Two Ears One Mouth

Another ridiculously early wake up call to board the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. The trains are a cross between an Amtrak and a subway so they're comfortable but designed more as commuter trains and don't hold much luggage. We were allowed to leave our bags at the hotel in Ollantaytambo and all brought a backpack only with us for the overnight and Machu Picchu. It took some creative packing but we made it work with basically some extra socks and underwear, a jacket, bug spray and like 20 water bottles. The train ride was freezing but absolutely beautiful. I put on some chill music and glued myself to the window for the hour-ish ride. Once again, no picture could really do the view justice. We got off the train in Aguas Calientes which is a really cute little town! We walked *all uphill* to the hotel and dropped off our stuff before heading out to the bus to Machu Picchu. After bathing in bug spray and lathering up on sunscreen we were ready to go. The b...

Please blame the Marathon Monster for the delay between posts. My life is work, run, eat, sleep not necessarily in that order... We had a 4 a.m. wake up call to get to Cusco. We met in the lobby at 4:30 then headed to the airport where we faced another round of extensive security checks including leaving our shoes on and carrying outside liquids onto the flight. This was also the first time I figured out how to use my calling card so I was able to leave The Colonel a little message before we hopped the flight. I'd been keeping up with my family via Facebook messages when I had wifi but this was the first opportunity I had to call...he didn't answer. The flight to Cusco wasn't too bad and the coolest part was that the mountains were literally higher than the clouds! I always knew I was fond of mountains but it wasn't until I was literally in the Andes that I realized my true love for them. My dream is to now live somewhere with a mountain view. The Andes a...

Hey friends. I've been in a bit of a dark place lately and that makes it hard to blog. In fact I've written 2 depressing and dramatic posts which I decided to sit on and see if they were still worth posting after the dust settled. They were not. So I apologize for the break BUT there will be yet another break coming up because in 6 days I'm headed to Peru! The Marathon Monster is in full effect and as part of my wishful thinking my running shoes are coming along from the ride. Regardless I will be getting some work in as we hike Macchu Picchu and I run around the Andes but how many people get to say they went for a run in Peru around ancient Native American ruins? I plan to be one of the few. Packing for South America is crazy by the way. Especially since it is now winter there, I don't speak Spanish or any dialect to be able to purchase what I forget, oh and because its South America! But I'm really excited about it today. There will be a lot to figure out and sett...