Elise in Central America: Weekend fun

Alex and I were both FINALLY feeling healthy this weekend, gracias a Dios. We woke up yesterday eager to utilize our new found strength, but were a bit intimidated by the dark dark dark clouds. Eventually the sun came out and it was a glorious day (that happens a lot here)! We headed out and up towards Templo de la Luna, another ruins site up in the mountains. The ruins were super cool, as always, and Alex and I climbed as high as we could and found a little nook in a patch of grass wedged between a few rocks and took in the view and it all was all very peaceful. The air quality in Cusco is really awful- tons of pollution and a severe lack of vehicle emissions restrictions, so it's- excuse the pun- a real breath of fresh air to get up high in the mountains and not feel like you're damaging your lungs.

For dinner, we went to our favorite vegetarian spot. Eventually an entire blog posting will be dedicated to the food here, as it as more than worthy of one, but for now I'll just say that everything is super cheap, fresh, and delicious. I am getting spoiled. Then we headed to Pepe Zetas, a great bar with a much more Peruvian crowd than most spots in Cusco, which tend to be more populated by tourists. There was a band playing, who despite viciously butchering the words to all their Beatles covers, were fun to watch and listen to. The amount of free live music here in Cusco is unbelievable. It's literally everywhere, every night of the week, and it's GOOD! It's a shame live music has become such an expensive luxury at home... anyway, then we went to the much talked about Roots, the closest thing to a nightclub Cusco has (think Tom Tom's, 18th and Red, or Old Port Tavern). It was mostly tourists and they played the same music the DJ at my high school dances played. I got really sweaty. In other words, it was amazing. Most of you know my love for dance parties any time, any place, so needless to say, I'll be returning to Roots. At 3 am, Al and I walked home, watched an episode of Arrested Development, and went to bed.

Our high intensity Saturday resulted in a very lazy Sunday... not much to report. Here are some pictures I took on the hike yesterday:

Danger: Wall about to fall

Someones living room a long long time ago

Cave!

Another cave!

The hole in the rock in the middle is (was) a tomb. We walked up there, and then Alex slipped and fell on a cactus. It was funny, you're allowed to laugh.