No Jumping Allowed!! (Machu Picchu)

The one that everyone asks about when you go to Peru: Did you visit Machu Picchu? Of course we did!

"We leave when the bus is full," and other travelling lessons

One of the first things I noticed about Peru wasn't its architecture, or its food, or its smell. It was the traffic. At 8pm it was worse than downtown Paris, with even less space to maneuver. Peruvians don't drive exclusively with their horns, but they could not drive without them, either. Besides the constant beeps and beep-beeps (there is a difference), we also had to be wary of "unofficial" taxis, stoplight robbery, and getting on a Colectivo that was leaving soon(ish). It took us a little while to figure the system out.

official taxi, or "pirate" cab? (photo by Jone)

Cusco and Really Big Rocks

After a terrifying drop down to sea level (think switchbacks on a narrow road in the front seats of a double-decker tour bus), we finally arrived in Lima. A short overnight there and we were back at the airport for our next destination: Cusco!

Huaraz high

We were more than ready to get out of the big city after our first day there. Luke had recommended that we dodge the regular tourist route and visit Huaraz, a maintain adventure town in the middle of the Cordilleras Blanca. Our overnight bus turned into the sleepy town just as dawn was coming up over the snow capped peaks of the razor sharp Cordilleras. 

Barrios de Lima

Peru!! Jone and I are finally on our trip... And finally bought a camera cable so we can share more than just the photos from her phone. 

Photo by Jone

Sleeping (?) in Airports

I'm finally en-route to Lima, Peru, where Jone is waiting for me. Already I've learned that even modern air travel in central America has its own flavor. Not so much "hurry up and wait," as just "wait." I'm in the San Salvador airport, sandwiched between a cluster of people on their cell phones and a mob of name-tagged LDS missionaries sipping coke and munching snacks. The only flight from here to Lima leaves in about 7 hours. My flight from San Francisco to here left at 1:25am. To get through the day, I figured I needed to sleep while I could. A good decision, as it turns out the San Salvador airport is a little cramped. Here's the solution I came up with at SFO:

It took a little while to find somewhere quiet but public. My pillow tucked neatly into the hood of my coat, with everything important underneath. An alarm to make sure I didn't miss my flight, and ear plugs to block out the frequent announcements. Not bad for an hour of the 1.5 hours I hoped to sleep through!