The Easy but Expesive Road to Machu Pichu

Well, Peru has sure had it´s ups and downs. I´m feeling a lot better now, but I lost my wallet today. I didn´t have much as far as ID goes, but there was about $150 cash. Peru has sucked a lot of money out of me although the last mistake was entirely mine. Some Peruvian housekeeper at some hotel I only took a shower at isn´t going to have to work for a few months.

I was only really sick for a day, but really sick I was. The antibiotics worked well. It´s funny that coca leaves are illegal in Canada, but here, the doctor told me to drink coca tea, and everyone who knew I was sick told me to drink it as well. A really nice girl took good care of me and taught me some more Spanish. I lost her email with my wallet, but the chances of seeing here again are next to none anyway. It was pretty cool how much we could talk about with my limited vocabulary. I taught her some English too. Her job was to get people into the bar,¨Hey mister - Happy Hour 3 for 1 - c´mon chicko 5 for 1 drinks special for you.¨ That was the extent of her English. The 4 other bars nearby had girls doing the same thing. It was pretty civalised though as last call is at 11pm in that town. Most of the staff and the owners lived in the bar with thier children. And man do Peruvians pump out the Babies. The population should double here about avery 15 years.

I find myself writing these emails a lot because there is always some time to kill, waiting for a bus or train. Right now, I´m in Cusco, waiting for my airplane ticket from Caracas to Sao Palo. It´s on the 27th and gives me 5 days to get to Rio. Tonight, I will take a first class buss to Lima. From there, I will go to a smaller town, and on to Ecuador.

The thing that stands out most in Peru so far is the stone mason work. Some of it ancient and still standing, some of it defying belief, some cut so perfect, you´d think they used lasers, and some all of the above. I saw one wall that was about 200 ft tall, and there were some stones near the top that had to weigh at least 10 tones. I have no idea how they got up there hundreds of years ago, or how it would be done today. Here in town I saw a big wall that was made entirely of 2 tone stones.

I´m still enjoying my trip, and I´m kind of glad that I got to experience a Peruvian hospital, but I´m starting to feel cursed in Peru. I think that happens to a lot of people here. I can´t wait to get to Ecuador and especialy Columbia. Everyone seems to love Columbia for it´s people and incredebily diverse landscape.