Alturas de Machu Picchu

I arrived in Cusco, the tourism Mecca of South America. It truly is a lovely city if not for being swaped with extrañeros. After combating a bit of altitude sickness and a hatred of hills I explored the city, met some of the local peoples, and worked out how to get to Machu Picchu through the jungle.

Machu Picchu is reachable by going through many different mediums; most will break the bank. I found a way to go by public transport through the Sacred Valley and into the jungle via Santa Maria. The trip down the mountains into the jungle and back up to Santa Teresa was breath taking. Finally we followed the train tracks to Aguas Calientes.

The next day I rose at 3:45 AM to run up a mountain to be in Machu Picchu first. It was worth it as the photos will show.

I hiked up the highest peak behind Machu Picchu (not pictured) named Montaña Machu Picchu. It was hell, honestly, and I love climbing mountains. But as they say in Spanish, Vale la Pena.

I could not stand to stay another night in Aguas Calientes because the city made me desire to vomit profusely. I went back into the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. The little town was a great place to visit.

Finally back to Cusco to organize myself for further adventures.

Canyon Country

If one travels far enough north in Chile, they eventually run into Peru. No worries, no matter what the average Chilean on the street may tell you, Peru is a lovely country. Peru's downside - a lot of other gringos have also figured that out. I reentered the "gringo trail" (last seen in Uyuni) in Arequipa, Peru. Arequipa, "La Cuidad Blanca" is named this because of the white volcanic rock used to make the colonial city. It is Peru's second largest city and considered one of its most beautiful. The city's Plaza del Armas is contains a massive cathedral as well as archways entraping the square. From the back of the plaza, one can see the peak of Volcan Misti. Arequipa also is home to a colonial Dominican monistary that once housed Europe's richest nuns sent to live in the closed off and amazing world within the walls of Santa Catalina.

While Arequipa is amazing, its main attraction lies 6 hours outside the city. The worlds two deepest canyons are within the area. Colca and Cotahuasi Canyons are an amazing adventure. Cotahuasi is a little deeper but Colca is a little more accessable. Of course, when I first arrived I was told by many people it was impossible to go to the Canyons without a guide... bullshit. I took a bus to Cabanaconde in Colca with three Belgian friends I met at my hostel in Arequipa: Thijs, Tobias, and Lander. We got a map in Cabanaconde and with our daybags we hiked down the canyon 1300 meters, up the other side 1000 meters, back down, and eventually back up a cliff like 1300 meters. This was all in a couple of days of course.

The big draw of the canyon is to catch a glimpse of the andean condor. The canyon is one of the best and easiest places to view the magestic bird.

Al Norte

The start of my epic migration north began in Chile. I work my way slowly up the Northern Coast. It commenced in the amazing and unique Valle de Elqui in the towns of Vacuña and Pisco Elqui. The valley is where Chile makes all of its pisco. Along with that involved a 30 mile bike ride to the end of the valley and star-gazing in one of the worlds most opportune places to view the galaxies.

After Valle de Elqui I continued on with my travel partner Andrea to a little fishing village called Punta del Choro. We were really the only tourist there. Off the coast of Punta del Choro in a National Park where dolphins, penguins, sea lions, and blue-footed boobies live.

After that, I left Andrea as she headed back to Santiago, and I continued much further north into the Atacama to the Chilean port city of Iquique.

About 40 kilometres outside of Iquique in the middle of the desert is a deserted ghost town called Humberstone. Humberstone at one point was of major importance to Chile as one of the leading mines for nitrates. It had such money it attracted international theater stars to perform there. After artificial fertilizer became cheaper to manufacture Humberstone went broke and all its inhabitants left for green pastures.

Finally I ended my time in the border city of Arica. One of northern Chile's nicer cities Arica was a charming place to relax before heading into the new adventures of Perú.

Stgo

I have finally left Santiago. After spending a good 3 months being tear gased, working for far less than the American minimum wage, and breathing in enough smog to make Industrial-Age London look sparkingly clean, I have decided to leave. I will be bloging as I slowly work myself north until Colombia. For the mean time, I thought I would give my final blog ode to the city that loved me for so long and the people that made the city worth living in.

I tried to spend my last time in Chile with all the people who made it special but it was hard. After my classes ended, I slowly became more and mnore of a Chilean and my Spanish greatly improved. I now find it quite easy to make friends in Spanish and traveling is a lot easier.

Of course, when I titled this Santiago, I lñied. I know I´ve over blogged about Valpo. You cannot falta me too much, that city is amazing and I always have a great time there.