It was nice to have a tour guide on board as he told us all sorts of things about what we saw. We first
stopped at a little market. Here I had a new Peruvian experience. Let's say it wasn't necessarily a pleasant one. Our first washroom with no toilet! At the back of the market, you pay a man 1 soles, he hands you a couple squares of toilet paper, he points to a door (at least there's a door). You enter, see a very dirty floor and a hole in the middle. Ok. How will my body react to this?! Let's just say it's easier to just squat down outside - I'm happy I just had to pee! You leave the "washroom" and the man throws a bucket of water behind you, all over he floor. Let's just say I wouldn't go in there barefoot... We had a few minutes to buy a few gifts for the children we would encounter along the way. I got some hair clips for girls, Rémi got little soccer balls and Sophie got apples. We had time to have some fun and get some jump shots in. I managed to talk Tara into them as well.
Our next stop was at a different village where we went to the washroom again (cleaner this time). We stopped here to visit a beautiful church. Peru has a very interesting and sad past. When the Spanish came to conquer Peru, they were not quite kind... Like when the Europeans came to Canada - let's say the indigenous people had seen better days... Similar to Canadian history, children were taken from families and placed in "schools" -the guide had a special word but I've forgotten what it is. They build this amazing church. It's not easy converting people to believe what you believe in - especially when they don't speak your language. To convert the children to christianity, they filled the church with beautiful artwork to help with communication. For example, Jesus is black and he wears a skirt. There is a whole history story here, but again, I don't remember all the details. I do know that the gold is real gold. Sadly, the Spanish stole the Inca treasures, brought them to Belgium to be melted, turned into gold leaves and returned to complete the church. I'm sorry -I find this absolutely tragic...
After hearing all about the history, we went outside to see a reconstruction of an Inca bridge and other things - pretty cool. A few pictures, videos, a little break and back we head to the van to a nice surprise... little snack bags! Yum! We will use these bags everyday on our trek as we will refill them every morning before leaving. We are off again to continue our journey.
The road we took was... let's just say... an adventure in itself! OMG! You don't want to fall off the edge! No gates, it's wide enough for one car - don't want to meet anyone - there are really tight corners - the driver honks the horn before each one... Poor Beth! She's sitting on the side and she doesn't like heights! The view though... wow - takes your breath away! This bit reminded of the roads I had to drive in Iceland.
We finally arrive at a house in ruins where we see a beautiful little table set up in the middle of the field. We had a very good lunch of vegetables and chicken and cheese, had our first pee break in the wild and off we went - walking this time. We are going to be walking for the next 5 days. Hard to believe, we areactually doing this.
Today is a short walking day -about 2.5 km. It takes a long time to walk 2.5km in the mountains. Especially when it starts a bit rocky! Had a few tears, I did manage to walk the very narrow path on the side of a cliff. It wasn't very long... thank God! I'm also happy I have my human rock with me... I thank him for believing in me.
The first 40 minutes or so we walked in between two mountains, longing a little river. I can't even put in words the beauty I see. There are tiny little flowers here and there, ferns have found the weirdest places to grow, vegetation is sparse - a few hairy cactuses here and there. 
Before getting to the lodge, we saw a boy -probably a teenager fishing with a net. We cheer him on each time he throws his net in. he's probably thinking what a bunch of weirdos... as he probably does this everyday...
Not much further, we arrived at a gate where we were greeted by little girls. So beautiful and shy! Unfortunately for us, they only speak Qechua. Let's just say they lucked out and got quite the loot today! We finally arrive to the tambo! We are welcomed and given a beautiful pair of slippers. It's quite cold in the tambos - there is no electricity and no heating - except for a wood stove in the "living room". Everyone is tired, excited and sitting near the fire.
Our first dinner - we had soup, trout and potatoes. Orlando serenated us with his beautiful voice as he played his Peruvian harp. Wow - more tears...
Lucky for us, Nelly, our Peruvian helper puts a hot water bottle in our bed....I would've like to have 5 or 6 of them! Brrr! Not much sleep to be had... but oh well! What will tomorrow bring?
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