The last few days have been really hectic, I lost my bag on a crazy bus ride then after much negotiation got it back and landed in La Paz. Stayed at a sweet hostel called Adventure Brew Hostel which has a brewery inside the hostel. Met up with some travelers from Ireland and we went to a local pub. Had great food then hit the sack. Next day I hit the Black Market and bought a pair of Nike sweatpants, a backpack, pair of sunglasses, and a new camera. I´m such an American!

Yesterday I biked down the world´s most dangerous road through a company called Gravity on a sweet $1,500 mountain bike with disc brake and front shocks. First, we tried to leave La Paz and couldn´t because La Paz had blocked the roads becaue of a strike, so we took off over the side of the mountain on a "shortcut" that supposedly got us around the blockade. A few hours later and many almost disasters, we routed the locals and were on our way, albeit late.

When we arrived at the top of the world´s most dangerous road, it was freezing and foggy. So freezing and foggy that my pants were wet and my glasses covered in dew/ice. First, before we set off, we offered a sacrifice to Pacha Mama by pouring 96% alcohol on our tire and then taking a shot. It was excrutiating. The start of the road is a 19Km paved road that is straight downhill, we reached speeds of 50Km/H, which is darn fast on a mountain bike in freezing temps with fog so thick you cant see 10 ft in front of you!

We reached the gravel road in about an hour and from there is was all bumpy, rough riding. Flying downhill on a narrow road filled with loose gravel is a rush I can´t expain. Also the 400meter dropoff added to the suspense as well! I almost went off the side 5 times and pretty much just got lucky. I took the lead most of the time and went a fast as the bike could go. It warmed up half way down and it was hot! I shed my layers then finished up just in time, I dont think my hands could have taken any more bumps.

The buffet was great, then our group sat around and talked for a few hours. The bus ride back was a grueling 4 hours, and when we arrived John and James from Ireland accompanied me to Burger King for some greasy late night food.

From the Drab Seastars blog: "Took the train from Cusco to a town called Aguas Calientes- basically just the basecamp for tourists going to visit Machu Picchu (which, for those who dont know, is an site of Inca ruins situated in the Andes- 2,400m above sea level- discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, a professor from Yale. The city, never discovered and therefore never looted or destroyed by the Spanish, is impressively preserved.) Went with James, our southern gentleman(Tessa just calls him Georgia), and stayed in an Eco-lodge called Rupa Wasi. A bit of a splurge...and a disappointment! We planned to catch the first bus up to Macchu Picchu at 5:30AM so that we could see sunrise over the site. Rupa Wasi staff said no problem, organic breakfast at 4:45AM and packed lunches to take to the top. Well, at 5:10AM, no coffee and no eco-brown bagged lunches! Aggravated, we left without food but thankfully still managed to catch the first bus up.

Pricey entrance fee (120 soles, about US$36) which Georgia calls "gringo rape"!

Being first into the site was worth it though- looking out over the ruins at dawn, dewey grass, llamas grazing...appreciating the magnificance of this massive civilization, which was desserted years ago and not seeing a dozen tour groups, priceless! Lost Tessa in the first 10 minutes (and did we mention that the site is massive?). James and Sasha found her about an hour later playing with the llamas- who would have thought?!?

Without our packed lunches we had to eat at the Macchu Picchu lodge- their posh breakfast buffet set us back $20 each. Ouch!
After fueling up James and Sasha set off to hike up Huayna Picchu, the mountain right beside the site that provides overhead views. An hour of stone steps later, and slightly out of breath, we sat and admired the Inca site from the top of Huayna Picchu, a once in a lifetime opportunity. And Sasha, of course, insisted on doing some yoga poses right on the edge before heading back down. Wobbly legs at the bottom was a small price to pay! Recommended to all!"

