Hello!

It´s been awhile since I´ve typed much of anything, so the time has come for a bit of an update. Right now we´re all really high, but don´t worry Mom, it´s not what you think! We are all quite safe and sound in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. Besides political instability (Bolivia has averaged more than one change of government per a year since inception), the country is known for having the world´s "highest everything". We are now in the world´s highest capital city (3600 meters) featuring the world´s highest airport. We just traveled from lake Titicaca, the world´s highest navigable lake. We are literally quite "high" 24-7...

Most of these photos from Arequipa are from the famous Convent in town.

Here's the photos of Macchu Picchu, also known as the world's most photogenic place.I'm getting really behind in posting these - we're actually across the boarder in Boliva now! So many stories to tell, some involving near death! Maybe in La Paz, as the Internet here in Copacabana is pretty pricey and slow. Enjoy. There's also a heck of a lot more photos of Macchu Piccu that I didn't post here for those of you who don't mind repetition.

Many new photos are on their way online, starting with these from Huancayo:

If you can´t tell already, having a pet Parrot running around the hostel was a photographic novelty.

The guest book table at the excellent "Grandma´s House" hostel.

It might take a little longer than I originally thought to get some Machu Picchu and Salkantay photos up, so here´s some older photos from Paracas Nature Reserve and the Ballestas Islands until then.

Hello friends - the five day trek is over and so is Machu Picchu! I´m a bit battered, bruised, insect bitten an maybe even a pound or two lighter... and all the better for it! Parts of the trek, such as the dreaded 20km "Day Two" were challenging especially at an altitude of 4000 meters. Other sections were more relaxing, with easy half days ending with hot springs and drinks at the local watering holes.

I´m not a wordsmith so I´ll let photos describe most of the journey once I get the chance to upload everything (I´m thinking 4 days from now). The terrain went from dry desert areas up to the glacier pass of Mount Salkantay and then into tropical cloud jungle.

I thought that I´d never have a more uncomfortable bus ride than the three day jaunt from Montreal to Vancouver. Was I ever wrong! Try going through the Andes on gravel winding roads in over packed buses. Try having your bus nearly go off a cliff many, many times. Try having truck tires incinerated off the wheel, without the bus stopping what-so-ever! Try having to rebuild parts of a road with mountain rocks to avoid most certain death!

This is not an over dramatization - this is the truth. Despite not being of luxurious this was certainly the most memorable bus trips, and adventure or an adrenaline rush even. Never before was I actually able to calculate my chance of death (or at least major injury) on a particular trip. My napkin math put my chances of death at about 1 in 450 over the 35 hours, which isn’t that bad. We entertained ourselves with other fun games such as "calculate the best place to be when the bus launches over the cliff" or "is a fall off this cliff fatal, yes or no?". Aaron got the special privilege of carrying a baby goat on our trip over night, which he had the privilege of naming "Ernesto".

I am finally able to upload mass quantities of photos so here´s a quick selection of Lima. Click here for the full set if your so inclined. I´m letting the upload program run overnight so there should be plenty more photos on Flickr by the time you are reading this.

Here´s a rule that´s never followed...

Today marks one week of being away from Vancouver. I've had extremely bad luck at finding a consistent Internet connection, so I´ll have to make this one massive post. Feel free to take your time reading as I will not have any more to updates (or any photos) until around the 19th, after the Salcantay trail and Machu Picchu. Stay tuned!