayamtambo then caught the train to Agua Calientes. The train ride was about 3 hours but really beautiful views, some of the way you can see the hikers on the beginning of the trail. Agua Calientes is really just a stopover town for people heading to Machu Picchu in the morning. We had all afternoon ...

... dismayed by the lack of coffee. While our group had no specific dietary concerns, I did email Yure at least twice stating that caffeinated coffee was a necessity for our group (and reassured that we would have it). Instead, we were provided with barley coffee (tasty, but just not the same!). It would be two more days before our cook could purchase coffee from a local village and so black tea it was!

While chewing coca leaves, we ...

... cheap tickets. However, this was not the end of our dilemma because the printer driver on the computer was not working. We tried unsuccessfully to re-install the driver but the only person who knew what the administration password was for the computer was unavailable at the time. We tried several times before we found a solution by transferring the pdf file via USB onto another computer and printing locally. By this time the clock had ticked on and there was a chance of us not ...

... that looks quite like this. Please, if anyone reading this decides to come to Peru in the future, make sure you don't miss out on the Sacred Valley. Don't just travel through on your way to Machu Picchu - stay for a few days. It is worth it and may even be a highlight of your trip.

On to the action. Last night was pretty uneventful. Amy and I had purchased extra empanadas at the stand in Pisac yesterday (did I mention we are addicted?) so we heated those up for dinner and ate them ...

... and be thankful for this experience.

OK - one funny experince that happened yesterday: our taxi driver in Lima asked where we are from and we said "Estados Unidos". Instead of guessing California, New York, Florida or or one of the more typical responses, he got a little excited and asked "Wisconsin? Es mucho queso in Wisconsin!" Umm...ok...that's true I guess. Not what I would have expected!

More Peruvian goodness to come - talk to everyone soon!

... hermoso. Después del desayuno nos subimos al micro para volver a Ollantaytambo y visitar las ruinas del Templo del Sol, que se ve que nunca fue terminado. Está todo como suspendido a mitad de la obra, permitiendo ver tremendas piedrotas a medio colocar en su lugar. Los bloques de granito rosado han venido de otro cerro y no cabe en la cabeza entender cómo habrán hecho para traerlas hasta aquí. El 22 de diciembre cuando es el solsticio de ...

... he thought were the decapitated remains of the great man in red lying on the floor. Ho ho ho! I´ve had a few people ask how the Spanish lessons are going, and after 24 hours of tuition, and can confidently say ´slowly´. Claudia keeps assuring me that I am making good progress, but as the curriculum becomes more complex I am losing more confidence. Still, the best way to learn a foreign language is to speak it, and I am certainly getting ...

Machu Pichu, la ciudad sagrada que permanecio oculta de los ojos españoles enclavada en la cima de los Andes. Para llegar ahi lo hicimos desde Oyataitambo donde tomamos el Peru Rail, que llega a Aguas calientes bordeando el rio Urubamba. un recorriodo bellisimo entre nubes, rio y montañas uno de los recorridos en tren mas lindos del mundo. y de Machu pichu que se puede decir que no se haya dicho alguna vez, simplemente vaya y vealo usted musmo.

... and purchasing our ticket I was surprised to hear someone shout in our direction, "I know you!" to find one of the guys we met in Taganga - James sat on a wall. Amazingly we had also bumped into him in Cartagena and 2 countries later... here he was. Sharing his stories of trying the potent and hallucinogenic San Pedro drink, we climbed the ruins and admired the views. The drink is made from cactus plants and ...