We made it back to Cusco eager to find a place to stay - finally the third place we checked had a room available, and claimed to have hot water so we threw our packs down and took it. We should have checked on that hot water claim, however - the hot water that did exist lasted only for my shower, after that (for the next two days) we had trouble resurrecting it. But eager to sleep in the same bed two nights in a row, we decided against moving hotels.

Our first night in Cusco was pretty uneventful...having hiked to MP early that morning, up and down Wayna Picchu in the late morning, and having a touch of ´Montezuma´s Revenge´(or whatever the Peruvian equivalent is), I was extremely beat and needed to sleep....all I could manage was a little walk around town before I had to pass out for the night.

The next day we attempted to cash in on our ´boleterios turisticos´, which are used to visit many of the historical sites around Cusco. The highlight was the mountain fortress (ruins) of Saqsaywaman (say "sexy wo-man"). We also visited a site called Qorichanka, which is a monestary that was built on top of one of the Inca´s most important religous temples, and actually incorporates some of the original Inca structures. Sadly the walls of gold that once existed were melted down during the Spanish conquest, leaving the true version only to one´s imagination.

Our second day in Cusco we arranged to go on a white-water rafting trip with Mayuc rafting, which was an excellent trip, even though the rapids were not strong enough for Juli´s tastes...mostly class II and just a couple class III rapids along the way. Though the guide did add to the excitement by tipping our raft over at one point and we did do something new (at least for me) - after shooting down one rapid we turned around and paddled back into it, at a point where the water dropped about 3 feet, and we had the raft ´surf´the wave created by the falling water...it was really tough to exert the effort to paddle back in (we failed on our first attempt), but once we were positioned, water came gushing into the raft but the raft remained right on the small ´falls´on its own. The Mayuc base camp was also equipped with a sauna which made dealing with the snowmelt water in the river a little more bearable.

On our return from rafting we headed to the bus station to board an overnight bus to Arequipa, a town a bit south of Cusco. Unfortunately there were no ´cama´(full recline) seats available on the bus, so we settled for a ´semi-cama´seat which is generally equivalent to an airplane seat. Between our seating arrangements, the noise level on the bus, and fact that the bus broke down on the way, it was a long night and morning of travel to Arequipa.

An early morning flight brought us to Cusco, where we had quite a list of tasks to accomplish for the morning - it was quite a nice little Saturday, not sure we´d have enough time to visit Home Depot...

• Visit a doctor for Juli´s leg and get some professional assessment of the damage


• Do laundry for the first time on the trip


• Get some Peruvian currency (Soles)


• Decide when and how we would be making the trip to Aguas Calientes (think of AC as ¨base camp¨for a visit to MP)


• Buy tickets for MP and the other Incan ruins around Cusco


• Find out if any treks to the Choquequirao ruins were scheduled anytime soon

The doctor recommended that Juli not do any intense trekking, so our plans to hike to the ruins of Choquequirao were scuttled. While Juli was at the doctor, Todd handled the laundry and currency issues, leaving only the MP tickets and visit planning to go.

MP is a bit difficult and costly to visit on one´s own...tickets can be purchased in advance in Cusco (with Peruvian Soles only, exact change required) and are good only for one visit within the following three calendar days. From Cusco you have to get to a town called Aguas Calientes - the easiest way is by rail but of course, there is only one rail company so prices are pretty high (ranging from $75 to $300 one way). We found an alternative around this by taking two taxis (for $8) to reach a city called Ollantaytambo and then hopping on the train from there where it is strangely cheaper ($30) and more frequent. This also gave us the chance to visit the ruins at Ollaytantambo, the site where the Incan emporer fled after he failed to recapture Cusco from the Spanish conquistadors, despite having a manpower advantage of greater than 100,000 to 170. We´ve been reading an excellent book on the fall of the Inca Empire (see reading list to your right), which makes quite a difference in visiting these historical sites, some of which sadly may look to others like just piles of rocks.

We arrived in AC around 11PM, found our hostel, and prepped our daypack for the mornings visit to MP. From AC there are two options to get to MP - by bus or by foot, of course we chose the latter. We woke at 4:30AM, strapped on our headlamps, and stumbled out of our hostel around 5AM to begin the hour and half hike straight up the hill, about 400 vertical meters, to the gate of MP. It was pretty brutal, especially when we arrived and saw about 200 people who had beaten us there by taking the bus. But at least we were within the magic first 400 admissions, which gave us the ¨right¨to make another 700 vertical meter climb to Wayna Picchu, the peak you see in the background of all the famous photos of MP (including the one to the right on this very page).

