Cusco...

I was only going to stay for a few days, maybe four or five. I didn't know if I was going to even do the Inca trail. So started my stay here, and now, two and a half weeks later I have finally bought a bus ticket for La Paz Bolivia. It doesn't surprise me now that I stayed longer then I intended. I think I could easily stay in Cusco for several months. There is just something about walking about here, meandering through narrow streets, past elaborate cathedrals in the plaza de armas. Maybe it was the night circuit, filled with all the people tickets for free drinks at various clubs. Each place playing the same strange mixture of disco, Latin, 80`s rock, techo, and hip hop. Songs like YMCA would come on and it would remind me of junior high.

Then there is the area around Cusco, all of it steep, and hard to get to. I got back from the Ausengate on Sunday. That required a 4 hour horse ride, followed by a short wait, then a bus at 10 am which didn't leave until 10:45. Got to another small town and had to wait two hours to get onto another bus. This one left 50 minutes after that. At around 6:45pm we arrived in Cusco. My nerves were worn thanks to the constant shifting of the bus, rocking back and forth and a narrow road which at points, seems too small for buses.

I was worn out but enthralled by the trip. The Inca trail was filled with tourists, but the Ausengate was officially closed, but our guide knew the right people. So myself, my friend Assaf, who I hiked with on the Inca trail, and our guide, Martin, set out.

The Ausengate is one very cold place to be. The wind chilled the bone, and when the sun would disappear, the temperature would drop around 15 degrees. It took a toll and I got sick after a couple of days. Assaf was sicker, couldn't even get out of bed on the day we went to the mountain. So I made the trek with just the guide and two horses. We rode out early, around seven am. I got my first look at the Ausengate at this point, it was a clear mourning without any clouds. We rode through swamps that filled the small valleys. The horses didn't like swamps, and would try their best to avoid them. We tied up the horses and hiked to one of the lower glaciers. I washed my face in some of the fresh, cold, glacier water.

After the day's hike was over we gathered Assaf, who looked a little better, then headed for Aguas Calientes, or hot springs. It rained for awhile, which ended up clearing the view up. I relaxed in the hot springs with a panoramic view of rocky crests covered with glaciers, the Andes.

When I finally made it back to Cusco, I was dead tired, and sick as well. So I lounged and enjoyed some of the cheap but good food Cusco has to offer. Tonight I will start my 13 hour bus ride into a new country,

La Paz here I come...