what exactly am i doing in peru?

(From Sunday afternoon... Just getting back online.)

It’s siesta time here in Cusco, so I’m taking a break from the hot sun and the crowds. Today there was a big celebration in the Plaza de Armas that involved bands, parades of different army/military personnel in uniform, flag raising, schoolchildren and speeches. (I have no idea what it was for - I keep forgetting to ask someone.)


I’ve been seeing the sights here in beautiful Cusco and wandering a bit, but have some other plans cooked up for the rest of the five weeks here in Peru. For about the next week I’m in Cusco, during which time I will continue to explore the city and the surrounding ruins (Macchu Pichu, Sacsayhuaman, Tambo Machay, Puca Pucara and Qenko).

Next weekend I fly back to Lima, where I’ll meet my sister. (That will be the day that I miss the USC-Ohio State game. Don’t think I’m not going to try to find a way to watch it, but I know it’s probably just a pipe dream.) My sister and I will go to Iquitos together, which is in the Northeast area of Peru and home to the Peruvian Amazon. I’m doing a week-long jungle tour, which promises such activities as canopy walking, piranha fishing (I know!), hiking, sleeping in huts, boating and searching for pink dolphins. And the last three nights are in a resort-type lodge with a pool and wi-fi, to ease my way back into civilization. Isn’t that nice? When the tour is over, we’ll be in Iquitos for an afternoon and night, which just so happens to be the last day of the annual raft race when everyone returns from a multiple-day float down the Amazon, so we’ll be there just in time for those post-race celebrations!

Back to Lima we’ll go for a few days to see a soccer, sorry, football match before flying to Cusco. We’ll take a little under a week to see Cusco, Macchu Pichu (I’ve heard I’ll be happy to see it twice) and the surrounding Sacred Valley. My sister is into markets, so I'm holding off on shopping until she arrives. At some point we'll take the train to Puno, which is the Peruvian city closest to Lake Titicaca and the floating islands. We’ll be there for a few days before returning to Cusco, then to Lima so we can head down to Buenos Aires and start a new adventure!

If anyone has any recommendations, suggestions, questions, comments, I'm all ears!