Junín

This weekend we went on our first group trip. It started with a train ride on “The Ferrocarril Central Andino joining Lima to Huancayo (The capital city of the department of Junín). This is the second highest railway in the world and the highest passenger train in the world. Thejourney through the heart of Peru is simply breathtaking. It is an 11 hour experience where the train reaches an altitude of 15,681ft and goes through 69 tunnels, 58 bridges and makes 6 zigzags.” It was a pretty cool experience to look back on, but in all honesty, painfully long, and the altitude was pretty difficult as well. A few people got really sick, and I just felt pretty crappy for a majority of the trip… Some people were fine, and I do envy them, because I just did not enjoy the day much. After the train ride we stayed at a hotel in Huancayo.

The next day we took a bus into the jungle, hiked a beautiful trail, swam in a waterfall, danced with a native tribe, toured and taste tested coffee, jams and fruits at a coffee plantation and after a long day of amazingness, ended up at a beautiful hotel. The view from our room was spectacular. We were all in bungalows up a mountain side overlooking a valley with a river and mountains across from us. I did not wake up to see the sun rise, but luckily my friend Zach has some pictures and it was beautiful! When I got up at 7 I sat out on the balcony with the sun pouring in and just stared at the blue sky and the nature that I will not get again for a while. There was a pool and sunshine to be enjoyed, what more could we ask for in the middle of winter!? I wish we could have stayed there for a week. It was so beautiful and warm and sunny. I should elaborate more on every single aspect of what I saw during the day, but this entry would be pages long. Hopefully the pictures will be enough! There is so much to this country and it is so beautiful!

Pictures will be posted in my Picasa Album soon!!