Stairmaster 1500 A.D.

Simone contemplating in Ulrike's Cafe

The market takes over the entire town on Sundays

Ruins in Pisac

The adventure continued with 2 nights in Pisac, a tiny, tiny TINY town nestled in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains on all sides, just 33km northeast of Cuzco. Pisac (I kid you not) only had a total of 9 streets, 6 restuarants (3 of which we ate at), and 4 hotels (2 of which we stayed at). The first hotel we stayed at was creepy - it had a weird vibe, the hippie-new-age-heal-with-meditation-energy vibe where everyone there had the eerie ¨love one another¨surface calmness that only serial killers have. We were first greeted by this character named grey, ¨like the color¨(a phrase he repeated to us at least 3 times within 10 minutes), who was decked out in hippie attire with bleach blonde hair, and who seemed high as a kite. The other guests were just as weird and distant. Suffice to say, we bolted the very next day.

On our first night there, we walked the entire town in less than 15 minutes at a slow snail pace, walking by houses that consisted of 4 mud walls, a muddy floor, with 1 table and 1 bed (and one house had a freshly killed pig splayed out on the 1 table)...all the necessities of life, really. We came across the town by word of mouth from several people of a fantastic crafts market that livened the city every Sunday and a huge network of ruins on a mountain overlooking the town. We spent the day at both.

It took us 40 minutes (1.5 hours according to Lonely Planet...are people really that slow???) to hike up what seemed like an endless number of stone steps. Seems to be the theme of the week, especially after Machu Picchu. My quads and calfs are now seriously shot and I might need that massage afterall (didn´t have enough time to indulge in Cuzco). But the climb was worth it for at the top, we got a spectacular view of the Sacred Valley, with mountains surrounding us on all sides. It was so very calming and peaceful at the top that I decided to meditate, but that was short lived bc I end up falling asleep, as usual. After nap time, we explored the ruins, which permeated the entire top mountainside. Everywhere you looked, more ruins popped up. At the end of the day, we opted to take a little adventure and instead of taking the normal path down the mountain (and mind you, it was probably 500m climb), we decided to decend via a valley along what appeared to be a semblance of a trail. Little did we know that this trail would consist of bushwacking our way through, climbing down 20 foot rock faces (thank god for my climbing skills!), sliding down steep dirt paths, and praying most of the way that we would actually make it out of there before sunset without injuries (neither of us had headlamps). And to top it off, I was barefoot in Tevas, thanks to my inflated purple pinky toes from the MP trek. Probably not the smartest plan, but we made it out alive...eventually. It sure did make the day super fun and adventurous!

Yesterday was Independence Day in Peru and we witnessed how Pisacians do it up. Seemed like all the kids in town marched on the square, with singing and out of tune bands...all quite charming in it´s simplicity. I get so used to the perfection and highly choreographed productions that we see on tv in the western world. Suffice to say, we outstayed our visit in Pisac and eventually made it back to Cuzco on a local bus that cost only $1 without mishap.

All in all, a good venture, but now I´m all ruined out. I´ve had my fill of ruins for the trip and am ready for something new.

Simon decided to head back to the states early, so now I´m on my own for the rest of my trip. We made it back to Lima and parted ways last night. Sad to think that the trip is coming to an end. I found myself a cheap dorm room hostel in the Miraflores area of Lima, which is quite a happening section of town. And as it so happened by coincidence, Hamilton & his mom were in Lima too. (I have to admit that this trip has been full of coincidences and shear good luck...to the point where I don´t believe in coincidences or luck anymore) I must say, it´s been great seeing them throughout our journey (we met up with them a few times in Cuzco too while they were on vacation) - seeing familiar faces while you´re in a foreign place is a real godsend when nothing is the same 2 days in a row. AND, they were so awesome as to let me shower in their ¨fancy¨hotel, equipt with a hot shower AND bath tub (haven´t seen one of those in 3 weeks!). I used an entire bottle of shampoo and was finally able to get that semi-permanent crust of dirt out of my hair (thank god I have short hair!). It´s sad thinking that I won´t get to see them again, but life goes on. I did get the invite to go back to Blue Morpho anytime I want, and that time might be sooner than later.

For the last 5 days of my trip, I´ve decided to head up to the high Andes again, this time near a town called Huaraz. The area supposedly has over 22,000 foot mountains and gorgeous glacial lakes. Today´s mission is to somehow find myself a bus that will get me there. The thought of traveling on my own is a bit daunting, but I figure that I´ve got a good head on my shoulders. I left all my stuff in a locker at the Lima airport and am equipt with only 1 small (tiny) pack, my lonely planet guide, a few clothes items, and a positive attitude for yet another adventure.