The last leg of our journey has been a fun one! From our sweet beach town, Villa Gessel, we headed to Mendoza where we spent a few days in wine country with some travel buddies from Colorado. We road bikes from vineyard to vineyard tasting wine at each stop. Yum! We found a few new favorites too! The lower two pics in this blog are from Alta Vista winery where Hunky took some fantastic photos! We left Mendoza and headed straight for Santiago, Chile. I hate to report that at the border crossing, Hank was subject of a pick-pocket and his iPhone has become property to someone new. This was our ONLY negative experience in three countries, unless of course you consider Chilean and Argentine men make kissy noises at you when you walk down the street a negative experience... 
Here's some pics from B.A. 
Hmm... where did I leave off?
Our guinea pig dinner was interesting... They brought the whole cuy to our table to take pictures of the little guy then took it back to the kitchen to slice up. It's salty and meatless. There wasn't much to enjoy. They also served alpaca, chicken, sausage, peruvian cheese, and a corn bread kinda thing with the cuy. It was a very different meal to say the least but a fun experience!
We have spent the week in Cusco taking Spanish lessons. The more we learned the more we realize we suck at Spanish! However, the classes were helpful and we have improved. The week here has been pretty rainy with blue bursts that are just gorgeous.
Ryan Niboaur got to Cusco on Thursday and we went to Machu Pichu over the weekend. The trip consisted of a bus ride to a train ride. Crashing out at 10P.M. to get up at 3:30 and hike up the Inka stair master for 1 1/2 hours to watch sunrise at the gate to Machu Pichu. We wanted to get there early because there is a second hike to Wayna Pichu that they only allow so 400 people into per day. After wandering around we did the second hike for 50 minutes of more stair master to the top of another hill with ruins that overlooked Machu Pichu. It was incredible! Pictures and words cannot do this place justice.
Now for the pics.... the first is of Hank and I at the top of Machu Pichu, followed by Hank and I with some girls on the street in traditional clothes in Cusco.- Plus my new pet! Then the cuy from our delicious dinner! Doesn't it look yummy?! More Machu Pichu- Hank and Ryan climbing the stairs throughout the ruins, the three of us at the top overlooking the site, and lastly, the hardest steps we came across but an idea of how we climbed for 2 1/2 hours starting at 4 A.M.
Enjoy!
We leave for Buenos Aires tonight on a 65 hour bus ride (assuming they are on time!) to meet Abe and Mone Haen! More news from another country to come....
Xoxo- H&D
Arequipa:
Hank and I arrived in Arequipa, Peru's third largest city exhausted. It seems that the constant hustle and bus sleeping has caught up with us. We took the three days in this city a little more leisurely than we have been going. However, the sights were totally amazing. We started with a tour of Monasterio Santa Catalina, a monastery that was opened to the public in 1970 after 371 years of being closed to the outside world. This particular monastery became famous due the lavish lifestyle these nuns lived. The women were chosen from only the richest families in Spain and were required to bring a dowry so they could continue their wealthy lifestyles. The remains of this wealth were everywhere from furniture, linens, pottery and so forth. There were also three hearts and a tongue jarred and on display from priests that wanted to remain close to important figures in this monastery. Three of the pictures shown are from this tour, which took two and a half hours to walk through this maze. One picture is from a street in the monastery, another of their kitchens with their oven (which every cell had it's own) and the last is of pottery in which the nuns had flowing water to wash their linens in. Mind you this monastery was built in 1580.
We then went to a market on the hunt to find llama fetuses which are believed to bring great luck to whomever buries it beneath the corner of their house. However, no such luck. We did find live frogs that would be blended at request that were believed to have health benefits. (We passed on trying this delicacy!) However, this market was neat and the picture of cheese shows the brilliance of the cheese selection. Bread and cheese for dinner was a real treat!
We also checked out a museum that holds Juanita the Ice Princess, a frozen Inca maiden. Check out the national Geographic video on her if you can! She was found in 1995 at the top of Amapato (20,629 feet!) during a volcanic eruption that thawed the ice covering her since 1400-1450! She was sacrificed by the Incas as a way to appease the Gods who were angry with the Inca and therefore made the volcano erupt. She walked from Cuzco (I don't know how many miles but it's a six hour bus ride), then was drugged and fell into a deep sleep. The elders of her tribe then wrapped her in the finest blankets and hit her on the head which ultimately killed her. It was a bit weird standing next to her and staring at this child (12 to 13 years old) who was frozen in the fetal position, with very intact teeth, face structure and eye sockets. Even 600 years later, you can see the Inca features in her face. Not to mention the hole from the blow to her head. Pictures were not allowed.
Lastly, Hank took a picture of the street at night. It was from a rooftop balcony where we had drinks with Olaf, our Luxenburg friend who we met in Huanchaco, Sarah a German Lady, Francios the Frenchman and two lovely local girls. The conversation between this group was most interesting. We talked about traveling extensively as well as comparing our cultures. It was a really fun night!
We head to Puno next to check out Lake Titicaca. 12,500 feet here we come!
As always, thanks for the messages. We have really enjoyed hearing from you all and appreciate the thoughts as we miss you all terribly!
xoxo, H&D