So my first big travel adventure took place today. I bought a ticket for full camas (reclining chair) so I could sleep. Paid extra but its worth it on an 18 hour bus ride from Cusco to La Paz. I show up to the bus terminal and the driver tells me I´m upstairs with the locals in the economy seats. I explained to him that I paid extra and he told me that there´s nothing he can do about it, if I want a ride I need to get in NOW. So I was in a seat the size of a potty chair for 7 hours until we reached Puno where we transfered buses. The Puno bus was much nicer and even though it wasnt full camas, the seats were more comfortable. Then at the border, we stopped to get our passports stamped. As I waited in line, the driver kept yelling at me to hurry but I couldn´t just leave without the stamp. Right as my passport was being stamped I looked up and saw my bus drive away! Since my backpack was still on that bus, I really needed to follow that bus or else I was booking a flight home today. I paid a bus driver 10 Bolivians to let me bum a ride and when I get to Copacabana where all the buses stop, my bus isn´t there! Of course the people in the bus office (if you call a chair under an umbrella an office) assure me that my bag is A OK. And my question is, ¨If you take such good care of my bag, why did you leave me?¨

Payback is hell because as I was argueing with the bus people a huge group of travelers walked up and asked me what´s going on and I told them to take another bus company. They quickly walked away with the bus company employees chasing after them.

I´m supposed to go stand outside on the street in 20 minutes to get my bag, but I have a feeling that it might take a little longer and alot more american dollars than that to get it back.

Welcome to Bolivia!!!

The last few days have been great. Ive been hanging out with my buddy Brett and a ton of other guys from the hostel. Yesterday I went on a train with Sasha and Tessa to Auqua Caliente, which is the town outside Macchu Picchu. We walked around the town which was amazingly beautiful and enjoyed our day. The town can only be described as a Chinatown look in the mountains of Peru. Everywhere you look you see tall mountains, not in the distance, but almost close enough to touch, with a river flowing right through the middle of the town. After a few hours of walking around, the girls got tired and went back to the hostel, and I met up with 6 guys from the hostel who were enjoying happy hour. It was 3 aussies, 2 kiwis, a canadian, and me. We partied from about 4:30 till 7:00 and the whole time we were loud and obnoxious and having a generally rowdy time. So rowdy in fact that we had about 10 customers upstairs on the balcony enjoying their dinner and after about 10 minutes of hearing us, they quickly got up and left! Then at 7, the boys decided that they wanted to streak across the plaza, which meant it was time for me to leave.

I bought a bottle of Chilean wine called Castillo de Diablo, and went back to our hostel to hang with the girls. We ended up talking and laughing for about 3 hours before we decided to hit the sack. Our hostel was an Eco Lodge, which meant it was built into the landscape and was beautiful and organic. The lodges were wood and had amazing views. It also had a great bathroom and the girls let me use their bodywash so I felt clean for the first time since arriving in S. America.

We wole up at 5AM to catch the first bus in order to see the sun rise, but since it was cloudy at Macchu Picchu, we woke up for nothing. Macchu Picchu is the most expensive park Ive ever heard of. Its a $6 bus ride to and from the park, and ticket price was $40 american. I pitched a fit but they wouldnt come down. We spent a few hours in the park taking pics and enjoying the spectacular views, then headed back to the gate for brunch. The only place open was a buffet for $19 american, which was expensive but worth it. I ate like a king. Then Sasha and I hiked up Hyuana Picchu which is 1 hour of torcherous mountain climbing, but once up we had some of the best views a human can ever expect. Tessa didnt want to get sweaty so she stayed at the gate and read a book.

We caught the train back to Cusco and are going to eat dinner tonight then there is a party called School Disco at our hostel which is gonna be crazy. Too bad Im exhausted and just want to go to bed.

Arrives last night in Cusco via a nightbus, but my ticket said seat 4 so I sat in seat 4 and after our first stop some Peruvians got onboard with the same ticket as me. So I asked the bus manager where my seat was and he told me first class! Yay, except that there was a guy in my seat. We argued for a few minutes then the manager kicked him off the bus and told him that they sold him a ticket to my seat and that he would have to leave. I felt really bad about that, but I also felt good because I didnt want to sleep on the floor for 5 hours.

Met some young brits who invited me to stay at their hostel, we arrived at 3AM and I had a single room with double bed! The shower today was cold but good, then I caught a taxi to Loki. Met a guy from England who I went to lunch with and we had an awesome meal of rotisserie chicken. He's an athletic guy who goes to the gym and eats protein with every meal, so we have a lot in common. You dont meet alot of travelers who are in shape.

