Week Two: Lauren gets burned.

Not only are my entire face, neck and ears peeling (post-blisters) from the worst sunburn of my life, but I also managed to get carsick, food poisoning, left behind and nearly molested. But aside from all that it´s actually been a phenomenol week.

I arrived at Machu Picchu two days ago, but not before completing a three day trek through the Lares valley. Don´t let the valley part fool you though; the highest peak on our trek was 4,500 meters up. There were many points where the incline was so steep that we were only able to hike about five minutes before stopping to catch our breath. A detailed description of the hike can be found at http://www.sastravelperu.com/english/alternativetreks.html.

The Andes were very impressive, and no picture can really capture what it feels like to be in the middle of these massive mountains. It did remind me of Denali National Park, perhaps because it gave me that same sense of insignificance. It´s easy to forget that humans aren´t everything when you´re in a city surrounded by human-sized things, but it´s all put into perspective when you´re just a dot on this vista of magnificent proportions. One of many dots really, the others consisting of llamas, alpacas, bulls, cows, chickens, boars, horses, sheep and dogs (of which there are breeds of all kinds roaming freely through Cusco).

I was blown away by the people living in these mountains, villagers who are extremely poor and live off of the land. We´d go for miles without seeing anyone and then in the middle of nowhere we´d run into these beautiful grubby children or women in traditional dress who were set up on a blanket with things to sell us. We brought gifts for the kids and I gave away my bottle of painkillers to a family who had lost a child since the last time the guide had visited them. They were all so happy to recieve anything, even something as simple as a yellow balloon, a leftover bowl of soup or a dollar. The whole experience was possibly more overwhelming than Machu Picchu itself. I won´t bore you with all the little details, but suffice to say Machu Picchu is everything it´s cracked up to be and the Inca legacy is fascinating.

Unfortunately, I wasn´t feeling that great while touring the ruins because of the previous day, so I didn´t hike Wayna Picchu, the neighboring mountain. First I had to stay an extra night away from Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town) because my train ticket hadn´t been purchased ahead of time, then when I did arrive I became violently ill from something I ate. Worst of all was when a random Peruvian dude who worked at the hostel came into my room at 2:30 in the morning to ask if I wanted company. It was super creepy and I had to spend five minutes convincing him to leave while he was touching my arm and I was retreating under the covers. Needless to say, I reported him the next morning and will be locking my door from now on. I will also never again forget to put on sunscreen, or to remove my card from the ATM machine - two lessons I´ve learned the hard way.