We made it!

We mawe arrived in lima about 5 hours earlier then we had expected. we originally had a 6 hour lay over in san salvador, but in a walk around the airport, we found a flight going to lima in about 40 minutes. we pleaded to get on the ´closed´ flight - using all of our amazing race skills, thank you very much! - and were able to get on the flight. yeah for not checking luggage ;-)! we had booked a hotel in lima in central lima thinking we were going to get there, sleep, then get up to get on a flight to cusco. now that we had a few hours to kill - we decided to explore. lima is crowded (10 million people) & polluted. if you ever get there - don´t stay long. we walked around central lima and didn´t feel like eating down dingy alley ways - so we took a taxi to the miraflores area. much nicer. touristy, but hey, we don´t look like locals, so why act like them! we had a yummy dinner (monica - loma saltado, kieran- ceviche) at a place called las trajas (anniette, barb - translation por favor¿¡) then, had a few cervezas and went back to the hotel with no hot water. nice place- but no hot water.

we flew to cusco on monday. we took elevation meds in lima to help with any sickness. none yet- just really tired- we took a 1 hour nap in lima when we got there - we took a 4 hour nap in Cusco! our hotel is called the Ninos Hotel and is super nice. plus it´s a nonprofit that takes care of street kids. www.ninoshotel.com if you ever come here. close to the plaza de armas and super hot showers! plus, they have a little cafe downstairs with good, cheap food. our full breakfast today (juice, coffee, fruit, bread with jam + butter, eggs, yogurt with honey) only cost about $4. and that´s considered expenisve here! yesterday, we just aclimated in the city and of course, found an irish pub - paddy o´flaherty´s. it´s the highest irish pub in the world at over 10,000 feet.

today, we are looking into some trips for when we return from the inca trail - macchu pichu. tomorrow, our trip organizers pick us up at 4 am. ouch. we hike for 6 hours tomorrow, 8 the next day, 7 the next, then 2 on the final day into macchu pichu. wish us luck! we will report back next week some time.

that´s it for now. back to exploring.

xoxo monica + kieran