Nothing like watching a vegetarian cut into a guinea pig...

   On Wednesday morning I woke up at 6:09 in a frenzy realizing that our alarm had been set for the wrong time and we had to pack everything and make it to the bus by 6:15.  If we had been anywhere else we wouldn´t have even made the attempt, but we remembered that things move a lot slower down here in South America and made a run for it.  We arrived at the station around 6:30 and ended up waiting another 10 minutes before the bus even got there. Our intuition was correct.
   After a 5 hour bus ride, we arrived in Zumba where we waited for the next ranchero (truck with rows of seats in the back that transports people to and from the Peruvian-Ecuadorian border from Zumba).  We had lunch with a very nice Austrian couple and we ended up sharing taxis with them for rest of the day.  We ended up back in Jaén, our least favorite place we´d been yet, for the night.  For some unknown reason, we decided to stay at Hospedaje Perú where we paid $1.50 for a room.  If this doesn´t jump start your imagination at what this place was like, it was exactly what you´d expect for $1.50.  The rooms made us feel like we were spending the night in jail.  The hallways were just wide enough to fit through, they were hot and humid and smelled exactly like the fishy town we´d avoided earlier in our trip.  To top off the comforting atmosphere, the lighting was dim and eerie and as if this wasn´t enough, we woke up to the call of a rooster at about 4 a.m. We thought this ended when we left the farm but I guess not.  Apparently it´s not completely out of the norm for Peruvians to share their hostel rooms with their roosters.  But what more could you expect for $1.50 a night?
   Needless to say, we booked it out of Jaén as soon as possible in the morning.  We took a colectivo to Bagua Grande and from there took another colectivo to Chachapoyas.  This second colectivo was probably the scariest ride we´ve experienced down here yet.  The driver was unaware of any traffic signs and didn´t seem to care at all about his speed when it started pouring.  Thankfully though, the road was along el Río Utcubamba which had plenty of whitewater.  This obviously kept Kit distracted who in turn kept me distracted. Thank you Kit.
   We were certainly thankful to make it to Chachapoyas alive.  When we arrived, we decided that we want to treat ourselves to a relatively nice hotel (enclosed rooms, internet, breakfast and even hot showers!) after our Jaén experience.  We checked into the hotel, went out to get some dinner and headed back for an early night.  We´d forgotten how exhausting it is being on the road.  The next day we went on a tour to nearby Chachapoyan ruins of Kuélap.  Since it is pretty hard to reach and is consequently not very well known by many people, Kuélap is known as a non-touristy Machu Picchu.  The ride was completely through the mountains during which we passed through tons of tiny indiginous villages.  It was absolutely gorgeous. 
   Kuélap is an ancient city built by the Chachapoyan (translates in Quechua as ¨People of the Clouds¨) people in the cloud forests of Northern Perú.  The city is strategically located on a mountaintop abundant in rocks that were used for construction and overlooks all the surrounding mountains and valleys.  It is surrounded by a 12m high stone wall with entrances purposely shaped like bottlenecks to force the enemy into easily defeated single-file lines.  The city consisted at one time of 400 circular structures in which 6-8 people lived and other buildings that were used for ceremonies and sacrifices.  It was a pretty incredible visit overall and learning about ancient Peruvian culture first-hand like this makes it unforgettable.
   On Saturday we went on another tour to some more nearby ruins... at this rate we´re on our way to becoming destroyed.  Sorry, I just felt like I had to keep Kit´s bad joke going.  Anyways, we first visited Quiocta which is a cave that contains a few bones and ancient artifacts of the indiginous people.  However, Kit and I seemed to appreciate the geology of the cave more than the few artifacts we saw.  There were tons of stalactites and stalagmites for us to geek out over which I learned grow 1cm every 100 years!  Also, in case you were wondering, stactites hold tight to the ceiling whereas you might trip over stalagmites.
   Our second visit of the day was Karajía.  This is another Chachapoyan site that is located on the face of a cliff.   Instead of burying their dead, the Chachapoyan people brought the bodies to this funerary site.  In ancient times, the entire cliff face was covered with tombs filled with mummies of the most important individuals. Today the site contains 6 face shaped tombs constructed of wood and mud.  The location that the Chachapoyas chose for their dead is very interesting in that the tombs look over the entire nearby village.  It was yet another interesting ancient site.
   A few days prior to this, we decided that Chachapoyas would be a good place for us to try the Peruvian delicacy of cuy (guinea pig).  On Saturday a few people on our tour ordered cuy for lunch and to our surprise, it came on the plate looking far too much like the common, furry pet we were used to from the states.  I think this immediately turned Kit off to the idea of trying it but I decided I was still going to go for it.  When my plate was served that night for dinner, the cuy was thankfully face down.  I didn´t really know where to begin so I just srtarted cutting frantically, which is where the title of this post comes from, (¨Nothing like watching a vegetarian cut into a guinea pig¨).  After about 5 minutes of cutting and getting nowhere, the waitor came over politely and said ¨Es más fácil comer con las manos.¨ ¨It's easier to eat with your hands.¨  I felt a little rude since this would be pretty impolite in a relatively nice restaurant in the states, but it did prove to be the most efficient way to tackle it.  After about 15 minutes of me awkwardly trying to eat my dinner, I realized that Kit had stopped eating hers and was instead staring at my attempt to be culturally open-minded. 
   It all went pretty well except for a couple minor incidents.  I think it was at the point when I was going for the spine meat (weird) when I nearly poked myself in the eye with a rib-bone.  I took a little break after that.  I had forgotten how dangerour it was to be a carnivore.  A little while later, in an attempt to get at a meaty part of the arm, I dropped my fork and said ¨Ugh I just freaked out.¨ Kit responded saying ¨What happened?¨ I replied ¨I just realized I was holding it´s hand.¨  It was by far the most exciting dinner we´ve had yet and probably the most exciting we´ll have for quite a while.  Overall I´d give cuy about a 5 out of 10 due to how extremely difficult it is to actually eat, not to mention how difficult it is to look at a deep-fried guinea pig on your plate.  However, I´d give the overall experience a 10 out of 10 for the sheer entertainment that it gave us.  We followed this dinner with a couple scoops of ice cream, mainly to help fill me up.  It turns out guinea pigs don´t have much meat on their bones.
  We spent Sunday catching up on sleep and e-mails and exploring the town, then headed down to Cajamarca on Monday morning. We spent the night last night in a town just outside of Cajamarca called Baños del Inca which has natural hot springs.  After a twelve hour bus ride, we spent the night soaking in the hot springs which was just what we needed.  At this point we have about 2 more hours until our 16 hour overnight bus ride to Lima and from Lima we´re headed to Cusco. Twelve hours of bus rides down and 38 hours and countless games of Yahtzee to go until we reach Cusco.  Woo Hoo!!  Our next update will probably be in Cusco so all our best until then!  Mucho amor!!