It was time to leave Cuzco, (Days 13 and 14 were pretty lazy, so nothing to write about) so I did some research and found the Inka Express, which for $50 took you from Cuzco to Puno (on Lake Titicaca) via VIP bus seats and with various cultural stops along the way. It was hard to find their office and they did not respond to my email immediately. So, I asked my hostel to set it up and somehow I got snaked away and put with another company, Wonder Peru Expedition. I didn't realize it until the next day, Day 15, and the confusion I had felt when Inka Express finally returned my email but said I was not in their system was solved. Oh well. Their bus, and thus group, was smaller so the ride ... read more

Sophia and I woke up quite early to catch our shuttle at 5:30am, though not as early as Celine and the boys who had to leave by 4:30am to make it up the steps to Machu Picchu by our meeting time of 6:00am. When we walked to the bus station, I was amazed at the amount of people standing in line, even though we were a good 15 minutes early for the first bus! However, I must say that it is down to a science here and was relatively straightforward and easy. Soon we were on a bus, winding up the roads to Machu Picchu. I was trying not to show how giddy I was, but I was so excited! We were the first at the top and we waited for the rest of our group ... read more

Flying into Cuzco was breathtaking and got me so excited about my next week or so in this beautiful place. I had originally intended to take a full week of Spanish lessons, but I had no or little feedback from the schools here, which made me less than enthusiastic to try. I figured I could just keep trying to speak Spanish while traveling on my own. My first test came as I exited the baggage claim. The woman at my hostel had emailed me some tips and told me not to pay more than 20 soles for a taxi. Well, the first place I came to, the "official" airport taxi, was going to charge me 45 soles! I told them (in Spanish) that my hostel said no more than 20 and they said no, look at ... read more

On our last day in Iceland, Jamie took us to The Blue Lagoon. My dad was hesitant about showering in a room full of men or wearing a swimsuit but we successfully talked him into it! And it was fantastic! The drive itself was glorious. The lagoon is on a turnoff road on the way to the airport, so it was perfect timing for our afternoon flight. Along the way, you can see small discharge channels where the lava rock field is covered with silica and blue waters. A little history: this is not a naturally occurring lagoon. There is a geothermal plant nearby, which pulls the water from deep underground and which is superheated by a nearby lava flow. The hot water is used for municipal water use (note my first day, where hot water ... read more

We woke up early Wednesday morning to start our two day road trip along southern Iceland. There was a beautiful sunrise as we kept just ahead of the rush hour "traffic" in Reykjavik. It was getting light, but still just dark enough that it was hard to make out the features of the beautiful landscape initially. Jamie informed us a lot along the car ride about Iceland - traditions, language, etc. Among the things I enjoyed is that just about anywhere you go in Iceland, you can just dip your cup or water bottle into the water and drink directly from it. Buying bottled water in Iceland is purely for tourists. Of further interest is the energy generation; most of the energy is hydroelectric and the rest is geothermal. All clean! The water in faucets is ... read more