Who else is going to bring you.. A bottle of rum.. there they go.. (lyrics by Rod Stuart)

My depression has started to subside having realized that Christy took a lot of the same pictures as me. Although, I still want to beat the living crap out of the dude (or possibly dudette) who stole my camera. Buying a $300-$400 camera right now will cripple my budget for the remainder of the my trip. Especially since I wanted to spend $500 for the next 36 days.

Ok, that's enough whining about the camera.

About the Inca Trail: An option on the Inca Trail is to hire a porter (a Peruvian male between 18 and 65) to carry your things the entire length of the trail. There were exactly 16 porters for our group of 12 people. This isn't exactly roughing it, and I had mixed feelings about the practice, as it seems very caste system-esque. (I used a porter for one day and he only carried my sleeping bag and jar of peanut butter). The porters are superhuman. They carry over 60 lbs of supplies (food, tents, propane tanks, cooking utensils, sleeping bags, Wendy at times, etc and sprint up massive mountains with only sandels on their feet. Over the course of the 4-day trek the typical porter reportedly earns around $30 USD. I can assure you two things; 1) they deserve much more than that, and 2) their calves are bigger than 50 of my biceps. These men are some of the most physically fit specimens I have ever seen, and when I was huffing and puffing up the trail with my 35-40 lb. pack, these fellows would bounce by me smiling with their 60 lbs worth of items wrapped up in a tarp and strapped to their back. Simply amazing. I was particularly pleased with the porter who toted the beer.

The porters can often be seen munching on "coca leaves", which is the plant derivative of cocaine and helps with altitude sickness. Coca is completely safe to chew, and can be purchased just about anywhere. Many of us were curious about the cocaine making process and asked our guide if he knew how it was made. After giving an meticulous 12 point presentation on the process, he added, "Or that is what I hear.." Regardless, I tried chewing on the leaves, and I can give you first hand evidence that it tastes terrible and makes you hike slower. In case you think that I am becoming a drug addict, please know that I haven't slept over 5 hours in the last two weeks and I still refuse to take a sleeping pill for fear of becoming addicted.

Since Machu Picchu, I have been in Lima, Peru, which is unofficially billed as one of the least safe places for tourists to go. We got picked up at the Airport by a taxi service with bullet proof windows. It's ok though, since I am on the brink of sporting a fully functional mullet, I am starting to blend in.

I don't know what people were talking about. So far, I have loved Lima.. It reminds of the Jersey Shore*.

*I have never been to the Jersey Shore.

ps. On the last day of the hike, I tried to be a porter for a day and loaded my pack with extra crap, full water bottles, and big rock for a while. In the end, I think I had about 42 lbs in my pack. I also think I had a heart attack. The porters earned my respect many times over.