peru.

our final morning and afternoon in sucre were more than enjoyable. we booked on for the 'dino truck tour' to see dinosaur footprints outside of town.. showing up at the appointed time to discover that we were the only people who signed up.. and that the truck was a little past it's prime.. there was a dinosaur head mounted on the front with twine.. and that we were part of a large conspiracy against naive tourists who sign up for these sorts of things when the hype of carnaval has the entire city storming the streets with water balloons and spray foam..

we passed a toddler wearing a spider man suit, pumping a water gun larger than himself.. we were pelted left, right, and center.. from the streets and from rooftops.. the only grace period we were given was when a balloon landed without exploding and we quickly scooped it up to retaliate..

the dinosaur tracks were across a canyon of excavated rock, zig-zagging up and down a cliff wall. the basic hypothesis is this: the area used to be a lake. dinosaurs roamed, left prints, and it eventually dried up.. over time, tectonic plates gradually built the flat plain up into a mountain and the prints were covered. in 1948, sucre was rocked with a terrible earthquake that destroyed most of the city. they built a cement factory on the outskirts, and proceeded to mine said mountain to produced cement to repair the city. during this process, the patterns were discovered and experts were brought in to do a proper excavation.. they were confirmed, and now there is a dinosaur park next door to the cement factory.

that evening we headed to la paz once again. the overnight bus had only two cama seats (sleepers) available, so danelle offered to take the last semi-cama to save a couple bucks. little did we know it was more of a semi-seat wedged in the back corner.. poor girl.. funny story. got to la paz the next morning and spent the entire day walking around.. dodging spray foam.. buying trinkets at the witch market.. attempting a tour offer at the san pedro prison (didn't happen - not sure if i'm disappointed or relieved..) with our money spent, and our opinion of la paz raised ten bars (the first time the three of us all experienced it in almost full health).. we left the next morning en route to cusco.

i will skip all the wonderful details, and say only that the bus ride to cusco was one that i will never ever forget. starting with a two hour delay, we should have seen the omen.. mike had to bribe his way over the border because he misplaced his bolivian entrance form.. and the bus broke down in puno. stranded for a few hours, they somehow 'found' another bus (i have no idea how that happens).. and off we went again. at which point my stomach decided to murder me, as if knowing that this found bus had no toilet. and so it goes for 9 hours..

the next morning in cusco we sent for a doctor and i am now on some antibiotics for a parasite and/or bacteria picked up in bolivia.. my stomach of steel has turned on me, sob.. however, i am feeling heaps better now. we've walked the mountainous cobble streets.. checked out markets.. mike has eaten llama and guinea pig.. cusco at a glance reminds me a lot of a switzerland or austria of sorts. tall church towers.. large covered balconies off second stories.. it's very beautiful. tomorrow morning we are taking a tour of the sacred valley.. spending the night at aguas calientes.. and climbing and exploring machu picchu the next morning. i am so excited.