Katie's Tourist Christmas Adventure!

It all began when I boarded a van to Chiclayo and began the 24 hour trek from Cutervo to Lima.

In Lima, I ate as many sandwiches as possible at La Lucha and picked my DU friend Beth up from the airport (a very drawn-out and crowded affair, but worth it because we had a new companion and I got goodies from home such as loads of chocolate and trail mix and fuzzy socks).

Then it was another 22 hour bus ride all the way to Cuzco, where we settled into our hostel and slept for as long as possible to get rid of all the bus aches. Perú may not be as large as the US, but when you're traveling through the Andes travel time is significantly amplified. From Cutervo to Cuzco is about 43 cramped hours.

Cuzco is beautiful, with some really delicious Peruvian and gringo food, gorgeous vistas, and elaborate Spanish churches (built on top of Inkan foundations, which are still stronger than anything the conquistadores ever built, FYI). We stayed for 2 days before our Macchu Picchu trek and saw many llamas, pretty buildings, and ate lots of exquisite Middle Eastern food.

Then, we trekked. We went with SAS Travel, and our guide, James Palma, was a wealth of Inkan, Andean, Cuzqueñan, and Quechua knowledge (not to mention trilingual and gorgeous). We had amazing healthy food, lots of history and Quechua lessons, and became intimately acquainted with cañons and trails (including one of the Inkan trails) of the southern Andes. We spent a day and a half in a leisurely trek at about 12,000-15,000 feet. We camped the first night, and the second day we hiked to the train that took us to the town at the base of Macchu Picchu where we steeped in the hot springs.

But Macchu Picchu itself...ineffable. Spectacular. Not just the stones that fit impeccably together without were fired and polished and hauled up mountains. It is surrounded by the Urubamba river (the biggest tributary to the Amazon) and Huayna Picchu mountain, on which are fully preserved ruins of what is thought to be an astrological observatory. And everything is in the middle of a cloud forest. Definitely worth it's position as one of the wonders of the world.

After Macchu Picchu, we spent Christmas in Cuzco and went to Huaraz, where we saw the tallest mountains in Peru, brilliant glacial lakes, and celebrated new years with Peace Corps buddies.

At this point, there's not much more that I can put into words, so I'll just leave you with pictures:

These are of Cusco: cute llamas, street art "Pachamama" (mother Earth), Spanish-style tile roofs, and my new favorite "ponche de leche con Pisco", or milk punch with Pisco (basically egg-nog)








And here's the pictures from the trek to Macchu Picchu: me and Chris in our tent, the beautiful Andean valleys surrounding Macchu Picchu and Cusco and the Inka trail, the slot cañon inside of a cloud forest.





Macchu Picchu! The vista from Huayna Picchu (the mountain that's always in the pictures) to Macchu Picchu, a gorgeous flower, our guide James, the hand-carved stairs, the perfectly stacked rocks (nothing holding them together but the rocks themselves)









And Ancash: Mt. Huascarán (the tallest in Perú at around 20,000 feet), glacial waterfalls, glacial lake Llanganuco, Huascarán in black and white, mountains Huascarán and Huandoy, a mountain I think is Alpamayo in black & white, and the sand at Llanganuco