jenny's sparkle tog: back by popular demand

ok really machu picchu is why the sparkle tog is back so soon. surprised? i certainly am. but i heard the clamor for more and i do take requests so here is the latest (ok just mark and debbie asked for machu picchu so hello and here it is). but first after ica and the dunes i made a quick stop by the nazca lines to see what they were all about. declined to take a flight but heard they were great...maybe next time. after my time in lima because of the pirates i was in a bit of a hurry to get to bolivia for... i don´t know why. it was just one of the countries i was really looking forward to my whole trip so i rushed through southern peru leaving some unfinished business for next time i make it here.

nazca lines from the mirador tower outside of nazca

ended taking a night bus from nazca to cuzco because that was the only choice i had. would have been nice to see the scenery during the day but not able.

cuzco

cuzco plaza

cuzco

i only ended up spending that first day in cuzco then took the bus route to aguas calientes at the base of machu picchu. had to catch a bus at 800 to santa teresa then caught a share taxi past santa maria to the hydro electra where there is a short train to aguas calientes. i met three other people on the bus so we shared a ride to the train then ended up just hiking 2 hrs or so along the tracks to the city. the last part of the hike was in the dark but it was along train tracks so easy. the next day myself and this austrailian fellow who i had met the day before got up and left our hotel at 400 in the morning to hike to the entrance of machu picchu. we both wanted to get a ticket or number to be able to hike up wayna picchu which is the big hill next to the picchu. they only allow 200 people up a day so you have to hike up early to get in line and beat the buses to make sure you are one of the first 200 people in line. so it took up an hour and a half or so to hike up to the entrance...not an easy feat mind you. but we made it and were in machu picchu early. it is really an amazing place. the picchu is on a ridge surrounded by steep mountains. myself and paul (the austrailian) wandered around until ten when we were able to climb wayna picchu and it was switchbacks up to the top of the hill but the view was spectactular from the top. worth the early morning frantic hurry hike up to the entrance.

mountains surrounding machu picchu

wierd rabbit looking animal in the ruins

machu picchu

machu picchu with wayna picchu in the background (its the tallest one)

a llama seemingly very proud of machu picchu

machu picchu from wayna picchu

by the way its really hard to pick pictures that ive taken cause there are so many and it takes a bit of time to put them up so if anyone wants to see more of any one thing let me know and i can do a greatest hits sometime.

i ended up splurging and taking the easy train route back to cuzco which was nice. there were so many things to see around cuzco and i really wanted to get a move on to bolivia that i left alot to come back to. so i left the next day for puno then on to copacabana in bolivia. ended up getting my visa for bolivia at the border for a whopping 135 us dollars. the same for when i get my visa for brazil. i guess since the us charges them then they charge us. just fair i guess but talking to people from europe who dont have to pay anything gets to you a bit.

ran into paul the austrailian again in copacabana and ended up going straight to the island of the sun to stay. it was really peaceful and quite. relaxed mostly and took a boat to the north of the island to see some ruins then back to copacabana.

island of the sun looking back at copacabana

in the north of the island of the sun

sunset from copacabana

la paz

stayed in la paz for a few days. actually stayed at this place called adventure brew (very famous with travelers) and it was a brewery. so dont everyone worry i drank plenty for everyone. and we were able to go on a brewery tour as well which was so much fun. other than that we went to tiahuanaco, some more mysterious ruins outside of la paz. there are plenty of mysteries here in peru and bolivia. the stones on the ruins are super square its amazing way back when they could get them so square. i also heard the rock came from lake titticaca which is where copacabana is and its really not close. big rocks too. anyway here are some pictures.