Baby Llamas in Hats, Tobias the Horse, and Mountains

Hola, From Aguas Calientes, Peru! It hasn't yet been a week away from the States and already the adventurers have begun. Day0/1- I met up with Kealan in the Miami airport, anxious and excited for our trip to begin. We had a terrible shock when we found out that we were not on the same flight out of Miami to Lima. No matter. We separated for five hours then met back up, dazed tired and uncomfortable at 4 AM in the Lima airport. After a short flight to Cusco and a over priced cab ride to our hostel (we paid about 55 Peruvian soles [about $25] when we found out later it probably should have cost about 15 soles. Whoops.) where we met Brooke and Joey the four of us set out for food, delirious from lack of sleep and a little loopy (to say the least) from the high altitude. We feasted on bagels with various spreads and lettuce and tomatoes (side note: one of the last pieces of advice my dad gave me was "avoid fresh vegetables such as lettuce and tomatoes." Sorry, Dad. I blame it on the altitude. We did not get [severely] sick). Then we walked around the town of Cusco, saw a few beautiful churches, held a baby llama in a baby llama hat (5 soles), then posted up at a pub with bloody Marys overlooking the main plaza in the town. We ended the day with some delicious Peruvian chicken. My first day in Peru was an altitude-induced-crazed, yet semi-productive day! Day 2- Brooke and Joey booked us a horseback riding trip in the Andes. Classic. After a beautiful car ride into the mountains we arrived at the place that held the horses: a random concrete slab/basketball court on the side of the mountain road. After a (maybe too) brief instruction session, we were all given our horses for the day. My horse, Tobias, and I had an instant connection. He didn't like to listen to any of my commands, but I could tell he liked me anyway. The ride was amazing to say the least. We rode the horses up through the mountains where we got off for a visit to some Incan ruins (Moray). Then after anther brief ride we stopped for a picnic of tradtional chicken and vegetables looking out at a breathtaking mountain landscape. We finally rode back down through the mountains with (somehow) an even more beautiful view. Snow peaked mountains, rolling hills, fields of green, plains of golden straw stuff. It was truly awesome. Sadly, I said goodbye to Good 'Ol Tobs (I really do think he was upset to see me go), and we were bused to a salt mine, where we saw a lot of little pools of salt. It was weird, but interesting. That night we saw some of the Cusco nightlife when we went out with our new friends from the horse tour (a group of volunteers based in Cusco). Day 3- The nightlife in Cusco got us real good. We had a late start. Kealan and I explored the town a little more before we headed off to the next town, Ollantaytambo (say it out loud. Good luck). We took a van with about 8 other people and it dropped us off in the middle of the main square in Ollanta (as the locals call it, much easier on the mouth). We checked into our hostel, Casa de Wow!! (yes, the exclamation points are part of the name), then hit up the Heart Cafe for some dinner and a cerveza (beer.). Day 4- After breakfast at Casa de Wow!!, we went to the ruins in the town to climb about and explore. We're not quite sure what the ruins were, but they were neat and old and a tour guide was not in our budget. We guessed at what they were there for which was most likely pretty accurate anyway. We then got a couple bottles of wine and jumped on the train to Aguas Calientes. The ride was scenic and the wine was... Ok. We detrained, drunk on excitement, and shopped the little souvenir stands. We finally checked in to our hostel, then decided to venture toward the town's namesake: the hot springs. We had heard mixed reviews but we figured we had to try. A lovely walk and 10 soles later, we arrive at a group if dingy pools filled with brown water and tourists. I dipped one toe in to say I did, gagged a little bit, and we were off again! We ate a lovely meal of pizza and ordered a plate of Cuy, a Peruvian delicacy- guinea pig. It came out with very intact hands. It was disgusting. I ate some. It tasted like smoked chicken. It wasn't that bad. The hands were just waving at me the whole time. Day 5- Today we woke up at the ripe hour of 4 AM to make the first bus to Machu Picchu at 530. We were early and we still ended up on the 4th bus up the mountain. Once arriving we headed for high ground to see the sun rise across from Huaynapicchu, the highest mountain peak over looking Machu Picchu. It was breathtaking. Approximately 700 pictures later, we began our journey up Huaynapicchu. What a hike it was. So many stairs. It was incredible making it to each overlook point and seeing the ruins of Machu Picchu further and further down. The views cannot be described properly, at least not by me. The mountains surrounding us on all sides were gargantuan and lush with trees and vegetation. The weather was perfect and the sky was bright blue against the green peaks, but off in the distance you could see a few white snow capped peaks. Pictures could not capture well enough the beauty. And then you would look below and see the ruins of this nearly ancient town, still thousands of feet up, on the side of this mountain. I couldn't stop saying "wow". Every view was picture worthy, then you would snap a picture and want to take another because you just couldn't capture it perfectly. Truly amazing. We then made the mistake of going the long way back, which led us down to another ruin then basically back up the mountain again and finally down. The whole hike was about 4 hours and now my legs hurt. We did a little more exploring around the ruins until we decided we needed another day (and a nap) so we headed back to Aguas Calientes for food and some sleep. A few more days in Peru and then I'm off to Brazil on my own! My only hope is that I don't have to throw the toilet paper in a trash can in when I get there. It is disgusting and the worst. I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN!