Viajando por el Peru

Machu Picchu

Jumping over Machu Picchu

High up on the trail

Going up and up.....

Cusco

Hiking on the trail


Ladies on the Island of Taquilla

I
sland of Taquilla


The floating adventist church


On Lake Titicaca

Over the past two weeks I have been traveling around the southern parts of Peru with Kaitlin, Tara, and Laura. We took wild bus rides, crossed raging streams, and met people from around the world! The start of our trip entailed riding a bus for 19 hours to Lima over the Andes Mountains. After arriving in Lima we took a plane to Arequipa which is in the southwest part of Peru. Not only is it the second largest city but it is supposedly the cleanest as well. We arrived in the wee hours of the morning and spent most of the day exploring the city. In the evening we caught a but to Cusco where we were going to began our trek Machu Picchu. When we arrived in Cusco we got some much needed sleep and then wandered around the city. Their were some really neat little streets way above the city that we walked around for most of the day. The next morning we got a bus to the city of Santa Maria which ended up being quite an adventure. As we were going over a rock slide the bus started to slide to the edge of the thousand foot cliff but thankfully our guardian angels were watching over us and we made it safely to the town. That night we stayed in the house of the lady who owned the restaurant that we ate at. In the morning we followed one of the guided groups to the start of the trail because we were too cheap to pay for a guide. The trail ended up being very challenging and difficult. Most of the difficulty came from the high altitude and the vertical rise of the trail. That afternoon after a very taxing day of hiking we crossed a river in a little wire cage and then relaxed at some local hot springs. In the evening we stayed in a very cheap hostel and got up early to start the second day of hiking. We were not exactly sure where the trail was but we asked some local people and they pointed us in the right direction. After a very hot day of hiking on several different terrains including train tracks and waterfalls we made it to the city of Aquas Calientes which is at the base of Machu Picchu. After about an hour of looking we finally found a hostel and got some much needed rest so that we could hike up in the morning. At 5 am the next morning we were on the trail to the lost city. After an hour and twenty minutes of strenuous climbling we finally made it to the entrance. It was extremely foggy so we couldn't see very much when we got their. We decided to follow a trail called Machu Picchu mountain thinking that it would take us to the famous picture taking spot. An hour and a half later we still hadn't gotten anywhere. Because of all the fog it was hard to see but we knew that we were very high up. Eventually the sun burst through the clouds and we realized that we were in fact a thousand feet above Machu Picchu. We did get some great pictures despite the extra effort. After that I rushed down the mountain so that I could climb the famous Waynupichhu which is the mountain in all the pictures. Although I was exhausted I made it up pretty fast and spent about an hour just viewing the scenery. I then decided to go see the actual city so I climbed back down and met up with the girls to tour the lost city. It was really cool but it was not as much fun as the hike up to see it. The next day was spent taking a train to a bus to another bus to finally reach the city of Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. After resting in the hostal we spent Christmas day going to the floating islands and to the island of Taquilla which looked like an island in the middle of the ocean. The next day we went across the boarder into Bolivia and took a boat to the isle del sol. It was a beautiful island that we ended up camping on the top of. There were snowcapped mountains in the background and it was very peaceful. After getting a much needed rest from traveling we packed everything up and went back to Puno and then to Arequipa. We flew back to Lima and took the long bus ride back to Pulcallpa. Although the trip was amazing it felt great to get back home. During out trip we met people from Britain, Chile, Germany, Switzerland, Peru, USA, Korea, Canada, and many other countries. We got the oportunity to share with these people about AMOR projects and what we were doing as a team. It was awesome to share the love of God with others and hear about their lives as well. Thankyou for your continued prayers. Please keep our project in mind as we go through the next part of this new year!