Today is a big day.

Remember how I said our next stop was La Paz, Bolivia? Yeah. No dice. So we get to the border on December 2nd and they inform us that as of December 1st Americans have to pay 100$ to cross into Bolivia. We dont have that kind of money. So I try everything, show them that we are actually current residents of Argentina, nothing works. We decided not to cross, I inform the bus driver and we grab are bags and are left in the middle of no where Peru, and it's cold and pouring rain. Kristyn is crying hysterically at this point and Ann although way more composed looks really worried as well. I try to calm the group down and hail a car. The guy agrees to give us a lift to the nearest village where buses leave for Puno frequently, and from there we can catch one to Cuzco. We hop in and end up on a bus full of Peruvians, from middle of no where to Puno. It was a great ride. Stuning view of Lake Titicaca. Shades of blue I've never seen before. Incredible. So then we get back to Puno hop on the next bus to Cuzco. Kristyn ends up sitting next to this woman who was very clearly smuggling something. She kept passing out these 'seat cusions'and sasking people to sit on/hide them for her. Very shady. Then she kept asking Kristyn to hold a backpack of hers. Riiiiiight. So yeah we make it to Cuzco after three bus rides and all of this crap, it was truly the longest day ever.

Cuzco is probably my favorite city so far. It's the oldest city in the Americas, so full of history. The first day here was spent chilling out around town running errands and the like. And while Ann and I are sitting on the steps of a small plaza youll never guess who we bumped into. Yup. THE AWKWARD SWEEDS! I still cant beleive it! This is near impossible. Anyways, we didnt actually talk to them, they did everything they could to avoid making eye contact with us and walked away. Meh.

So we go to bed early and yesterday wake up at 4.30 in the morning to make a 6 AM train to Aguas Calientes, aka Machu Picchu Peublo. That's right. I went to Machu Picchu. First lets talk about that train ride. As we ascended, altitude sickness hit me really hard so I spent the 4 hour ride vomiting and shaking. Yes it was worth it. Most incredible day of my life. Seeing the lost city was absolutely overwhelming. And because we opted to get there so early for the first few hours we felt like we had the palce to oursleves. I cant even put this experience into words. I'll show you the photos. We stayed there all day and cought the last train home. Went out for pizza and headed back to the hostel. We were wiped out after the day of hiking.



So that brings us to today. It's currently December 5th, 2007 9.37AM. I left home 5 months ago exactly today. Today is it. My last day backpacking. Last day with Ann and Kristyn. At 4.30 I catch a bus to Pisco Peru to volunteer for a week and then I'm home. Saying goodbye again. God I hate this...