Hiking Machu Pichu tomorrow!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

the last few days (or is it almost a week already?) have been great. On our way to see the condors, which are a very spiritual bird for the Peruvians, our truck broke down. this meant that we got to spend a few extra days in Arequipa...not bad! we ended up doing a lot of shopping and enjoying the sun and warm weather. then we headed over to a little town by Colca Canyon...it is supposedly the deepest in the world! we only saw the mouth of it and went for a little walk to see if any condors would make an appearance. luckily for us, one of the girls in the group had a red coat which attracted it...it thought she was dead meat...so as it circled overhead, and stories of condors killing baby llamas spun around in our heads, we couldn't help but feel a bit like dead meat either. but don't worry, it figured it out soon enough when we were all walking and talking.

then we had a 14 hour drive day to Cuzco...this is where i am not and it is also the start point of the climb up Machu Pichu...it is COLD! we start out tomorrow with our last day of hiking on x-mas day. family, i told you i would try to call, but from what i hear they only have local phones, if that. so i will try to call on boxing day instead! i really can't wait to climb it...but i am concerned about the cold and think i might head out and support the local economy some more...my friends here are joking that i am singlehandedly feeding all peruvians...i swear i don't buy THAT much!

but i have to go because my fingers are about to freeze off! but i hope that all of you have a great x-mas (if you celebrate), if not, then i hope that you enjoy the day just the same!! i miss you all!!

love,

adrienne :)