I took the 6 hour bus to Arequipa then stayed in a yucky hostel called Indio Dormido - never again! I then walked around the Plaza de Armas, filled w/ pigeons and saw the Iglesia de la Compañia which had a very pretty facade. From there I spent a while in an artisans market and got to the cathedral for the 6pm mass. It was a special mass in honor of San Carmelo who worked w/ the sick and there were people there from his order visiting. I got a cab to go back...

I took the 6 hour bus ride from Arequipa to Cabanaconde, had lunch, and was on my way down the canyon to San Juan de Chuccho by 12:30pm. I made it there in only 2.5 hours instead of the 4h they said. I followed the trail until it got to a bridge but there was no bridge on the map on the way to Coshñirhua so I thought I missed the turn to go up and started back up a not so great trail knowing I was supposed to go up in order to get to the next town. By 4pm I w...

In Puno, I had brunch w/ a British couple I met, Aisling & Gavin, then took a 2pm tour to the Incan and pre-Incan funerary site called Sillustani. We learned about the 3 kinds of tombs found there. From 500AD - 1100AD were the Tiwanaku that made underground graves burying their dead in the fetal position. 1100AD - 1440AD were the Chollas who made circular towers up to 9feet big w/ doors always facing the east. From 1440 - 1534 when the Spanish came, the I...

From Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu) we took the Vistadome train to Ollantaytambo & along the way there was this guy in a traditional costume w/ a sock face painted mask on w/ a llama strapped to his back.He ran up & down the aisle doing this kind of traditional dance.It was weird.Alie thought he was really freaky!Then there was a fashion show & the crew modeled some alpaca tops.Some of the shawls were beautiful but over $100!!We then went from Ollanta...

I didn't sleep too well because of stomach pains so we skipped the 2km hike uphill to Machu Pichu (meaning old mountain) & took the bus up for $7, getting there @ 6am.We got our tickets to climb Wayna Pichu (young mountain) at 10am (they only allow 400 total) & then took our 2 hour included tour.It was really good & he gave us a lot of info.It was really foggy though and looked totally cool & mystical.It is still in such good shape because the Spa...