Today I'm just relaxing with a bottle of wine and a book and tonight I'm going to party at the hostel and really just relax with some of the friends I've met today and some travelers I've met in other places I've run into.

Last night I was walking around Arequipa and heard a familiar voice, so I peeked in the shop and it was my two friends from Holland! They were shopping buying belts and stuff and we decided to meet up later for dinner.

Then I went and hung out with Nobert, my buddy from Germany, and we decided to buy our tickets together for the bus ride to Puno.

At dinner me and the girls from Holland ate mexican food then went back to the hostel for a nightcap of Pisco and Ica Real (which tastes like sprite).

The bus ride today was looong and hot, I don´t know how they suvive in Peru without opening the windows on those stuffy buses. Ate dinner tonight with Nobert and it was the best fish I´ve ever eaten. I bought a tour for tomorrow to see the islands and met some aussie and british girls who are going to be there too. Then I leave on a night bus to Cusco!

Tonight is going to be awesome, me and Nobert got a single room with a private bathroom in a quiet part of town so I don´t have to worry about noise or other people waking me up!

Just got back from the a trek to the deepest canyon in the world. I saw condors with a 10ft wingspan, saw incan ruins, and slept in below freezing temps at 5,000 meters above sea level! I woke up several times last night gasping for air because I had altitude sickness, but other than that the trip was cool. Ate a sweet dinner tonight, filet mignon with my german friend for $7 american. It´s so cheap to live down here! I found my favorite beer of Peru, it´s called Cusquena Malta, which is a local brewed dark beer that´s really sweet. And my favorite wine is Gato Negro which comes in a box. We have either a drink of beer or wine with every meal because that´s what everyone else does around the world and it´s really cool.

The language barrier just hit me these last 2 days because I was stuck on a tour with 9 people from other countries who only spoke fractured english and couldn´t understand my accent. So there was a lot of hand signals and frustration when trying to talk. As I go to more populated areas, the english will become more rampant.

The last 2 days has been the celebration de aniversario for Arequipa and that means really loud obnoxious music all night long. I woke up at 5AM bother nights and they were still going at it. But the funny thing is that noone realy knows the song so its just a bunch of raquet! Its like 500 people all playing a different song! But I guess that´s how they party down here.

Tommorrow is Lake Titicaca where I´ll sleep on the reeds, and then onto Cusco where I plan to stay for a long time because I hear its one of the best places to go.

I´ll post pics as soon as I find a computer with a USB port.

At night, we went to Casa De Arena Dos, where me and my friends from Holland played Jenga with a group of touring Brits. The teachers were right in the middle of the party, tossing them back like they were in college again!

While sandboarding I met 2 Israelis(Israelis seem to be the people who travel the most) who invited me to go to a wine tasting tour. We went with a small group from our hostel to 2 local wineries to see how Pisco and Vino are made and also sample some of the fresh wines. The first was a very small Pisco winery where they still create the wine by hand, stomping the grapes by foot, etc.

The second winery was a larger more commercialized winery with many popular wines. The night before the tour I bought a bottle with dinner to share amongst our table and we decided as a group it was horrible. You can imagine how I felt when I heard that we were going to tour that same winery! 2 hours of drinking bad wine!

Also I met a cool Australian guy who I hung out with all day yesterday and then we met some folks from Montreal who only spoke French and a little English who we ate dinner with. At the bus station waiting or my 12 hour ride to Arequipa, I met some girls from France and Germany who spoke spanish and helped me negotiate with the bus company. It just so happens that they are also going to Arequipa, then Puno, then Cuzco, same as me! So Im sure Ill get to hang out with them some more.

Today I am walking around Arequipa with a local guide who is going to show me around. Today and tomorrow Arequipa is celebrating their independance with a huge festival in the square. Then after a day of fiesta, I wake up early tomorrow for a 2-day trek up to some volcanoes, hot springs, and the deepest canyon in the world. It was VERY expensive, but I think it will be worth it.

I cant hook my camera up to these computers because they are in an internet cafe, so Ill have to wait till I can get free wireless internet to upload my outlandish number of pics and videos.

