Peru day 4

Today I will be brief. We had a lazy morning but we went to a museum of Maximo who is a 5 th generation weaver. It was very cool. After that we left and went to the market to buy stuff. Then we went to the temple of the sun. Then Elise and Jacob and I walked up the hill to Christo Blanco. Then we went and ate dinner. Then packed. Then Garret and I went and mailed letters. And now I want to go to sleep. 

Peru day 3

Today was a bit chill. We awoke at 9 and hung around eating pumpkin cake and drinking coffee until about 12 when we left to finalize some arrangements for our tour. The rest of the day was pretty chill. At about. 1 we went to have lunch at a Peruvian restaurant. We waited a very long time for our food, but when it came over an hour later were were very happy to be eating such wonderful food.

Once done, we went for a walk and garret and I split up from the group and got lost which was a very good time. 

We made it back to the meeting place about 20 minutes late for a group discussion with a bunch of group of westerners at the Meeting Place Cafe. The focal point of the discussion was the topic of perspective. As people from all different backgrounds and cultures, we should try to understand each others perspectives when we engage with them. This was the good part of the discussion that quickly turned into a discussion of relativity concerning truth and worldview. After we prayed for several peoples needs. A man named Sesar had a friend in a coma. We prayed for him. The next morning Sesar came in very excited with news that his friend was awake! Praise the Lord. Once adjourned, our tour guide for the Inca Trail came and met us and talked about our tour. She seems nice.

Once done, we were hungry so we went looking for food. A persuasive hostess beaconed us into a restaurant where we ordered desert. We relaxed here for a while and it was very good. We left at 10:30 and went back to the main plaza for more salsa dancing.

We arrived just as they began a lesson so we dropped off our things and jumped in. I had the opportunity to dance with a Peruvian girl which was very fun. We danced for a bit and then watched the experienced dancers rip up the floor. 

As we left, we watched some fireworks and began walking up the hill to a good overlook of the city. The view was great and we were able to see stars even though the beautiful city lights polluted the sky. Realizing that we were seeing stars that we had never seen before since we were now in the Southern Hemisphere, we tried to recall everything that we knew about these strange new constellations. Kait recognized Scorpio and I may or may not have found the southern cross by using my compass. Overall though, you could certainly tell that we were looking at the heavens from a completely different perspective than what we had grown up with. I think it was very interesting that, though we don't often look at the stars back home, we still are familiar enough to recognize that these stars were not ours. I wonder how have an ancient, stargazing Greek would have felt if he were there with us. Probably even more aware of the differences and very, very confused. We walked down the hill and went to sleep in our beds. Overall, the day was relaxing and chill. 

Peru day 2

We woke to an early alarm at 5:16. Kait and I scrambled out the door and went to a store to buy breakfast stuff since we needed to be at the airport super early. We got bread and jam in a pouch, apples, and yogurt. The five of us squeezed into a small taxi. Only two packs fit in the trunk so we had to squeeze with all of our stuff like sardines--with four of us in the back seat. 

We arrived at the airport in good time and made our way through security after eating our humble breakfast. 

We arrived at the gate a few nineties before it began boarding. We entered the plane via the steps rather than a jet bridge. Once in the air, it wasn't long before we were greeted with beautiful views of the Andes. These peaks were huge! Certainly much bigger than anything in Colorado. 

We landed in Cusco at about 10 and negotiated a cab to the cafe where we were to meet Christa. The driver let us out at the Plaza de San Blas and pointed in the direction of the cafe. We were soon greeted by Christa who took is upstairs to our room. It was all beautiful and perfect.  We went back downstairs and enjoyed a relaxing meal in a semi-private room. We me a nice lady from Australia who makes her own chocolate and gives chocolate massages. We also were introduced to two other resident of the cafe who were from Texas and would be our companions for the remainder of the day. 

Soon we began hiking to the Temple of the Moon which dates back to the Incas. It was very interesting to walk in such an old and ancient place where many people lived vastly different lives.  After that, we began walking to some caves that Brandon knew of. On the way, we played frisbee and ended up playing Ultimate  on a bluff above Cuzco. We taught some local girls how to play and had a great time being very American in a foreign country. 

