Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Our first couple days away...

After 3 days in Lima we have just arrived in Cusco, where we are gearing up to head out on a 4 day hike of the Inca trail to Macchu Picchu. From the taxi ride alone, I can see that there is huge difference between the two cities and I look forward to checking out this place a bit more while we are getting used to the altitude. Considering the fact that we did not follow anyone's advice to drink lots of water and shy away from alcohol, we are both feeling pretty good and think we are hot stuff with our rock hard stomachs. In both Lima and Cusco we are staying at the point hostels, which we are quite pleased with. The actual buildings are really unique and the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming. We can say the same of Peruvians and other travelers, as we have already made some friends that we plan on meeting up with again later on in our travels.

As far as exploring, on Sunday we walked around Miraflores, the more upscale part of town. We walked there along the water line from our hostel in Barranco and saw some great views of the city from afar and the beaches below (too bad it is too cold to actually go swimming!). Yesterday we took a taxi to Central Lima (about a 20 minute taxi ride from our hostel--costing 10 soles or about $3.25) and went to some museums and saw the changing of the guard in front of Peru's White House. We also went into the Francisican Monastary dating back to the 1600's and saw the catacombs--bones and all. Apparenlty about 25,000 bodies were buried there. Afterwards we stumbled upon some friends from the hostel (the world is smaller than we thought) and went to have our frist Pisco Sour, a drink famous in Peru. We won't tell you what's in it...you will have to try it yourself! Although we listened to the guidebook and saw some sites around the city, there really wasn't too many touristy things to see and we are content just walking around and looking at anything. We were told that Lima isn't good for much other than partying, so we did our far share of that--but not too much.

We will try and upload some pictures soon and the next post will be after our hike!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you are filling your days with new places and things. Pisco Sour--and you won't tell us what's in it. Did you leave off the second "s" for the secret ingredient? Glad to hear the accommodations are good--up to Disney standards Manda? All is well here but the guys at Charlie Browns are freaked out when I try to drive them home at night!

Jess's Dad said...

Girls, I'm so happy that your are doing great and that the accommadations are good, I was concerned about that. Everything I read and see about your upcoming hike appears to be out of this world! Good luck, be safe, and stay in one piece. Love ya.

Unknown said...

Good luck and be safe! I'm jealous! I miss you jessy! come home to me! I randomly bumped into Chris today at target! We cried on eachother's shoulders. I love you

Danielle said...

Soooo jealous. I'm so excited. I'm going to make a visual map of your travels! Good luck on the hike- I hope you guys are in shape haha!

PS Do you have cell phones at all?

Unknown said...

So fun! Can't wait to see the first batch of pictures! We're planning to do the Inca trail at some point! So, looking forward to seeing you in April! We'll meet you at the airport in Dubai if you want! Love, love.

Ashleigh said...

i am out of my mind with jealousy. you girls are so cool! take lots of photos!!

Unknown said...

hi girls!! - i've had pisco!! matt's dad travels a lot and always brings home a bottle from peurto rico. it's a requirement whenever you go to their house to take shots of pisco... not too delicious, i've never had it mixed with something - i'll tell them about it when i go there next!

anyway, hope you guys have a great hike! love you and miss you!!

Unknown said...

feel better jessica! i hear u took the hike like a champ anyway. that's my girl :) miss u guys! xoxo

Jess's Dad said...

yeh, the first set of pictures are in and they are awesome! OMG what great pictures. Some of those trail guides could be possible recruits as Coxains for the Holly Hatton Rowing Camp! Keep up the e-mails and pictures. Love ya. Be safe and stay healthy.