Cusco, Peru: Arrived in Cusco today at 7am! Our plane left from Lima at 6am, which meant we had to be at the airport at 4...which meant I had to wake up at 3:15am. I´m tired! But glad to be in Cusco, because tomorrow we go to Machu Picchu!

Last time I left the blog I had arrived in Quito. Absolutely loved it there! I stayed at the Secret Garden hostel. Great hostel, I highly recommend it if your staying in Quito. Great view from the terrace. Also lots of great people there.

Met lots of locals in Quito, and they were extremely nice. Also met up with Uncle D´s and Aunt Yvonne family, who took us to church and showed us around town. Ricky and Gaby were great!

The city itself is beautiful. Went to Mitad del Mundo, which is allegedly the middle of the earth. It´s said that the equator is not actually on the spot that the museum indicates, but that the real line is a few yards away. I visited both spots. It was cool.

Also went to Otavalo, which is supposed to be the biggest market in Ecuador, maybe even South America. It was nice, and actually did some shopping there.

I was pressed for time in Ecuador because my brother was coming to Lima on October 8th. So we left Quito prematurely, and headed to Banos. Banos was beautiful, we took a 3 hour tour of the waterfalls, which was nice. We left Quito in the morning, and arrived in Banos at 10am...15 minutes later we boarded a tour bus to see the waterfalls. We were in Banos less than 24 hours.

From Banos, we headed to Guayaquill, a port town in Ecuador. We were told to see Las Penas, and the Malecon, which we did. Again, we were pressed for time, so we did everything in a rush. Though we did have time to go to the mall and catch a movie while we were there. We watched ¨Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.¨ Don´t judge me! lol.

From Guayaquill we took a 24 hour bus to Lima. Its amazing to me how I manage to get around. Hours before I had no idea how I would get to Lima, but somehow when faced with necessity, you figure it out. I also got help from a random stranger who decided to walk me two and a half blocks to the bus station to buy my tickets. He just offered, and asked nothing in return. This was crucial because the main bus terminal had no direct buses to Lima, and I needed to be there the next day. And the Ecuador and Peru border is supposed to be one of the worst, as far as people trying to rip you off. We had no problems at the border crossing, and made to Lima on time.

From the bus station in Lima, we headed straight to the airport to find my brother. There he was, with Sean Lambert, waiting for us. It was great to see both of them. What a break. For the first time in months I could relax! And Seans place was amazing! Beach front high rise condo! The place looked like Santa Monica. I´ll post pictures soon.

Lima was nothing like I imagined, but maybe we saw a different part. We stayed in Miraflores, where all the rich folk live. Though we did venture one day to the center of Lima, which of course was a bit more dodgey.

But Lima was great. I felt like I was on vacation!

From Lima we flew to Cusco. I had no intentions of taking a flight during my time in South America, except from Brasil, but because of time constraints we flew to Cusco. A 45 minute flight.

We arrived today, and are getting acclimated to the elevation. Tomorrow we got to Machu Picchu. Looking forward to it!

Look for pictures soon!

I love you mom,

I love you family and friends,

Michael