Inka Trek, Day One

To start the Inka Trek, we left Cuzco at 8am and drove for a few hours to the highest altitude of the trip, 4,300 meters.  We then suited up and rode straight down to Santa Maria.

The first half, about an hour and a half, was downhill and paved so it was relaxing and full of great views. We were pretty high up so I had to wear gloves, hat, underarmor, and a sweater to keep from freezing. But by the second pitstop I had to switch into off-road mode and just a t-shirt.

We arrived at Santa Maria, 13 Chilenos, our guide and myself, to have group dinner and shack up at a local hostel.  It was interesting getting to practice my Chilean Spanish with them, but very easy to talk to Abi in comparison. I passed out really soon after dinner to get ready for the next days 6:00am hiking start.

And to finally catch up…

Peru!!!

I arrived in Cuzco without a hitch (knock on wood) and made my way to my Hostel, Hospedaje Turistico Recoleta, a little east of downtown.  Within the first half hour of checking in a parade walked by and I learned that it was Peru´s Independence Day.  I had a great time following the parades throughout the day (I saw three in total) window shopping the markets, and eating some authentic Peruvian cuisine.

I leave for the Inca trail tomorrow morning!

My 2 days in Bolivia consisted of visiting the Santa Cruz Parque Zoologico of South American animals, a walking tour of the various parks and plazas, and 2 nights in 2 different hostels.  Oh! and some serious discount shopping. 

Everything in Bolivia was cheap. Hostels with private rooms, bathrooms and cable TV 10$ each night, huge dinner 2$, taxis across town 1.50$.  This was nice since my bank account got hacked in Sao Paolo and I had a total of 60$ to get me through 2 days. 

From Iguassu, Brazil, I flew across the country to Sao Paolo to then catch my cvonnecting flight to Asuncion, Paraguay.  At the gate is where everything started falling apart. My visa for Paraguay wasn´t valid somehow, so I was refused admission into the country. 

Minor freakout aside I changed my flights around a bit and made it to Bolivia where i didn´t have enough money for the 135$US entrance visa, even though I was supposed to only be connecting through to Cuzco. 

Long story short, they took my passport, i spent 2 nights in Santa Cruz, I got my passport back, and I flew to Peru.

Last but not least from the falls:  the rainbows.

They were everywhere, i even saw a TRIPLE RAINBOW but it didn´t show up on the camera.

The boat tour was definitely worth the reales.  We took a 6km tour of the wilderness via an open top truck and then we hopped in the boat.

Little backstory: at the hostel the night before I met a really great group of travellers. Nora, and Olliver a couple from Berlin, Arturo from Mexico, and Ben from London.  Nora, Olliver, Ben and I decided to do the Argentine side tour. 

Pajaros, Coatees, and butterflies.  I also saw some guinea rats but never got a good picture. 

I finally found a computer to upload pictures to!!!

So last week I went to Foz do Iguassu. It’s the tri-border region of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay where the Iguazu River converges in a giant cluster of waterfalls.  I stayed at Bambu Hostel on the Brazilian side but did a tour of the Argentine side.

Here are a few groups of the crazy views i got from my tour, which took us inside one of the larger cascades by boat.  I’ll separate it into Waterfalls/wildlife/and misc. I took way too many fotos so here are a select few in the posts to come.

I have not died. In fact, I´ve been doing quite a bit of the opposite.

In the last 3 days I´ve been in 4 countries, explored 3, been denied from entering 2, and was forced to stay in 1.

Since my last update, I´ve been to Fos de Iguazu national tri-border waterfall and rainforrest park, Sao Paolo airport, and Santa Crus de Bolivia.

I promise I´ll update pictures and stories soon, but for now all i can assure you is that i´m having a great time.

I´m in Santa Cruz de Bolivia now, accidentally, and will leave for Cuzco, Peru tomorrow, purposefully. Machu Picchu is in the imminent future.

Keep watching, things are wrapping up strangely.

On top of Corcovado, visiting giant Jesus.

This was Rio day 2. After sleeping in and relaxing a bit in the apartment, Rachel, Lu and I made the trek to Christ the Redeemer, one of the more infamous sites in Rio.

The train ride up took us through a lush piece of forrest. It was amazing with the background of the south of Rio.

Later that night, after walking around and catching a bus back to Ipanema I cooked authentic soul food for my two awesome hosts: chicken cutlets with baked macaroni and cheese, sautéed peppers on the side.  We watched a bit of the Flamengo fútbol match and then finished the evening with Rio, the movie. It’s amazing how accurate the digital city was recreated. Lu affirmed that it’s a really authentic representation of this beautiful place.

Today we checked out the local “hippie market” that pops up every saturday and I tried some interesting North-East Brazilian food.  I’m off to Foz de Iguazu later tonight.