I´m still in Cusco and really liking this town, last night we checked out the local night life and there was lots of salsa dancing and cuba libres, great fun. We´re also watchin closely the movements of the war, of all the different nationalities I´ve met here, I have yet to come accross a person who supports it. I´m staying in a place with a tv (hospadaje estrelito, nice friendly, free breakfast) so we have CNN and BBC world filling us in up to the minute, it´s hard to know what sort of byist opinion we´re geting but I still don´t aggree with the war.
Today we´re going to get a bus and train to Aguas Calientes which is the nearest village to Machupiichu and in the morning we´ll walk up to the ruins. I decided not to do the inca trail ´cause it´s pissing rain everyday and I think that 25 years living in Ireland is enough rain for anyone without adding to it a 4 day uphill trek at an altitude of about 4000m.

I didn?t manage to get a flight to Cusco yesterday which is just as well ?cause I realised it was st. Paddy?s day and had to go and find the nearest Irish pub to celebrate. We went to Murphys in Miraflores and had a green pint, there wasn?t really much happening there but it wasn?t a bad spot. We had a really nice night in the hostel with John?s great Veggie curry and a bottle of whiskey for Irish coffees all round. I had to get up at 5.30 thismorning to catch the flight to Cusco and my head was fairly groggy, I only got to bet about 4 hours before. One of the girls who works in the hostel dropped me to the airport and said that I?d always have a home in Lima if I came back, I think that the Peruvians are very like the Irish. I?m in Cusco now and as I suspected I?ve just missed Aitch and co. for the inca trail but I?m feeling too lazy to start it today anyway so I think I?ll hang around here for a few days. Cusco seems like a really nice place and th鲥 are lots of travellers around so it should be good craic.

Lima
I spent a few days in Huarez with Sam and Ben to do a bit of hiking. We climbed to 4,500m to a lake and there was snow near by. Most of the climb was just a trek but the altuitude made it really hard and I was fairly dizzy, the last bit was a rock climb and that was really hard, even harder getting back down again. It was all worth the effort though, it was a really nice day and I only got one blister. The people in Peru are really friendly, happy and welcoming, more so that anywhere else I've been to, the old women even share their fruit with us on the bus. I`m in Lima now, on the way in on the bus it looked like a rubbish dump. We`re staying in Miraflores which must be the posh area `cause it`s much cleaner and is almost like any big city. I`m going to try to get a flight to Cusco today to meet up with the montenita party posse if they havn`t gone ahead to do the inca trail without me.