Back to Bucaramanga

Got back to Bucaramanga yesterday. Notable things about the trip:

• Scored an exit row seat on my 5 hour Houston to Bogota leg
• Pilar’s truck made road kill out of a 3 foot long iguana on the way back to the house. It was the first iguana I’d seen in Bucaramanga, so it’s not exactly like hitting a squirrel in the States.

Anyway, I’m going to start posting some of the random things that happened while I was traveling. Chronological order be damned, I’m going to start with a journal entry I wrote on Christmas day.
12/25/2009
First Christmas completely on my own, but it’s tough to complain about getting on a train and spending the day at Machu Picchu. The day started at about 4:30 a.m. at The Point Hostel, when I woke up to the sound of running water and a fierce whisper, “Are you peeing!?” Fortunately, the whisper wasn’t directed at me, but at some girl (from Bed #33) popping a squat in the corner of my 12 bed hostel room. #33 must have had too many pisco sours last night. Another whisper, “Are you f*#$@g peeing?! Go to the bathroom!” Still no response from #33. “You’re pissing on my s#&%! Get the f#%* out of here before I f&@* you up!” The girl in bed #44 is ticked off. Finally the sound of running water stops and #33 climbs back into her bed in her black-thong-and-bra-peeing-in-the-corner glory.

#44 decides she needs back-up, so she leaves the room. A few minutes later the guy at the front desk comes in, and #44 identifies #33 as the pisser, “That’s her. She peed all over my stuff!” Realizing she might be in some trouble #33 responds, “She was blocking the way to the bathroom…” The hostel guy inspects the damage and leaves to get a mop. #33 realizes her defense probably isn’t going to stand up and so she goes to the back-up plan, bursting into tears. I’m clearly not going to get any more sleep before I have to get up to catch my 6:50 am train, so I decide it’s time to get up.

Fortunately Machu Picchu was worth it. In fact, it is my favorite single tourist attraction I’ve ever seen. Better than the Pyramids of Egypt, the Royal Palace in Thailand, the Blue Mosque in Turkey, you get the idea. Make sure you go some day.