Cusco, Etc. ... a Guest Blog by Megan Sides Pike

Hi friends and family! Aly and Jo have given me a chance guest blog here, I hope I can do it justice!

About two weeks ago I was lucky enough to meet up with my friends here in Peru and join them for a little piece of their adventure of a lifetime. After telling them the wrong neighboorhood where I was staying (oops!) I got the best wake-up call ever from two (very tan) friends knocking on my hotel door in Cusco. (Who knew there were such good beaches in Peru?) We spent the next couple of days hanging out in Cusco, the biggest mountain city I´ve ever seen. I was prepared for the ancient architecture, the street vendors and the cobbled streets, but I wasn´t prepared for the spectacular scenery, the vast-ness of it all and the amazingly cute children (more on this later).

Our first introduction to an ancient Inkan ruin was just outside the city at ¨Sachsayhuman¨ We figured it worked for us both because it was close and because it is actually pronounced ¨Sexy Woman.¨ Yep, that´s us. Also, it´s close to the giant white Jesus on the hill. One stop shop. At Sexy Woman, we realized the full effects of altitude... ow. We also learned that Muña is a better plant for curing it than Coca. We met our new dog friend Bow Wow and learned that he doesn´t really like protein bars or dark enclosed caves (the street dogs here are seriously the cutest anywhere). And Aly was the first one to suck up the courage to slide down an ancient Inkan playset (pictures to come).

Our other favorite things about the city of Cusco include - The restaurant Chez Maggie where you can get Mexican Food and hear live music, The Artisan Market (which is cheaper than the big market and slightly out of town), and Sarah and Jefferson (more on them later). A good amount of our time is spent trying to sneak picures of cute kids and furry street dogs. (We each have our favorite kind of street dog, the variety here is remarkable.)

All the children here are cute, but we definitely have two favorite street kids. Jefferson (Me llamo Hhhhhefferson!) is five years old and tries to sell us ¨cheeeeeklay!¨ every night and yells "Aye! Tu es Loca!¨ everytime he sees Aly. Sara is also really cute and in the fifth grade. She will sell you a Cusco beanie for 5 soles as long as none of the other street vendors are watching (it´s like a half-price discount)! Jefferson and his friend Theresa are now the proud owners of a backpack and canvas shopping bag filled with some of the clothes and shoes we thought they might like that we don´t need anymore. The bags were a hit and the clothes got some pretty funny looks.

And finally, the tenth best thing about Cusco: the massages! They are only about ten US dollars and they range from great to awesome! Aly and I are currently planning where to get our fourth massage of the week (Jo is planning which cappucino shop to spend her hour in).

If Cusco is beautiful, then the rest of the Sacred Valley must be paradise. Jo and Aly, who are now extremely wise in the ways of public transit, introduced me to my first collectivo on the way out of town. It is my new favoirte way to travel. You get to meet new friends, practice your Spanish, hang on for dear life around corners and play peak-a-boo with adorable children all the while getting travel and life advice from abuelos and abuelitas. All this for about one US dollar. In the Sacred Valley we found ancient ruins, a ¨magic hostal¨, taxi drivers who charge way too much money, a spectacular landscape that cannot be described, donkey/bull/llama/alpaca/sheep crossings and people all along the way who are willing to help you find your way and have fun.

Every town we went to I heard at least one tourist complaining that they just couldn´t look at anymore ruins. But that was definitely not us! We consdiered our Boleto Touristico our little paper of empowerment and put it to good use, using it to get into all but three historic sites before it expired!

Here are some hilights of our history-nerd adventures: Dangling our feet in "ancient river water" that fed the Incan baths, Having a picnic in the grassy pastures above an ancient palace while listening to cows and pigs being hearded, Wondering how many different ways you can make a nativity scene out of nesting dolls at the Museum of Popular Art, Reading guide books out loud to each other to figure out exactly what we´re looking at, Trying to ask the docent in Spanish if that Mummy´s hair is real, and Posing as the different paintings hanging on the wall in the Museum of Contemporary Art.

But the hilight of our ancient ruins adventure culmintated in waking up at 4:30 in the morning to get on a bus for Machu Pichu! We were so excited we couldn´t stand it (but a little cup of coffee would have been nice). Walking into the park entrance was one of the most breathtaking moments of our lives (and not just because we were wheezing from the stairs). There was a thick blanket of morning fog which added a veil of mystery to the view, but made our planned photo shoot a little iffy. So, we camped out at our ¨spot¨ played with the llamas and prepared ourselves to look gorgeous. Finally, the fog lifted and we got some awesome pictures. After the ¨pictures that will last a lifetime¨(-A. Leavitt), we used our friendliness and good looks to join an English tour group for free! We learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Finally, it was our ¨time slot¨to enter the trailhead for Huyanapichu, the hill that you see on postcards. Only 500 people are allowed to climb to the top everyday and the path is stone steps all the way up. The view from the top is impressive, to say the least! Again, photo shoot extraordinaire. Our Machu PIchu experience is one we will never forget!

Having been in Peru already for several weeks when I got here meant that Aly and Jo got to go on a ¨best-of¨ tour to show me some of the sights that they had already been to. How incredibly nice of you two! The best of the ¨best of tour¨in my opinion, was Lake Titicaca, the world´s highest navigable lake. A close second - the eight hour bus ride to get there! Anyone who´s ever been in a car with me for more than an hour should be incredibly impressed that you guys were willing to take on that challenge. Anyway, Lake TIticaca and the floating islands are abslolutely worth it. Also, if you´re looking for a place to eat in Puno, may we reccommend the Sweet Cafe? They serve panqueques all day and will let you sit there and watch an entire movie on their big ol TV!

Now we are back in Cusco, our plans to go to planetarium have been replaced by plans to stay dry and out of the rain for the night! Our shopping is almost done, and Aly has found her true calling as a professional haggler. If it weren´t for her I would be paying twice as much for everything I buy. We are savoring every moment of the near-end of this trip and Aly and Jo talk everyday about how they can´t wait to hug their moms again! (And how they can almost taste the Chipotle burritos... but don´t worry moms - you still take first place in the conversations!)

Everything these past few days has been amazing. The sights and sounds, the people and the places, the markets and ruins! But, by far, my very favorite part was getting to do it all with two of the kindest, funniest, and most adventerous girls I know! Thanks for everything!