Weekend Trip

Whew, I'm back in Ayacucho after an amazing whirlwind trip to Cusco, Machu Picchu, and Lima! It was certainly hectic, especially after our supposed tour guide somewhat abandoned us with little direction but it was an unforgettable experience that was worth all of the hassle.
We woke up at 5 on Friday and rode to the airport for our flight at 6:30 (security here is pretty lax so there is no need to get there any earlier!) We flew from Ayacucho to Lima where we had to run through the airport to make our connecting flight while our names were blared over the loudspeakers for the flight's last call! Yikes, not a relaxing point in the trip but we made it! Then we flew to Cusco where we met up with our tour guide who took us throughout the Sacred Valley, where we looked at different ruins, visited an animal sanctuary, and went to a llama and alpaca farm. From there we went to a huge outdoor market where I did some Christmas shopping (can't be too prepared!) and had lunch. From there we went to a small town where we would take our train to Aguas Calientes, the town next to the Machu Picchu ruins. This is where our tour guide made the anouncement (much to our surprise) that he would not be coming with us on the rest of the trip! After a few frantic minutes, we boarded the train with little knowledge of what hotels we were going to be staying at and how we would be paying for them. Amazingly, we found the right hotel, paid for them under the guide's name, and finally collasped into bed. The next morning we were up at 4:45am to meet our new guide and headed to the ruins around 6am. The early morning was worth it as we were able to watch the sunrise over the mountains. The ruins lit up and we spent the rest of the day touring the site and hiking the nearby peaks. It was unbeliveably beautiful and amazing what the Incan civilization was able to accomplish. The ruins were well preserved and we were mainly free to walk where we liked. I would HIGHLY suggest visiting this amazing place!
After the ruins we had dinner, got on the train back to Cusco, where our supposed ride was unfortunately not waiting for us like the travel agency had promised. After more confusion, we found our driver in another spot away from the designated meeting place and after getting into the fan around 12:30am, we promptly got a flat tire. Needless to say, we were an exhausted bunch when we finally got into downtown Cusco around 3am. The next morning we walked around Cusco until our flight to Lima around 3. When we finally got to Lima, we found a cab to our hostel, which was an experience to put it nicely. After a great dinner in Miraflores, we went back to the room until our 4am pick up back to the airport. Since our travel agent had given us the wrong time of the flight, the check in process was pretty chaotic to say the least. FINALLY we made it back to Ayacucho at 7am Monday morning and made it to our internships on time. Since it was Father's Day here in Peru, we hung out with the male inmates for the whole time, talking and playing different games like musical chairs and dodgeball. Not an experience I'd ever thought I would have but definitely a fun one! I finally went to bed at 8pm, not even caring that the shower was icier than usual!

I am in the process of posting pictures now! Internet here is a little slow so they're going up one by one.

Halfway done. I'm both sad to leave but looking forward to sleeping in, hot showers, and seeing my family and friends.