Abby and Sarah hit the town...

After the Inka Trail, Abby and I spent the next few days exploring Cuzco, Peru (the starting point for the Trail). I have to say, despite the fact that it is a bit overrun with Gringos, it is one of my favorite cities in Peru. Picture narrow cobblestone streets, Inka ruins and old churches all mixed together with some great restaurants! And on top of it, Abby and I found this little hostal hidden away that only cost us $3.00 per night for our own private room! A new record for my cheapest hostal stay!

Cuzco The street that our hostal was on. I just can´t escape the stairs!Big Blue Door. I was a big fan of the doors in Cuzco...Original Inka stones that are still part of modern Cuzco.Inside one of the many churches...Abby and I on the Plaza.It´s easy to see why Abby and I get alone so well- our favorite things are eating out and going out dancing. And we spent a lot of time eating out...mostly at our two favorite restaurants, Granja Heidi´s and Jack´s. Goofing off at Granja Heidi´s. We did pull ourselves away from Jack´s and Granja´s to take the short bus ride to Pisac for the Sunday market. Recognize this picture from the Christmas cards? This woman was so happy to take the picture with me (but mostly, because I gave her a Sol (Peruvian money) for doing so).

In every town you can always find a couple of old men hanging on the corner!

I love this picture because all the indigenous people are going about their business in front of a big Inca Cola sign (the most popular cola in Peru. It tastes similar to cream soda).
Abby and Sarah trying the local attire.

My other Christmas card (also had to give these girls one Sol each)! All the little kids carry around puppies or sheep to try to lure Gringos into taking a "paid" picture with them...
Abby modeling a Cusquena T-shirt (the other Peruvian beer).
The unique hats worn by the people around Pisac.

Back in Cuzco we were ready to head out to our favorite bar, Ukuko´s, for some live Afro-Ecuadorian music and 2 for 1 Pisco Sours!
Out with some crazy boys from Holland and and even crazier boy from Canada, who we decided is a double for Jim Carry. You should see the faces this kid makes! For example...
Sarah made friends with the bar tenders and got to be a "helper" behind the bar for a while. Well, until they realized I was useless because I couldn´t even open the beer properly!! In my defense, they don´t use a normal opener, they just kind of flick the top off with this metal thing.
Bartender Sarah striking a pose!

In an Irish pub on the Plaza in Cuzco.
Big bottle of Brahma, the Peruvian beer. We all know this took me about three hours to finish! This was another bar on the plaza that always had live Reggae music.The girls.

Miss Abby dancing!
There is a huge hostal in Cuzco called Loki hostal. A little too crazy for us, especially after we finished the Inka Trail and just wanted to be able to have a place where we could go to sleep in peace when we wanted. BUT, we did head over for one of Loki´s parties, the Toga Party.

Toga girls

Don´t mess with me.
Bartender for the toga party.

A few more shots from around Cuzco...
Best. Picture. Ever.
There was a restuarant on this street that we really loved that was 4 soles (the equivalent of about $1.30) for a three course meal! Soup, main, and dessert!

My first Wonder of the World!

So, after Buenos Aires I trooped it all the way back up to Peru by bus to do the famous 4-day Inka Trail Trek to Maccu Pichu. This, mind you, was after an entire month in Argentina spending lazy days at outdoor cafes and eating enormous steaks, homemade pastas and pizzas everyday. Really smart scheduling move by Sarah...

Day 1: "Easy Day"

According to my guide (whose name I still cannot pronounce so for the purposes of this blog we will call him George), day one is the "super easy day." So, I was expecting a super easy walk to camp. Not so much. I swear that I could feel every last bit of filet mignon and Argentinian wine as extra weight in my backpack. To make matters worse, there was a group of French people who I could tell were going to be trouble...they were like little French mountain goats bounding up the trail. I have never hiked with my full back pack and sleeping gear, so the extra weight of that along with my new "Pasta Butt" took some getting used to. But the ever competitive Sarah forced herself to keep up with the mountain goats!

Here is the group, at the start of Camino Inka!

Our first sighting of ruins. Not too bad for the first day!Second, and much smaller ruins.

3 of the 6 mountain goats after we arrived at camp. Dont worry, the one on the left is not tired, she just had a bad sunburn from La Paz.George called our snack time every day Happy Hour. Not quite what I was expecting, but who am I to turn down popcorn and hot chocolate??!Beautiful mountain views from our first campsiteSarah and her sleeping mat. Day One. There is something really satisfying about using your sleeping bag and mat after carrying them all day. Myumi, my Japanese tent mate. She was so adorable...never stopped smiling! She married a Peruvian and has been working in agriculture in Peru. It is so funny to hear someone speak fluent Spanish with a thick Japanese accent!

Bundled up for bed and sporting my new Peru hat!Day 2: Hell Day.
George did not sugar coat this for us at all. 5 hours straight up hill and then 2 hours straight downhill.

It started out pleasant enough...
And then began the stairs. Hour after hour of stairs. Steep stairs. These Inkas were a short, little people. For the life of me I can´t figure out why they built these huge stairs that you had to heave yourself up onto. These pictures don´t really do justice to just how large and steep they were...
And up...
And up... Taking a break with Abby, my Mexican friend from Buenos Aires who had happened to have booked the Inka Trail the same day as me, before starting the infamous "Dead Woman´s Pass!"About half way up the torturous trail to Dead Woman´s Pass, my conversation with my back pack went something like this:

Dear Mochila,

I will try to remain calm while I write you this letter...

