Cuzco

Whew.

We departed from Lima on Sunday at 6:00 PM. We got into Cuzco at 1:00 AM on Tuesday. The bus that we thought was going to take 20 hours ended up taking 31 and a different route than advertised. It felt somewhat like one of the upper circles of hell as we wound perilously and seemingly endlessly through the peruvian desert without air conditioning or water other than the small amount we had brought ourselves watching terrible hollywood movies with spanish dubbing while suffering from mild altitude sickness (nausea, shortness of breath, headaches) from climbing from sea level to over 12,000 feet, where we are now.

But we´re here now! Cuzco is an amazingly beautiful city, the Inca capital of the world, and ever so touristy. That element is something we could do without, but we are already having a blast staying with our first couchsurfing host, Wilman, who graciously opens his home up to 8 travelers at a time for free. We met several Americans staying with him and went out to an amazing (and, as always, cheap) vegetarian restaurant barely 3 blocks from the house.

Life is good. Besides the residual shortness of breath, we could not be happier. That despite the probability that we will not be going to Bolivia due to a $130 entrance fee. We´ve just contacted our first WWOOFing host and will probably be doing farm work near Iguazu Falls (do a quick google search) in Argentina. We´re also looking at volunteer opportunities in Pisco and Arequipa, helping with earthquake reconstruction and at women and chilrens shelters, respectively.

More to come later, the brisk Andean night calls!

Love you,

Sam