Nazca!

Hey everyone!

Well, the big trip has finally begun and we are having a blast! Heather and I got into Lima and stayed there until Friday morning, picking up her friends from the airport along the way-we went out for pizza on Thanksgiving (a first for me haha!) and Friday morning we hopped on a 6:30 am bus to Nazca.

Yesterday, we took a tour of some beautiful stone-terraced aqueducts, a cemetery and a pyramid excavation which were all really cool, and today in the morning we took a plane up to see some of the Nazca lines, which were so cool! When I can I'll post some pictures- Nazca is on the southern coast so it's pretty hot and desert-like- there was this huge river that dried up 10 years ago, which was cool to see from the plane, but there is still a lot of green- I guess the trees' roots can dig down far enough to reach the water table, so it looks like an oasis of trees among desert and mountains. Anyway, I'll keep you posted as we go along!

Love,
Rach :)

More Huancayo Fun!

Hey again!

So here are some more pictures from Huancayo- a delicious homemade trout, two views from a Huancayo neighborhood (Heather and I had been out collecting money with a Promypes employee), a delicious cocoa-liqueur ice cream drink, and a view of the Plaza de la Constitución during the marathon (there was actually a marathon here!)- Heather and I cheered and clapped for the runners, even though no one else really was- those losers!

Love,

Rach :)

Behind the Scenes in Satipo

Hey everyone!

Hope you're all getting excited for Thanksgiving- I know I am, even though they don't have it here :(

Anyway, like I said in one of my previous blogs, I was thinking about showing some of the more gritty photos from Satipo- such as the "bathroom" and shower- so hopefully you get a good laugh from those! I've included the "Turkish Toilet" (if you really want to give it such a fancy sounding name haha), shower, Robbie the dog (finally healthy- he was all scabbed and bloody when I first got there), the chicken coop, and a pot-o-cuy. More to come!

Love,

Rach :)

Trip Itinerary

Hey everybody!

Well, you've waited, and I've waited, and the time is finally narrowing down to the big Peru trip! Heather, two of her friends and I will be taking a 2-week trip to Nazca, Arequipa, Puno, Cuzco and Machu Picchu-we are SO excited! So here is our itinerary, for your reading pleasure:

Tuesday November 24- Heather and Rachel take bus to Lima

Wednesday November 25- Hang out in Lima, Pick up Heather's friend Amy from airport, celebrate Amy's birthday!

Thursday November 26- Hang out in Lima, Pick up Heather's friend Michelle from airport, cook makeshift Thanksgiving dinner (hopefully)

Friday November 27- Take bus at 6:30am-1:15ish to Nazca- explore Nazca (check out Nazca lines)-sleep in Nazca

Saturday November 28- Explore Nazca, take bus to Arequipa at 3pm-sleep in Arequipa

Sunday November 29- 8:30am bus to Puno- explore/sleep in Puno

Monday November 30-Explore Puno, Lake Titicaca

Tuesday December 1- Inka Express bus to Cuzco at 7:30am-3pm

Wednesday December 2- Explore Cuzco

Thursday December 3- Explore Cuzco

Friday December 4- Machu Picchu hike

Saturday December 5- Machu Picchu hike

Sunday December 6- afternoon flight from Cuzco to Lima (1 hr 15 min. flight, approx.)

Monday December 7- Lima, take Michelle to airport

Tuesday December 8-Lima, Amy goes to airport, Heather and Rachel back to Huancayo

Wednesday December 9- Back in Huancayo (sleep haha)

So there you have it- if I have internet access I'll try and let you all know how things are going (but hopefully I'll be having WAY too much fun haha!) Let me know if I left out anything, or if there's anything you want to know! More soon!

Rach :)

Lima

Hey again!

So I was lucky enough to get to visit Lima again, with Iris and her kids- she had to visit the doctor and work while there, but I got to check out a lot of cool places- I saw Miraflores (probably the most beautiful part, where all the tourists stay), Larcomar, a shopping complex, almost like a terrace, right on the coastline, and the University of Lima, which is a really nice campus- so I had a nice time!

So the pics are: a view from a U. Lima building, Chinatown (there must literally be one in every city), a beautiful lit up building, an unfortunately-fuzzy Miraflores, and Larcomar on Halloween.

Let me know if there's anything in particular you want to see- I may have missed something- other than that, enjoy!

Rach

Torre Torre

Hey again,

So the next pictures are of Torre Torre, the outdoorsy highlight of Huancayo. You can read more about Torre Torre in one of my previous posts- they are amazing! So here are some photos...

Multi-Post Update!

Hey all!

Well I finally made it back to my precious Mac in Satipo, and have the pleasure of showing you all my latest pictures! I'll start with Huancayo...

So three weeks ago I made it to Huancayo a second time, and got to work at Promypes with Heather (I think I mentioned all this in previous posts, but now you get pictures haha)- we got the chance to walk around a lot, and I took pictures of various interesting (or hilarious) things- we also checked out the mall, which has a lot of fast food and ice cream places, a movie theater (awesome!) and a Target-esque place-also, we hiked up Torre Torre- so here are some of my first Huancayo photos... oh, and also, I'm going to post more photos from Satipo, some of which are kind of gross (Heather was like "you have to show your family just what your Satipo-house is like," so I said "OK...if you insist!!" It's not that bad- it's mostly just funny, actually):

Sooo the top picture is THE GREATEST comb-over I have ever seen. Ever. I mean, LOOK at that thing! I don't even know if it's really a comb-over, it's more of a comb-up...but I won't tell him. He's got it goin' on.

Next are two typical (ie scary) Peruvian mannequins. Don't worry, I'll get pictures of even scarier ones. Heather and I can't decide if they're old 1980s US mannequins, or if they're just crappy, but they're everywhere.

The next is the back of my calves, post-Satipo. Yeah. This is JUST the back of my LEGS. I didn't even take photos of the front of them, or my arms. Every little red spot is an individual bite. Luckily, these are all gone now (well, at least for now hah) but I had to show you just what Peruvian bugs can do (despite Permethrin insecticide and bug spray). Yikes.

AAAnyway, the next are pizzas Iris made...with hot dog, ham/turkey meat and peaches. Yes, peaches. A very interesting combo, I must say. It was actually good, even though she only put on a drop of ketchup-type sauce (we put more on).

Finally, my much more comfortable Huancayo bedroom- despite the bars on the outside of the window, I have a pretty nice view of the mountains!

Anyway, another post with pics, comin right up!

Rach :)