We then proceeded to the caves which we explored. They were all very tight but we had a good time winding our way through the labyrinth. We then started heading back to the cafe as the sun was beginning to set. On our way we ran into son guys who were slacklining in the forest and we gave it a go. Their skill far surpassed ours. 

We changed into some warmer clothes and ate at a good place called Jacks. I split huevos rancheros and a trout and cream cheese sandwich. Both of which were very good. Once done, we walked to the main plaza were people were dancing and performing some kind of celebration. After touring for a while, we went and rested in a Starbucks. At about 9:30 we left and went to a discoteca for a salsa lesson. We left at about 11 after anther great day in Peru.

 

First Hours in Peru

Travel days can be long. I would hesitate to say ours was extremely long, but it certainly wasn't short. We arrived at the Denver airport at 9:40 pm for a 11:55 pm flight. We tried to sleep but were too excited to crank out any zz's. We arrived at ft lauderdale at 5:30 local time about an hour before the sun came up. We rented a car and began driving down the coast. The sunrise was beautiful and we were able to pull over and enjoy the beach for a few moments before continuing to drive to South Beach Miami. We spent the day at the beech before getting on our plane to Lima.

 

Once we landed we went through customs and got ripped off by a cab company that charged us $46 for a cab that would have cost $10. But we felt safe so it was worth it. We rendezvoused with Kait, garret, an Jacob at the hostel at about 10:30 and went driving with Kaits friends. We saw the ocean and were able to get our feet wet--touching both pacific and Atlantic in the same day. We saw many cool places around Lima. 

We woke the next morning at 10 and took our time eating a breakfast of bread and cereal. At 11:30 we left for the presidents palace and were able to watch the changing of the guard.

Overall, this has been a great experience. The culture shock I experienced in Asia and England hasn't hit me yet. Perhaps I am getting used to traveling? It is similar here to the phillipines but it is much nicer. 

After watching the. Changing of the guard, we went on a tour of the cathedral. Basilica Cathedral of Lima. 

The tour was great and we learned of Peru's history and about the catholic culture. After that we ate at about 2 at a Peruvian restaurant. My food was very good. It was some kind of beef thing with fried potatoes. I ordered a cappuccino and it was tasty. A little darker roast than I usually go for but it was nutty and flavorful. 

After lunch we made our way to the cathedral of st Francis. There we went on another tour and were able to go into the catacombs. Garret and I snuck off and were able to go see another part of the cathedral. 

Once done, we shopped for a bit. I don't find anything of interest. 

We went back to the hostel and met up with Christina again. She took us to a water park. Not a water park with slides and such, but a park of illuminated water features. I practiced my vet limited spanish vocabulary and made Kait laugh at my gringoness. It was a fun evening, but we went to bed a bit early so that we could be sure to rest before our 8am flight to Cuzco. 

Philippines Adventure Day 6

I'm tired so ill be brief. I woke up early an saw the subset. Then we ate breakfast, then we went kayaking and snorkeling. The snorkeling was cool because we held into the supports for a Banca (small boat) and he pulled us through the water over the reef. It was actually a little scary sometimes because the water was only 3ft deep in some places and the idea if being scrapped across the coral wasn't particularly comforting. The boatman then took us to an underwater cave. Well, the entrance was on the shore but you were soon in the water and to get out you had to swim about 2ft down before swimming 10ft out to clear the rock. This was all fun, but sadly we have to catch a ferry back to the mainland.

We packed our things, ate lunch, and took a Banca to the Puerto Galleras where we were just in time for the ferry back to Botangas. Once there, we were picked up by our previous driver and taken to our hotel in Manila near the airport.

The rest can be summed up as--eat, sleep, eat, 4hr plane ride, 4hr layover, 12?or more hour plane ride, 1.5hr layover 2 hour plane ride, 45min car ride back to CCU. And thus ended our Philippines
adventure