Oh Peru.

Dear You,

We are back in Lima after many days of fun adventure.

Huanchaco:
After a couple of days in Lima, we got on a bus and traveled about 9 hours north to a small surfing town outside of Trujillo, called Huanchaco. Jonny learned to surf and we filled our bellies full of ceviche and corn (which the kernels are like 3x the size of American corn...its amazing!) After meeting some Americans at a restaurant who told us we would be crazy if we did not go to machu picchu, we decided to hop on another 9 hours bus back to Lima and then immediately onto another 23 hour bus to Cusco. As we drove through the night, the bus would stop and let randos on to try to sell us food/wine/you name it. It was definitely an experience. The next day (still on the bus) we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant. Jonny and I didn't have much money on us since the day before we had spent it all on the bus tickets, but were able to scrounge up about 7 soles ($3) to split a plate of rice and beans. A little Peruvian woman, dressed in very worn clothes, approached us and started speaking to us in Spanish. After a couple of minutes we picked up on the fact that she wanted to buy us another meal, which she did, and all we could do in return was say "muchas gracias". It was such a beautiful display of the hospitality of the Peruvian people, and also of the Lord's provision.

Cusco:
Beautiful, bustling town in the mountains. The roads are a maze of steep cobblestone alleys filled with shop after shop. We stayed a night and then took a 2 hour taxi and a 3 hour train to Aguas Calientes..the gateway city to Machu Picchu.

Aguas Calientes:
Finally some jungle and greenery! At the base of huge tree filled mountains that are usually covered with thick clouds, sits this little town that exists to bring people up and down Machu Picchu. Jonny and I pretty much jumped from restaurant to restaurant eating 4 course meals for $5 a pop....YUM:) At then end of the town are the hot springs, which we also enjoyed.

Machu Picchu:
The next morning We woke up at 4:00 am to ensure that we would be in the top 400 people to enter Machu picchu which makes you eligible to climb Waynapicchu (a huge mountain that overlooks the ruins). We took the bus up to Machu Picchu and then began our trek up Waynapicchu which was an absolutely amazing experience and the biggest work out of the decade for both of us. We climbed the steep stairs in a little under 40 minutes which i think is pretty impressive, if i do say so myself. At the top, the clouds started off below us and then began to rise up right in front of us until they were gone and the sun was shining down on Maccu Picchu. Our only response was awe. We spent some time up there journaling and looking out, and then made the trek back down to the ruins. At the ruins, we hiked up to the guard house and met some llamas..they were everywhere! Take a look at the videos:)

Lima:
After another 23 hour bus ride back to Lima, we are here staying with mission workers, Sara and Rusty, who have been the biggest blessing. They are letting us stay in their house, they let us wash our clothes, and they cooked us delicious fish and rice last night and pancakes and fruit this morning! We are here one more night and then we are off to Santiago where we will be visiting a raspberry farm a couple hours south of the city.

Until next time...Peace