Well it has been a long time since I have last blogged. I apologize to my eager readers i.e. blood relatives. :) (why else would you care!) I would like to thank everyone for the nice comments that everyone leaves. They mean a lot to both Katrine and I seeing as how we don't always get a chance to talk or see you all as much as we would like. (Kien reaps the fruit of my labor! But I hear rumors that she might write a guest entry soon!.... Vamos a ver! )
Kien and I have seen and experienced many things in the past 2 weeks. This entry will try to do those experiences justice but I'm afraid I won't have the right words. First off for anyone that is pondering the idea of a South American vacation, I can personally say that Peru will not disappoint! You need to come and see it for yourselves. Despite first getting altitude sickness and then getting either food poisoning or Dengi fever from the hundreds of mosquito bites I accumulated of the course of the vacation, Peru needs your attention! (it's ok Kien had the Norwegian doctors handbook saved on her laptop... what a nerd! ;) She however never got sick! I'm lucky that way.
So yeah we had 4 days in Cuzco, which we used to get acclimated, explore and enjoy ourselves. We rented horses from a Quechua family and we went trail riding while their 2 youngest kids guided us on foot. They were very sweet! The girl was 12 and the boy was 7. The ride was fun albeit pretty lame. Suffice it to say, the horses were ready for the glue factory and the 7km tour that we had purchased ended up being like 3km by horse and 4km by a collectivo (rickety local bus).
Oh and I can't forget that the horses were like pony sized. Kien looked like giant on her's and I was seriously worried about the health and well being of my "horse". In the end we had a nice time with the horses but most of all talking to the little kiddos about what Norway was like and what type of animals we have. It also struck me that some kids in this world don't always have an equal amount of time to be kids. Life is not fair. Had I just done the damn dishes at 7 years old, my parents would have been endlessly stoked.After spending 4 days in Cuzco we headed off to Aguas Calientes which is a small town below Machu Picchu. It is nestled at the bottom of a canyon that has a river running through it and tree covered jagged mountains surrounding it. Despite the awesome location, we did not like A.C. whatsoever. It was really touristy and packed with tourist groups ready to buy a piece of "authentic" Peru. A.C. however was a necessary evil to experience the wonder of Machu Picchu. After a poor night of sleep Kien woke up at 3am to the sounds of thunder and torrential downpour. We got up determined to see the place that the Inca had built some 600 years ago. We bought disposable rain ponchos. Kien got an awesome blue one and I got a black one which ended up being a glorified Hefty sack! I tried to take it back but the shop owner wouldn't hear any of it! Then we waited in line for over an hour in the pouring rain for the bus that would take us to Machu Picchu. After many hours waiting and discomfort we ended up getting our first sight of the city.
I will forever remember my first impression of the city. It was about 6am and the rain had let up and the clouds rolled away, exposing the green and rocky terraces of Machu Picchu. It fulfilled and exceeded all of my expectations. To think that the people that lived there had running water, defense systems, advanced astronomy and a fully self-sufficient agricultural system. Truly impressive.
The reason for getting there so early was to get an entrance ticket to Huayna (Wayna) Picchu which is a peak that overlooks Machu Picchu. They only let in 400 people a day. After a lot of stress we got tickets #'s 81 & 82 and made the hike to the top. It was to say the least pretty damn scary. Heights are by no means something I savor and this hike tested both Kien and I. It was pretty much stairs the whole way up, the only thing is that I'm pretty sure there were the original stairs! Oh and in many parts if you slipped, you died. I am pleased to say that we survived to fight another day and the view of Machu Picchu from above was well worth the struggle.
We spent the rest of the day wandering around the ruins which are actually much larger than Katrine and I had ever previously thought. That evening we took the train back to Cuzco. We had only 1 day left there and I was laying in bed that whole day. I am really glad that we opted for the room with the private bathroom at our hostal although I was hesitant because it costed like 8 more dollars a night. ;) Thank god that I have a wife that likes to have some privacy because I definitely got good use of the genius positioning of the sink in relation to the toilet. Sometimes you need both! So it sucked that I missed out on our last day in Cuzco but super glad that I didn't get sick the day before.
We then had a full day in Lima on our way out of Peru. We stayed in an area called Miraflores which is by the sea. Kien and I had a long moment looking out to sea and smelling the salt air. Life is all about the small moments. At this point I felt way better and we took a cab into the city and did some sightseeing. It is a big city that in all honesty didn't really spark either of our interests. Good to have seen but I think that 1-2 days would be sufficient.
It was sad to say goodbye to Peru but we know that someday we will be back! On the flip side, it was good to get back to Buenos Aires. We got home and actually got all of our things packed because we were going to move to a new apartment the next day. Moving went smoothly and the new apartment is about 4 million times better than our last one! So both Katrine and I are happy campers.
Since we have gotten back we have spent time getting settled in as well as hanging out with our friends Mick and Ariel. (I have talked about Mick before, but Ariel is from Toronto and doing a term here). Both are very nice guys that we get along with quite well. We actually had a homemade pesto party at Ariel's last night. Kien was in heaven.
So after I have dragged this on and only about half of you that started reading this have finished, I will try to wrap it up. Kien starts her internship on Monday. She is excited and very nervous. We all know she will do great though! As for me, I will have to start studying as well. Time is flying by here. We still love Buenos Aires and we think she likes us too.......
Miss and love you all. When we figure out our phone number we will let you all know!
Besos,
Seany
ps- Check out our pictures on the right hand side of this page.
