After being in Cuzco for several days its time for me to be on the move again. Cuzco is a really nice pretty city, an d ive really enjoyed my stay here. Everyones so friendly, theres a lovely bloke who runs at my hostel who chats with me all the time, nothing is too much trouble, and despite his s*** english and my s*** spanish, we manage to have a lot of laughs together. I went to Machu Picchu 2 days ago, what a gorgeous place, and totally insane that theres a whole city stuck on top of a mountain and archeologists have really no idea what its about. The place was absolutely massive and took me several hours to get around. I did take a couple of hours to climb this big b****** of a mountain called Wayna Picchu, it was steep as hell and as it was raining as little it was quite slippery, but i just plugged in my ipod and danced on up. I mustve looked a right freak actually because i had a shopping bag full of clothes and my handbag hardly correct attire for climbing in the Andes. Still, i got to the top and the bottom with no problems, it was utterly gorgeous, i was right up there in the heavens, i was higher than some of the clouds., The Sacred Valley is simply awe-inspiring. It wasnt a cheap trip though as i had left it rather last minute i had to take the poncey train out there instead of the backpacker train, it was called the Vistadome and the reason that it cost so much was that it had wqindows in the roof and served breakfast. It was not worth it though as the windows were dirtyy and the breakfast was tiny (c´mon, i live in America) and the staff were SO rude! I think its cos i look like i have no money because they were all over zee germans and wouldnt give me the time of day. I wasnt even wearing my plastic bags on my feet though, although i was wearing every single item of clothing i own because 5am in Cuzco is bloody freezing.

Anyway, it was an utterly utterly gorgeous if exhuasting day out and im so pleased i got to see it. Yesterday i finally reconnected with Clayton who had been threatening to file a missing persons report on my behalf. We just hung out and enjoyed the weather, the days have been super hot here.

Today it is St Patricks day which also coincidess with Holy Week, (or are they related??) so theres a massively festive atmosphere in town. There has been nonstop parades throughout the town and the place is packed to the brim with soldiers and cardinals and tv crews and all sorts. Theres a blessing tonight at the cathedral by Perus big cheese of the church so there´s a very expectant air around the town. It was wonderful to walk around the city and soak up all the atmosphere, even though i dont have a clue what its all about. I had a bit of an annoying morning as Clayton and i are going to the Amazon in 2 days (yeah, we are hardcore) and we are flying from Lima which is over 2000 km from here. He had taken a bus there this morning, but its 24 hours long and they dont have toilets or make frequent stops and frankly i couldnt think of anything worse, so little miss flashpacker is flying tomorrow. If only booking a flight was that bloody simple! I spent several hours and wasted much time trying to book online before i gave up and headed to the travel agents. They dont believe in doing things fast in Peru so i was there for a good couple of hours before that got sorted. The thing was that i went out this morning in my pyjamas because i didnt think it would take that long and i could go back to my hotel and shower and change straight after (i really wanted to book the flight first thing) but because it took so bloody long i ended up wandering around the town in my pjs (which are thermals, so you can imagine how utterly gorgeous i looked) and it was hot as HELL today. I mustve looked a right sight but i doubt the Peruvians in their porkpie hats will have noticed anything amiss.

Anyway, finally sorted for Lima so i head off tomorrow, then we spend 6 days in the Jungle before heading back to Lima and then we have one day left before its back (sadly) to real life. So, i imagine ill be out of contact for the next week as i doubt they have internet access in the jungle. They might though, you never know. Im psyched to go into the Amazon, its the most important part of this trip for me. I hope to see some indigenous tribes, lick a treefrog and trip out , visit a shamen and have some potions made that will help me rule the world (or similar) and see the Amazon dolphin, caimens, manatees, massive spiders and butterflies that are known to be in the region. I met a couple who went piranha fishing when they went so that would be cool too. We havent booked anything yet but Iquitos is the gateway to the Amazon jungle so im sure we wont have a problem finding something marvellous.

Right well, I have the most peculiar little girl sitting next to me who is breathing heavily and putting a hex on me, so im off to the English pub i have been hanging out at (all class, i am) to celebrate St Patricks day in the proper fashion. So yes, im off to get pissed. Before i sign off heres a couple more random notes on Peru:

They dont believe in toilet seats. Anywhere from my experience.

They piss on the streets here. Frequently and without shame.

My hotel is a chalk pit and has stained my clothes and me white

There is a dog that lives by my hotel that has been trained to bark at foreigners. I have observed this dog on a number of occassions and it only barks at gringos not peruvians.

The coca leaf drink that ihave been sucking down will leave trace amounts of cocaine in my system. I cannot wait to see what the treefrog i plan on licking will leave.