A Few Thoughts

Nothing too important has happened this week, so I’ll just share a few random thoughts:

• Last week was the first time that I’ve ever done a significant amount of traveling by bus.  I took a 21-hour bus ride from Lima to Cuzco at the start of the week, and then at the end of the week I took a 16-hour bus ride to return back to Lima.  They certainly weren’t the most enjoyable experiences, but the tickets were cheap and it gave me a chance to see a lot of Peru.
• Machu Picchu is an amazing sight to see.  My group went early in the morning so that we could see the sun rise over the mountains.  We also had the chance to climb Wayna Picchu, which is the big mountain that sits behind the ruins that you always see in the pictures of Machu Picchu.  If you visit Peru, you have to make the trip to Machu Picchu.
• High altitude + Winter = Cold weather
• I celebrated the Fourth of July in the city of Puno, which is located by Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake.  Thanks to the equation above, I spent the evening shivering in 30-degree weather.
• By some miracle, we had sunshine in Callao during each of the past three days.  The sun hardly ever comes out here during the winter.
• Strange dishes that I have eaten in Peru:  cow heart, cow stomach, and cow liver.  The cow heart tasted good, but the stomach and liver had strange tastes to them.

I will try and have some pictures from my trip posted soon.  Here is one of me at Machu Picchu.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone in the U.S.A. has been enjoying their Independence Day celebrations.  I haven´t seen any such celebrations here in Peru, but there was a marching band playing some music earlier today.  I have no idea why.  I´m writing today from the city of Puno, which is located in the southeast part of Peru on Lake Titicaca.  The high temperature today is a scorching 55 degrees, which feels a lot colder than it actually is.  Needless to say, I have been shivering for a good part of the last day and a half.

Why am I in Puno you ask?  Well, for the past week I have been traveling with a group of 5 other people to visit some places in Peru.  We first spent a day in Cuzco and then visited some Incan ruins on the way to Machu Picchu.  We spent an entire day at Machu Picchu, which included watching the sunrise over the mountains and hiking up to the top of Wayna Picchu, which is the mountain that overlooks the Incan ruins.  That experience was absolutely amazing.  Pictures certainly don´t do Machu Picchu justice.  After Machu Picchu, we returned to Cuzco and then headed off to Puno to visit Lake Titicaca.  We had hoped to go to the rain forest instead, but a lack of time and money prevented us from doing that.

I will be visiting the city of Arequipa tomorrow and then heading back to Callao on Sunday.  This trip around Peru has been a great opportunity for me to see and learn more about the country.  Until next time, chao!