Day 14: Friday, August 24th, 2012 This morning we said goodbye to the Intrepid group at Hostel Buena Vista and headed off the other hostel where we were staying that night in Cusco, Hostel Pascana (our original hostel in Cusco). Then we headed off on a city bus (which is basically a van, they leave when the van is full) to Pisac to go and explore the inca ruins. When we got to Pisac, we met a couple from the Netherlands, and we took a taxi together up to the Pisac ruins. Renata and I estimated that the ruins would take about half a hour to explore. Were we ever so wrong. The Pisac ruins are enormous. It seemed like we were walking forever, trying to find the exit. It took us about 2 hours to ... read more

Day 9: Sunday, August 19th, 2012- Cusco to Ollantaytambo Today we explored the Sacred Valley of the Inca with our Intrepid group. Our first stop was the Chinchero market, where Renata and I bought a tablecloth for our Mom and two leather wallets, for our cousins back home. Afterwards, our guide Fernando, took us to an area, where the indigenous people performed a ritual to Pachamama (mother earth), to wish us good weather, a safe journey on the Inca trail, and a fertile agriculture season. The ritual involved digging a whole in the earth, placing coco leaves and pouring chicha (a fermented maize drink) inside. Prayers to Pachamama were spoken in the native language of Quechua. Afterwards, we went to another demonstration of textile making and had lunch prepared by a local family. The potato soup ... read more

Day 7: Friday, August 17th, 2012- Chincheros, Moray and Maras Today, we took a guided tour to Moray, Maras and the salt mines. We made a stopover in Chincheros, where we learned how the pepole create their many textile fabrics. To clean the alpaca wool they use a natural made soap. The colours they use are made from natural ingredients such as beetle blood (red), and salt (changes colour of wool to different hues). In Chincheros, we bought a lot of stuff including 3 sweaters, and 2 toques. In total we spent around 200 soles there. Then we headed off to Moray. In Moray, I forgot that we needed to buy a Boleto Turistico, so that we see the many sites around Cusco. We spend the majority of our soles at the previous stop and they ... read more

Day 5: Wednesday, August 15th, 2012- Peruvian Amazon Today we spent our time fishing, visiting an Amazonian family and feeding baby caimens. The river where we went fishing was very low . During the dry season the river water level diminishes significantly, making it more difficult to catch fish. Only one person in our group caught a fish. The fish were very smart and 2 times they were able to chew off the bait from my fishing rod. I definitely, would not pass of as a fisherman ;-). Our guide told us that we were not going to eat the fish. We put the fish back in the water. Apparently, the people in that region, put mercury into the water to look for gold, polluting the water and making the fish poisonous to eat. Good to ... read more

Day 3: Monday, August 13th, 2012- Lima, Peru to Puerto Maldonado, Peru Today, we woke up early to catch our flight to Puerto Maldonado for our Amazon tour. In Puerto Maldonado, we met two other girls from Ottawa, Canada (Melina and Kalina). They were also on the Intrepid trip to the Amazon Lodge, but apparently their names were not on the list of individuals staying at the Lodge. I am not sure what happened but everything eventually worked out. Since we needed to take a 1.5 hour boat ride to the lodge we were only allowed to bring a small bag of clothes on the boat. I quickly packed some night clothes, and a pair of clothes in my carry on baggage. I forgot to bring underwear and another set of clothes. I was pretty much ... read more