awesome, the literal meaning

this internet connection is poor, so no picture today. im in quillabamba, which is very pretty and much less touristic than cusco. i survived the night bus ride, although it was definitely an adventure. we got to the bus station, which is not the main one, and we were the only non-cusceños around, and a mass of yelling women and men descended on us grabbing our bags our arms and whatever else they could get their hands on trying to get us to take their bus. "diez soles!" they were all yelling and one was saying there are no seats on that bus, and another was yelling yes there are! so we got on the first bus which was the opposite of luxury and settled in for a ten hour ride over dirt roads. everybody who has been to south america has warned me about how scary the bus rides can be so i wont be surprising anyone to comment on the six inches of mud between the bus and the edge of the mountain. i think it must have been a beautiful ride, but it was dark and raining and i have no way of knowing that for sure. i could see the types of trees change and feel the air get warmer as we went to a lower altitude and that was very cool. (mom youd be glad to know the bus driver was very cautious and slow.)

anyway, today i walked up a mountain. it isnt really the jungle here after all, its the seja de la selva, a term i love, but it is wild and beautiful nonetheless. you know how in pictures of far away places you see mountains and on them are long waterfalls way up that are the only break in the green? well, i was at one of those today. it was an hour walk up first the "highway" (really a rocky dirt road with chickens scattered all over) and then we crossed a bridge and it got narrow and harder and always up. we were climbing and i was watching my feet to be careful about where i put them then all of a sudden we came around a bend and i looked up and saw this awe inspiring waterfall and you know what is the first thing i said? "holy shit." ah, the eloquence. the water was coming from so high up that it created its own wind, and when we climbed up to the pool there was a circular rainbow in the mist.

we stripped (me to my bathing suit, cam to his boxers - we are decent people) and waded through the pool of water to the fall and stuck our heads under. it literally took my breath away to go under the water, its so heavy after travelling that distance and so cold. then we had a lunch of pineapple, mangos and bread and walked (braless, due to wet suit and lack of forethought) back down the mountain.

my feet hurt going down - im going to have horrible blisters on the inca trail. tomorrow im going to try better socks.

i am tired now, but excited for any other such hiking adventures. am used to being unathletic, but i like pushing myself in this way. i like that my very own legs got me from the bottom to the top.

besos a todos.