Peru - Cuzco and Machu Pichu

We were all very tired after San Pedro, but had a long bus ride into Peru to rest (or so we thought)! We spent a short time at the beach in Arica, the northern most town in Chile, from where we had to take a bus into Peru. Two girls from our group took a Taxi into Tanca, which is a town just over the border into Peru, to go to the bus station and find us bus tickets. Peru uses different bus companies so we had no idea which ones were reliable etc. They ended up getting us all tickets, and we took a taxi later that day into Peru in order to catch our bus. The bus station was our first glimpse of Peru, and it was kinda scary! It was full of indiginous people dressed in traditional Peruvian clothes, waiting on busses and selling things. When we got on the bus, we were the only people who looked even remotely like tourists. It was a double decker bus, where the people sat on top, but the driver was underneath in a separate area. We were told there was a button to push if we needed him for any reason. A little while into the overnight trip, which was supposed to be about 14 hours, several of us had to use the bathroom, but it was locked. We pushed the button for the driver over and over but he kept telling us to wait. It got pretty close to an emergency situation for a couple of us when we finally stopped 4 hours later! It was the middle of the night but we ran down the street to find a bathroom. In South America they charge to use public bathrooms, and when we finally got there we realized we didn`t have any peruvian money...ahhhh! Luckily a nice couple from the bus paid our way in. We were in a hurry, only to find that the bathroom was nothing more than a hold in the ground to neal over and aim! It smelled awful but we had no choice! Finally back on the bus and a little more comfortable, we went through several police check points. One lady sitting near us kept trying to give me her bag to hold and claim as mine when we were being checked...pretty scary! Of course I refused. The police came on the bus and several people were taken off for having too much money of a different currency, or illegal posessions. Our first glimpses of Peru were not very good!

After almost 23 hours on the bus, we finally arrived in Cuzco. We were all glad to get off the bus and get to our hostel to clean up and relax. The hostel was nice and full of young travellers. They provided a laundry service which we were really excited about because we all packed lightly and had worn just about everything. Our first day in Cuzco, we explored the town and went to some indiginous markets where you barter to buy really cool hand made things. We also planned our trip to Machu Pichu becuase we heard the trains there filled up fast.

The next day we left our laundry at the front desk. A lady comes daily to pick it up, wash it, and bring it back that night. When we came back in that night, we were told that the laundry lady put all of the clothes into the taxi to take home and the taxi driver drove off with everything! We had lost what little clothes we had with us! Things just didn`t seem to be going our way! Of course I had more clothes stolen than anyone, but there was nothing the laundry lady, who was poor, or the hostel could do about our missing clothes! Also, Cuzco is at a very high altitude, close to 12,000 feet, so once again I was affected by this. I woke up in the night and each morning with horrible headaches. Luckily I brought migraine medicine along and was able to enjoy our time there!

The next day we woke up before the sun came up and took a train to Machu Pichu, the Incan Ruins. It was about a 3 hour bus ride to a town called Agua Calientes, where we took a bus up the mountain to the ruins. It was absolutely amazing, and unlike anything you`ve ever seen! We had a short hike further up the mountain, then were able to walk all throughout the ruins. It blows my mind to imagine how the Incans managed to build these structures by hand up on the mountain. They had to build stone by stone and i`m sure it took forever! To see it is absolutely worth everything we went through to get there! While we were wandering throughout the ruins...quick to get out of breath again because of the altitude, I saw two people from MTV`s the real world and got my picture with them. It made the amazing day even better! We left the ruins and took a bus back down the mountain with enough time to shop in the market and buy some more cool Peruvian items.

After a long and wonderful trip, we woke up the next morning to get on a plane and fly home. We saw some amazing things and made so many memories! Despite everything that happened on our trip, it was a once in a lifetime experience and I wouldn`t trade it for the world! Now it`s back to the real world, with school and studying!