Compared to other ruins MP is quite impressive in its scale and its state of conservation - to us it is definitely its worth its billing as one of the man-made wonders of the world. Though intially foggy, we had some sun break later in the day which allowed for some decent photo ops. Early in the day it was quite easy to move about the site, but as the crowds poured in (day-trippers on the train from Cusco) it became more difficult to walk around. We spent about 5 hours at the site before heading back down the hill (this time we took the bus!) to catch our afternoon train back to Ollaytantambo. We ´splurged´on the ´Vista Explorer´train which included some kind of cultural show and an alpaca wool fashion show, both of which Todd slept through - but Juli got some good pictures we´ll post later. Once in Ollaytantambo it was back in a taxi to Cusco where, for the first time on the trip, we had planned to spend two consecutive evenings in the same hotel!

Yet again, bright and early we packed our bags and left our hostal to strike out for the Bolivian Pampas, which is roughly equivalent to the Everglades and swamp areas of Louisiana. Our group had eight members (and we were one of three groups heading out on the same trip). Unbeknownst to us we had booked with the recommended tour agency from the Lonely Planet guidebook...not necessarily a bad thing, since it is always fun to meet folks from other places (we were the only Americans).

We squeezed into our Landcruiser and were off...until we ran out of gas less than one mile from town! Apparently when the local gas station gets its tanks filled, the enterprising locals drain them all and resell the gas on a secondary market. We made several stops at random houses, after which the driver would appear with a 2-liter Coke bottle filled with a yellowish liquid, which would be dumped into the gas tank and on we went to the next stop on the pirate gas tour. After 3 hours of this charade we were on our way, and due to being late the driver did his best to emulate his favorite Dakar rally racer.

Mercifully in about 3 hours we arrived at the river, piled into a little boat, and were off along the river. Almost immediately we began seeing caiman (similar to crocodiles but mostly black in color) lounging on the riverbank, and even in the river just feet from our boat. There was probably a caiman or alligator every 20 yards or so. Same story for capybayra, which are essentially gigantic guinea pigs. Along with those we saw pink dolphins, and several species of monkeys and birds.

Our camp was pretty deep in the pampas, so it was basic (it had running cold water and electricity) but came supplied with a sweet circular hammock room - immediately a beer run was commenced downriver, led by (of course) a very jocular Irish guy named Myles. We enjoyed some good food, good conversation, even music (live and on somebody´s iPod) each evening in the camp. We did have some drama - one of our group members apparently snored quite loudly one night, there was much yelling and consternation (of course I slept through all the commotion while Juli was awakened by it).

In addition to running the river looking for wildlife, we walked for 4 hours in fairly intense heat and humnidity in search of anacondas. At the very end, we heard over the radio that another group had found one so we double-timed it through waist-length grass to get there. Once we got there, a swarm of killer bees began attacking the other group and they were all running our direction telling us to do the same. But eventually the anaconda was re-captured and we stood in a circle watching it unwind itself from its defensive position. I joked with the group, "so when the anaconda unwnids and starts moving towards one of us, they must be the winner". Guess who was the winner. I did my best to stay still as it slithered around my feet and as soon as the coast was clear I ran away to the other side.

We then went swimming with the river dolphins, which neither Juli or I participated in due to her open wound on her leg and to my hestitancy to jump in right next to two alligators. Fortunately the only damage sustained was to another swimmer who got bit by a piranha. We got our revenge on the piranhas the next day by catching a few for lunch, aftr which we jumped back on the boat for the long journey back to Rurrenabaque. Issues ensued during that journey, but we did make it on our flight back to La Paz for the evening, where we got ready to leave Bolivia for Cusco Peru.

Spanish - So, I took three years of Spanish and you would never know it. I´m trying hard, but I have a really hard time keeping up with the locals here. It´s great practice and really makes me want to really learn spanish. Maybe that will be my 2010 New Year Resolution. Todd on the other hand studied French. I think he is just more naturally gifted at language because he seems to comprehend a lot more than I do. And he is never afraid to just take a stab at something or work his way around the situation (which there have been many). Oh well, I can say it, Todd is better at languages than I am.

Jealousy - So this vacation has been frought with jealousy, especially by Todd. Don´t worry nothing is going on. We are just jealous of the amount of time that everyone has to spend in South America. Most people we have meet have at least 6 weeks down here and many are taking 10 months to a year to travel throughout South America. There is an unbelievable amount of things to do and places to see, I think we will just have to keep coming back.

From Copacabana we took a boat trip out to Isla del Sol (recommended by friends that did an overland trip from Buenos Aires to the US). Isla del Sol is in the middle of Lake Titicaca and is beautiful. We landed on the north side of the island around 11:00 am and had to get to the south side by 3:30pm to catch the boat back to Copa. We spent 30 minutes touring some inca ruins; primarily a maze and sacrifice tables. Pretty interesting but hard to explain without pictures. We then hiked for 3 hours to get to the other side of the island. The views were amazing, blue water on all sides, but the hike was tough. We were still struggling from the altitude. After the long hike we enjoyed the two hour boat ride back to Copa.

