The last leg of my 5 week journey

Sidney and I have now arrived in Cusco, Peru. It took a full day (with a 4 hour break in Arequipa) and a night bus to reach Cusco.

What little we saw of Arequipa was beautiful. Mostly my favorite part of the day was sitting in a little alley people watching over dinner then enjoying an ice cream cone in the town square. For being the second largest city in Peru it didn't have the hustle and bustle one might expect in the town center so it made for a relaxing afternoon.

Today July 3 we spent the day trying to plan the last leg of our adventure. We had heard of a beautiful sister ruins to Machu Pichu called Choquequirao that is only accessible by a 4 day hike and had our hearts set on that with hope that we could then do 4 more days to Machu Pichu.  We were hit with disappointment at first with a few travel agents laughing at our plan. With only 2 people this would be outrageously expensive. Normally, we might be able.to find a group but with the World Cup travel is a little slow supposedly. Heart broken we set out to find our own group asking random strangers if they had planned there trip.  Most had chosen the typical 5 day trip just to Machu Pichu. 

We sat in the city plaza discouraged but then decided we should ask a few more. We somehow found a company willing to operate a tour four with a guide, cook, and horses for our gear for a reasonable price. It will still be an expensive expenditure but I really think this is a once in a life time opportunity since we will see one set of ruins that is not yet open to the world and has not been entirely restored and the famous Machu pichu.  So on Saturday we head out for an 8 day trek through the wilderness. It sounds epically challenging and we were told by other traveling athletes that it is the most challenging thing they had ever done (and that was just the 4 day tour). So needless to say I am a little nervous and scared about what is to come but Sidney and I are also really excited to see and experience everything.  Let's hope I'm not to tired to enjoy Machu Pichu when we arrive there after 6 days of walking.