from where i left off

so i was going to machu picchu tomorrow. ok. we bought tickets with a tour company called sas travel. they picked us up early sunday morning. we took a bus to Ollantaytambo, and then a train the rest of the way to Agues Calientes. On the way to Ollantaytambo we went through a small town that strongly reminded me of Santo Poco. Thats a reference to ¨The Three Amigos.¨ Only difference was that they had internet cafes.

Agues Calientes is a small tourist town with wonderful views, and lots of street vendors trying to sell you random useless things of which I only bought one, and lots of restaurants begging you to come in and eat. They try and entice you with games of chess, and free drinks. They also have a hot springs resort which is naturally hot water in small man made pools for people to sit and be warm in.

We took a bus Monday morning to Machu Picchu which took a very windy road all the way up the mountain. That was the scariest part of the trip for me. At the top we had a nice tour guide named Ruben explain all sorts of significances to us relating to the ruins, and their religion. Lots of things to do with Puma, Snake, and Condor. The view was very nice, and very clear. There is no pollution up there, so you can see far out in all directions. I have photos of the snow capped mountains surrounding Machu Picchu. I trekked up Waynu Picchu. This was the culmination of my 6 1/2 year test. The conclusion is that sitting at a computer for 10 hours a day will not keep you sufficiently in shape for hiking up Waynu Picchu. I did finally get to the top, and it was amazing. There is a great view of the ruins of Machu Picchu from the peak. You can also see the distant white mountain tops all around.

We flew out of Cusco on Tuesday morning to Lima, and from Lima to Buenos Aires Argentina. Noone speaks english in Buenos Aires. We saw the Obelisk which is a just a monument like Washington´s monument. We also ate lots of Beef. Plenty of restaurants in Buenos Aires. I had sweetbread which I really enjoyed. We stayed at hostel Vaikra. The owners just got married less than 2 weeks ago - Yisroel and Devorah. They are both lovely people, and we had a really nice time there. Many Israelis stay there. The only way we could have any intelligent conversations was with the help of Shmuel who was raised in Israel but moved back to Brazil like 5 years ago.

I went skydiving in La Plata Argentina. It´s not too expensive, and it was a lot of fun. I have a DVD of the experience, and many digital photos which I´ve already put online. It is an experience like no other. I recommend it to everyone.

We stayed in Buenos Aires for 7 nights, and then took a flight to Puerto Igauzu which is the Argentinian city next to Igauzu Falls. We spent the next day at the falls, and I took hundreds of pictures. They will soon be online. The closest view of the falls is in the area called devils throat. It brings you right on top the falls, and I have some great panoramas from there. I also got pictures of these strange looking creatures called Coitas. The coita isn´t afraid of humans at all, and I heard a story from a guy that one coita jumped onto the table at the restaurant he was eating at, and took a whole burger. The restaurant replaced the burger free of charge. Iguazu Falls is one of the most amazing places I´ve ever been, and I strongly recommend the trip. I didn´t have a chance to see the Brazilian side, but as I understand it the Argentinian side is much better.

That night we took a bus from Foz Do Iguazu (the Brazilian city by the falls) to Sao Paulo. We bought the cheaper ticket which was class ´semi-cama.´ The seats lean fairly far back, and there are really good leg rests. The trip is supposed to take about 15 hours, but our trip took a bit longer. About 1/2 hour out we stopped by a police station, where Federal officers proceeded to remove bags from the bus and search them. They even opened my bag! I´m innocent I swear!! Anyhow this went on for about an hour during which they kept coming on the bus and calling people off. They never called us off, but some of the people they called off stayed off. They even took some bags away. They would first duct tape the bags closed, and then roll them off. At the end of the hour it seems that they found what they were looking for. They started to take white packages from one bag and transfer them into a black sack of theirs. There were between 5 to 10 of these packages. Each package was identical, and each one was about 10 inches by 6 inches by 2 inches. You can draw your own conclusions as to what was in the packages, I´ve already drawn mine. The bus was stopped a few more times on the way for more officers to come onboard and search the carry on baggage. The last 12 hours of the trip were uneventful.

We arrived at the bus station this past Thursday from where I took a subway to our destination in Sao Paulo. Its been fairly boring since then until today. Now we are in the Hebraica. This place is huge! Its a jewish only social club. On a good sunday they can have upwards of 15,000 people here. All jews. Oy Vey. We just had a nice big lunch, and I´m hoping to go for a swim.

Thats all for now. Next update will likely be in Rio De Janeiro, or possibly once I´m home which will be in about 2 weeks.