5 hour bus ride from Lima to Ica, then a short taxi ride to Huacachina. This place is amazing. My hostel is gorgeous with 4 levels, hammocks, and a tiki bar in the common area, and the sister hostel 1 block down has a sweet restaurant/bar where everyone just chills on pillows on the floor and they play Bob Marley all night. The main attraction is sandboarding which is just like snowboarding except in the desert. A big dune buggy drives you up the hill, then you surf down. Big time fun so I hear. I´m going at 4PM today.

I hung out with some girls from Holland and their guide from Peru, all who spoke english better than me and we took tons of pictures of the lagoon. We even climbed up a sand mountain to take pics of the whole city at night. Then we went to a local bar that looked like someones backyard BBQ and I met 2 women from Spain. We played Jenga and they told me that if I lost I would have to dance on the bar. I lost 2 times but I think they set me up. I called them out and didn´t dance, but it was alot of fun. Went to bed early last night and slept like a baby. I was the first one up this morning at 7:30 in the whole hostel.

The weather in the desert is hot during the day and absolutely freezing at night. I had 2 extra thick blankets and was fine, but I don´t know how the other people managed. I guess travelers are used to extreme weather.

Next I want to go further south to Arequipa which is a 15 hour bus ride! I´m a little nervous about the next 7 days because I know that it´s going to get progressively colder each day. But after the amazing bus ride yesterday and meeting so many cool people, I can definitely see why this gets addicting. There is sooo much to experience and every day there´s just more and more to do. Also, travelers are really nice and always inclusive. So first thing when I arrived yesterday I met 5 people right off. Oh and the beds here are really comfortable and the pillow is thick and the blankets are soooo warm. This is the kind of place I could come to once a year for vacation and an adrenaline rush.

Lima at last! The plane from Houston to Lima was a 7 hour long nightmare. Small seats and lots of people all moving around. Luckily I planned ahead and had a taxi driver waiting on me at the airport holding a sign with my name on it.

Last night I went to bed as soon as I arrivedat 1AM. That was a bad idea. My roomate snored all night long and I had a thin blanket in freezing conditions and a pillow that looked like a thick pillowcase. Total sleep since Atlanta = 2 hours.

Ate breakfast this morning with an Australian girl who gave me some great info on what to buy, pack, and do while traveling. I'll get the hang of it yet. The biggest question I've asked everyone and gotten no answer to is "what do you do during the daytime?" To which I haven't received any real answers. Examples: 1. "Umm, just kinda chill. Plan your next move." 2. "You walk around and see what's going on. Like yesterday I walked around the entire city for 10 hours and took pictures."

So after breakfast I took off with my water bottle and a camera. After an hour of walking I saw the beach on the west coast of Lima and had a great photo op. I quickly grabbed a local and asked him with wild arms flailing if he would do the honors. After a few minutes of unsuccessful picture attempts, I realized my batteries were dead. So I turned around and hiked another mile back towards town uphill, then got smart and got a taxi ride for $1.50.

Good news. Bought a fleece jacket for $7.75, 2 new shirts for $6, and some other doodads. I'm such an American! But tonight should be interesting b/c there's about 35 people here ready to party. Seems like the game plan is sleep till 3PM, smoke cigarettes all day while surfing the net, then party till 5AM. I don't know if that's going to work for me but hey, when in Rome!

I officially have a sponsor for my backpacking trip! Gramicci Clothing has decided that my rugged good looks and overall marketability is a perfect match for their brand image. That, and also because I asked them very nicely to sponsor me.

My last day at Courier Connection was Friday and it was very weird thinking that I won't be working there anymore. For the last 2 years I've worked my butt off for them and I've seen so many things change as the company grew. I also realized over the last 2 weeks just how much effect I had on the company and it's growth. It's good to look back and see that my work actually accomplished something tangible. There was no party, no hugs, just goodbye. I don't like long goodbyes anyway so I'm glad it ended like that. John and Lomax are great guys that are like mentors to me. I hope that they realize how important they were to me while I was learning about business after college.

Only 7 days till I leave, I have lots of work to do beforehand. I'm so excited though I think about the trip 24/7. I know that it's going to be one of the defining experiences of my life.