We made it back to Copa in time to get one of the last buses back to La Paz. For 15 bolivianos each we took a very full bus (not as bad as the 30 or 45) for three hours. That equates to about $2 each, or the cost all of us San Franciscans pay for a 10 minute bus ride. Of course, the trip wasn´t without problemas. At a certain point in the journey, the bus has to cross part of the lake on a barge, and all the passengers take small boats. Well, Todd was more focused on finding a saltena (empanada) and we missed the first boat. So we got on the second and waited. We didn´t realize that the boat only goes when it is full (and it was far from full). So we waited while we watched our bus cross the lake. We finally made it across the river and had to run and yell to get the bus to stop for us. The bus had our packs and we weren´t about to be left without them, but I thougt I was going to die (running at that altitude wasn´t a good idea for me). Nevertheless, we made it to La Paz and on the flight to Rurrenbaque the next day.

On our first day in Rurrenbaque, we booked our pampas tour, booked flights to Cusco, exchanged money, went swimming, found a hotel and then headed to dinner. And I proceeded to fall in an open gutter and put a decent hole in my leg just below the knee (pictures to follow later). The three drinks I had at the mosquito bar may have impacted my coordination, but we all know that I´m naturally clumsy and it was DARK. Anyways, Todd can explain more about that later. Off to bed. Adios!

On one of the worst travel days for San Francisco (we had turbulence even while the plane was sitting at the gate!), we were alloted two seats together in the very last row of the flight to Miami...it was close, we were not sure if there would be a seat available for us. Same story in Miami, where we were the last two people to board the plane to La Paz. Of course Juli got first class, and Todd got a middle sea in coach (at least it was an exit row). But two Advil PMs later and we woke up flying next to the Andes.

The airport in La Paz is at 4,000m, and the altitude hit us immediately as we stepped off the plane. Juli was worried she´d have to sprint past immigration control and hit the restroom, while Todd was dizzily holding all the bags and getting our documentation order for inspection and to buy a visa. We popped a Diamox right away and things began to settle down a bit, but we´re still feeling the effects so taking it very slowly.

We had hoped to buy a ticket to Rurrenabaque but found out that all the flights were either cancelled or sold out, so a change in the itinerary was in order. Since we made it a day earlier than expected, we decided to hop on a bus for Copacabana, a city on Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world, whatever that means). About 4 hours later we had arrived, found a place to stay, and were ready to hit the town. We even took in the sunset on a swan-shaped paddle boat. So romantic (it is our honeymoon)! It will be a short stay, we´re out of here tomorrow evening to try to get to Rurrenabaque again, but not until we take a boat trip over to Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna. So far we really like fading into Bolivian, its our style - a little rough but nothing too bad, and ridiculously cheap. More to come, stay tuned!

We picked a great day to leave the Bay Area - very crappy weather, I'm sure we'll have a delay at the airport. Did a last minute check of the flights to La Paz and they are oversold...we may have to spend an extra night in Miami, or change course and head to Lima instead (there are two flights per day from Miami to Lima, only one to La Paz). Fingers crossed that we'll make it on our flights!

With an unknown departure date, we're going to roll the dice and fly on stand-by to get to Bolivia. There's one flight a day on American from Miami to La Paz, so we'll cross our fingers and hope they have two extra seats for us. If we can't get on we can always try the other daily flight to Lima.

We were able to book a flight using miles, from Lima Peru to San Francisco for both of us and for a total of only 35,000 miles and $80! This booking wasn't without incident however...took us three calls to find a competent enough agent to help us. Booking an international ticket on miles is often tricky if you are trying to use one of the airline's alliance partners - for some reason (maybe to make it more difficult to use your miles?) call center agents can't do a search for mileage ticket availability across multiple partner carriers at once. We often find ourselves in these situations since the partner carriers often have better flight options for our destinations. If we hadn't explicitly asked the agent to book us on LAN from Lima to Los Angeles and American from Los Angeles to San Francisco, we would have ended up on American all the way and gone from Lima to Miami to San Francisco...a nice 8+ hour detour.

Although it can take a lot of work on your end, you can make mileage tickets go very far for international travel...get to it if you want to use them!

We continue to "negotiate" the itinerary...Juli wants to visit the Amazon, Todd wants to visit the silver mines of Bolivia...and unfortunately we have a very small time window for this trip...we'll each be doing some reading on Bolivia and Peru and return to negotiation table soon.