I hugged a llama.

Hello family and amigos,

EXCITING NEWS: There are new pictures from ziplining in Costa RIca. Check the link on the right side!

So Megan, Andrei, and I are in Puno on Lake Titicaca right now, and Marion is in Juliaca with her grandparents. We saw Machu Picchu over the last couple days, and it was completely AMAZING!!! We took a two-hour cab ride from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo and then a two-hour train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes and found a hostel. We went out to go to a pharmacy for random forgotten items, when we stumbled upon the cutest parade I have ever seen. They were celebrating Peru´s independence day, and the streets were lined with children starting at maybe four or five years old all holding giant paper lanterns on sticks. The best part was that the lanterns were lit with candles, and random lanterns would periodically catch on fire. The teachers would quite calmly put out the fire and then relight the lantern–no big deal. I don´t know who thought it would be a good idea to give kindergarteners paper lanterns with an open flame, but it made for a great show.

Machu Picchu was fantastic and quite a hike. It ended up being a lot hotter than any of us had anticipated, since we´ve been enjoying absolutely frigid weather in Peru, especially at night. Did I mention that none of the hostels ever have hot water? We saw lots of llamas and a strange rabbit-esque creature with shorter ears and a long, floppy tail. We spent about four hours touring the ruins and stealing random bits of information from passing tour guides. We took the train back to Cuzco afterwards and then left this morning bright and early for the lake. We´ll be here for a few days (potentially freezing to death) and then head back to Cuzco for a bit before moving along to country number 8. We have approximately 1,000 pictures to put up, but that´s going to be awhile because fast internet is hard to come by these days. We love and miss everybody and will post again soon!

*Lindsay