But why the &*@$ are you doing this to me????? Listen, it´s either you or me. One of us is not making it up to Dead Womans Pass. When did you get so big? I told you not to pack that last pair of sweatpants! What were you thinking. Now look what you force me to do.

What?? No, I will not put you back on and stop interrupting my letter to you! No, I do not need you...I will not freeze without my sleeping bag. Look this is taking too long. Let´s just make this short and sweet, it´s easier that way. Look, this nice Porter next to you will take good care of you. What? Oh my god, you´re right. That was the Mountain Goats that just passed! We can´t let them beat us!! Hurry up, hurry up. Back on you go...and hand me the bag of Coca candies. We´re going to need some extra energy for this one...

Up, up, up the mountain!

Sarah at the top of Dead Woman´s Pass. No, this is not sunburn. This is the collective effect of all the blood cells in Sarah´s face bursting after she heaves herself in a "competitive race" with the mountain goats up the side of a mountain.

But I MADE IT!!!!! (and first of the group...MUAH HAAHA).Some porters coming up over the pass. Now, they have it rough. They carry A LOT of weight. It is actually pretty embarrassing because they are all sitting around drinking coffee when we leave for the day and then fly passed us and are sitting and drinking coffe with the camp completely set up by the time we finish!One more look from Dead Woman´s Pass before heading down. A peaceful moment all alone on the trail...And then down we go for another two hours!Stairs after stairs after stairs. At first I really liked going down. But then your knees and ankles really start hurting...I am proud to annouce I got to camp a whole 2 HOURS before anyone else. But this was actually really silly because I was so sore I could barely walk. So, imagine my condition when I woke up for Day 3! I think it was less that I wanted to beat everyone down and more that I just wanted the pain to stop that made me go so fast!

Dinner tent!"I Survived Day 2 and all I got was this lousy cramp in my leg."

Day 3: Supposedly Easy Day

Ok seriously, how cool does Myumi look here.

George told us as we all sat around exhausted with our muscles aching that Day 3 was going to be "a really easy day." Hmmm, define "easy" George. Let´s just say it started immediately with and hour and a half uphill climb!

Ruins on Day 3. This was a look-out/resting post for messengers. One Inka would run from Cuzco to here and then another would take over and run the message to Maccu Picchu. They could do the whole journey in 3 hours!!Lunch tents. Taking a break near all the back packs!Umm...yeh. These were the lovely toilets at the campsites along the Inka Trail. No matter what I did, I could not master this hole-in-the-ground business. There was always really difficult squatting and unwanted splashing happening...

Most of the time, though, we would just use the Inka Toilet. Which is the bushes, obviously ;)Sarah and her WONDERFULL back pack.More ruins from Day 3Goofing off after fninishing another climb...Inka TerracesMore Terraces, used for agriculture. Another set of ruins. There were a lot on Day 3 as we got closer to Maccu Picchu!Playing Mummy.

(these holes are where they would put the important people who died)Final ruins at the end of Day 3. Getter better and better as we went on!The last night, all the different tour groups camp together at the same place. So, it was really fun. And they cook a huge meal for the last dinner. There were even showers!! And trust me, I needed one after hiking and sweating for 3 days!Drinking Coca Tea with MyumiWith Miss Abby...my little fiesty mexican tomale :)Picture with the cooks and all the porters.

They had this really large, elaborate tipping ceremony the last night where the porters came out and said their name and how many kids they have. Somehow I became in charge of collecting money from everyone and then without any forewarning from George was asked to make a speech. It was SO awkward...everyone just standing around in a big circle. Suddenly I forgot all my Spanish and mumbled some words of thanks and tossed the money over. Oy. Day 4: Maccu Picchu

So, we get up at 4 am to head to the Sun Gate, where at sunrise you can see the first glimpse of Maccu Picchu. This is all 500 people who are hiking the trail at the same time as me. Well, all of a sudden some people start running...literally! Then, this whole single file line of 500 people starts running. And you really dont have a choice because the trail is so narrow. So, if the "mountain goats" behind you are running then you must also. I was just SO confused by all this running. Why? WHY? This was finally supposed to be our EASY DAY! But some people had it in their head that they needed to get to the Sun Gate as soon as possible to see the sun rise and catch the "magical" illumination that occurs as the clouds seperate and Maccu Picchu is revealed. I tried explaining that this only happens in Summer Solstice, NOT in December...but the running could not be stopped.

While there was no magical illumination from the Sun Gate. It was still amazing to catch my first glimpse of Maccu Picchu!!! There it is, behind me and to the left...carved into the mountaintop!

Arriving finally at the city!The famous post card picture...Putting my signature stamp on it!Really, just breathtaking. Worth the 4 days hike! This was George explaining the Condor Altar.Really dorky picture that George made us take touching the "Energy Rock."Taking it all in one last time before heading out.
Abby and I at the entrance! We made it!!!With my buddies from Belgium and one of the French mountain goats on the right. Pretending to take a bite of the flowers that will give you hallucinations for 3 days straight if ingested!My Inka Prince...hehe.

The train back to Cuzco. Can´t believe it is all over...a once in a lifetime experience. But now it is time to rest the muscles for a few days!