5

...she picked it up off the ground and ate it. The road was gravel and very dusty, we drove with the windows closed it was so dusty. And here this little girl just ate the bread anyway. I was to see more of that later, it just struck me the first time I saw it. I can´t imagine Murphy walking up to a bus and trying to get a little piece of bread for food. Some of the kids jumped up and down when they got their bread. They were so dirty. Their little faces were covered in dirt and all they knew in English was ¨money money money¨. When we stopped in some villages to take pictures, I ended up taking some shots of the people, and one little girl chased me down the pee stained street saying ¨no gratis, no gratis¨ which means, not free. I had to pay her because I took her picture. We had these 3 guys come with us as our cook, and our guides, and one of those guys had to give her money because I had no coins. It was very sad. The people of the mountains dress in the traditional Peruvian way, with the women in skirts and colorful blankets wrapped around them and most of the time a baby on their back. The babies just bounced along and seemed to love it. They all had hats on but no socks. It was pretty cold too. We just happened to be going in to Tres Cruces on the day of an annual festival so most of the people of the little communities were in the larger villages selling their produce. So all the kids were left behind on the farms and the adults went into the village. I should mention that the road we were on was not only gravel, but it was one lane and it winded up and up and up and up the mountain. For most of the 6 HOUR DRIVE I would look out the window and all I could see was straight down. I was SO SCARED. Mom, you remember when we went to Yellowstone and that seemed scary? Well picture it with one lane, no guard rail and gravel roads with a crazy Peruvian driver who speaks no English at the wheel. Kasey, you would have died.
Guess what happens when you run into another bus on the road? One of you has to back up until it is wide enough to pass. SCARRRRY. So we made this journey from about 7:30 in the morning and we got to our destination at 6pm. It was just getting dark because it was winter here. I was expecting to see a huge circus type tent with cots that all had mosquito nets on them. NOPE. The place was empty except a Blair Witch Project building with all the windows broken out. The guys on our bus started unloading OUR TENTS and set them up on the side of this mountain, which by the way was at 13,500 feet...