I finally left Peru!
I left Peru on Saturday, the 9th of August after two long months (yes, some of those were long-suffering)

I had a fantastic last week and a half with many friends, old and new, dancing, a trip to Machu Pichu and more.

Machu Pichu
Thanks to the tip of a friend in Cusco, I was able to take the cheaper route to Machu Pichu, via Ollataytambo.

On the tuesday that I left, I ran some errands in town and made it back later than I had planned and so wasn't going to go...besides, I was coming down with something (flu-like, not stomach problems). Then I suddenly made up my mind, threw my stuff in a bag and left. No time like the present.

I hailed a cab outside my front gate and the driver was very amiable and asked about my plans. He tried to sell me on a day tour of all of the ruins- but I'd seen most of them and didn't have 90 soles besides. He finally said, "To hell with it, let's just go. I'll drive you to Ollataytambo" I laughed and wanted to know how much. He said not to worry about it. Just climb in the front seat and go. He'd had a bad day, understood that I didn't have the money and he just wanted to spend the afternoon with a pretty girl. OK. So off we went.

We had a lovely chat for the next 2 or 3 hours and in the end he just said goodbye, thanks and goodluck. I gave him 15 soles, which was much less than what he should get, but twice as much as I had budgeted for the trip, so I figured it averaged out.

The Sacred Valley is beautiful. It's lush and green even in the dry season. Of course the dry season rains there! Ollataytambo and Urumbuma (misspelled) are in the heart of the sacred valley of the incas. So beautiful. Incredible ruins as well.

I spent the day in Ollataytambo while I waited for the evening train to Aguas Calientes (the village of Machu Pichu), where I met Benny and Elizabeth. The three of us managed to find a room in Aguas Calientes for 50 soles for three, which was more than we really had budgeted to pay. Our french friends from the train couldn't find anything, but were allowed to sleep on the floor of the restaurant where they ate.

The next morning Benny set off up the mountain at 5am and Elizabeth and I roused ourselves for the trek at 6am. There's a bus that you can take for $9 return, but we chose to walk up the mountain in the rain. It was a gorgeous walk through a lush temperate rainforest (much like all of the ones I've hiked in New Zealand).

When we arrived at the top we were taken aback- you exit the forest into a tourist resort with a hotel and restaurant and outdoor cafe...a little anti-climactic after the remote trek. We bought our tickets- happily half price with our student ids (luckily they didn't look too closely at the dates) and sat down outside to munch before going in.

When we finally did make our way into the ruins, we walked up the road a ways, but didn't see anything except just one Inca hut. Hmm. Left or right? Everything was immersed in such a dense fog (cloud really) that we couldn't see where to go. We chose left, and when faced with another path, up or straight, chose up. We walked up, and up and up the mountain. It was actually a beautiful climb. There were all sorts of wild orchids- my favorites were the little tiny ones the size of my thumb nail. When we reached the top of the mountain suddenly as if by magic the clouds cleared and we could see the ruins...right next to the hut where we had been standing before!

We stayed for sometime sitting on the edge of the peak until scared by some Israelis that made the trek. They asked us to take pictures of the group. Elizabeth obliged and then tried to hand me the first camera. I reached over to grab it only to fall sideways onto a cactus! OUCH!!! On top of the world, on top of a cactus- help please??!!

We said goodbye and trekked back down the mountain to see the actual ruins. Luckily the cactus was just a mild one and just left some angry marks, no spines in my skin.

The city of Machu Pichu is incredible. It must have been the most beautiful and modern city. In the center is a small clearing with a tree. Very peaceful. There are a couple of temples and the houses all had some running water. The views are stunning, and yet are often hidden by the dense clouds shrouding the mountains. The city was mostly populated by women- or at least that's what the archeological studies found. There are all sorts of theories as to why this is- a popular one being that that was where the royal harem was kept. Who knows?

Elizabeth and I stayed almost the remainder of the day and then walked back down to the village in the rain. We were soaking wet, but sneaked back into the hotel and changed our clothes before taking off. We had decided that we didn't have the money to spend that much on a hotel again and besides our train was leaving at 5:45am, so we were just going to sleep in the plaza under the eaves of something or other. As luck would have it, the Frenchies had a room and offered to share their beds with us. Unfortunately, the Seńora saw us going in and threw a fit. In the end, she charged us an extra 7soles a person to share the beds that she had already rented out at 10 soles each (she tried to charge us 10 soles, but we wouldn't have it).

I shared a slightly damp and moldy bed with Elizabeth and woke up VERY sick with a cold the next day. Grandma, wherever you are, I believe you now that you CAN in fact catch your death of cold if you don't come out of the rain and change out of those wet clothes!