Peru

After Machu Picchu I decided to stay around in Cusco for a few more weeks working in the Loki Hostel. I worked mostly reception which resulted in having to give some tours of the hostel in Spanish, which was embarrassing enough much less when some Argentinian guys who also thought it was funny decided to video it as well. Argentinian men...grrrrr.

Days in Cusco went by fast and all of a sudden Id been there for 3 weeks and decided that I couldnt take the cold anymore and took off for Arequipa (central peru)! The day before I left I wasnt feeling very well and decided to talk to a Doc, who informed me I needed to be on antibiotics for a bacterial infection in my stomach caused by....who wants to guess?! A Parasite...the grand prize of south america. So I left on antibiotics and antiparasite medication for some sunnier days.

Outside of Arequipa is the Colca Canyon, the second deepest Canyon in the world. I ended up doing a 3 day Canyon trek with Land Adventures. The trip began with a 4am bus ride out to the Canyon to watch Condors 3x as big as me soar about 3000 meters over the Canyon. We then headed for some lunch (Alpaca meat and soup) and began the 3 hr trek down into the Canyon. It was stunning. Cactuses, wildflowers and jagged rocks slowly turned into lush terraces as we reached the river running thru the Canyon. We had a little stop to dip our feet into the ice cold river (the river tried to steal my sunhat but did not prevail - just made my hat smell like river). Then headed through gardens and small farms, passing avocado trees and various weird looking pumpkin things. We scaled the ledge of a irrigation channel and hiked to a small village where we spent the night with a local family. I decided to skip the ALpaca meat for dinner which I watch being tendorized with a large stone and instead ate some fried sweet potatoes and avocados with lemon. Very delicious!

The next morning we got a little tours of various huts (including the Guinea Pig hut the locals keep for eating these little fellows on special occasions). I tried to help the Guinea Pigs make a prison break but they were more interested in eating grass. We met a man who was over 100 yrs old and survives on eating coca leaves. We hiked down into an Oasis which was a much needed stop since it was soooo hot at the base of the Canyon. We ate lunch and swim a bit before heading out of the Canyon. The hike out looked like more then my unhealthy stomach could handle, plus I has a blister the size of a quarter on the pad of my foot, so opted for a mule ride out. The beginning of that trip was terrifying with the mules fighting over who would be in front by jumping off the gravel rock path and pushing the other mule out of the way at EVERY corner. Eventually the order was established and the man who rented us the mules was very entertained (the look on our faces said otherwise).

I spent another day in the white city (Arequipa) eating tons of Turkish food and left for Lima. I only had about 10 hrs in Lima before my flight to Buenos Aires. I did a little tour bus ride through Miraflores, made dinner with some travelling buddies and headed to the airport for my 1 am flight (which I had thought was 1pm until the day before - good thing I discovered that mistake). I had spent exactly a month in Peru when I was stamped out at immigration, but Ill be back!