Another long bus ride all the way to Copacabana, Bolivia. This time Matt had no problems sleeping, me however well lets just say warmed myself up with some rum at 5 am. Something i will never forget and no i do not have a problem!!! Copacabana is on Lake titicaca and it is so beautiful! However the hostal we are staying at is not so nice! When you have a shower you get the whole bathroom wet because there is no curtain. About 2 times a day it all of sudden smells like the toilet exploded with sewer. Anyways we can get out of that shit hole fast enough!!!! The first day here we just kinda hung around and walked around the town.We were shopping in this store and the old women and i were having communication problems. She was very irritated by this. So as we got into the barrgining prosses i misunderstood her again and she ripped the things out of matts hands. She kicked us out! Matt didnt really know what had happened and was sad that he wasnt able to buy an alpaca blanket. Just a side note in Bolivia they dont really bargain all that much! kinda interesting! Then yesterday we went to Isla de Sol (the island of the sun) This is one of the most sacred places in Bolivia. This is where they think that the Incas were born. So we Hiked for about 3 painfull hours. The reason i say painful is because of the hills and the elevation dont work so well together. But because matt and i have been lazy buggers (neither of us working out at all) i guess it was good! It was so hot out though matt and i both got burnt. Ouch!!!! On the boat ride back the weather turned and all of a sudden there is a hail storm!! We are of course sitting on the top of the boat. It Was scary matt was getting pelted hard with ice!! Kinda funny now, but we thought we were going to sink because of the crazy waves and thunder.
I think we mentioned an english dude that we had christmas with and as we were shopping there he was. It is pretty cool running into travelers that you hung out with in other countries.
Today we head off for a city called La Paz. This is where we will be for New Years. Whats everyone doing for New Years? It is only a 3 hour bus ride, thats nice!
Moms What do you want for a present!!! Mom(barbara) could you ask mark and reply! Cam and heidi what would you guys like? Sheila? Dad and Gi? Georgia and kristy?
We expect responses!!!
Well thats all for now talk to you all soon
Love,
Karalynn and Matt

Finally we hit the lush green jungle part of peru. We are in Agua Calientes.We had to get up early and take the train.It was kinda fun!!! This is the small town you stay in that is close to Matchu Pichu. We went there yesterday. It was pretty amazing! Matt loved it!! It is really high up in the mountains and it is classifed as a cloud forest. Unlike Tikal it did not have alot of information. They know it was created in the 1400 hundreds and the people only stayed there for 100 years. It was founded in 1911. They have spent alot of time and money on reconstruction so it almost looks to perfect. It was breath taking looking at this lost city, the beauitful mountains surrounding all while being in the clouds. We got some good pics!
After we met up with this really cool englis dude and had dinner with him. We were right inthe cental park of town looking down on main square. It was a great place to be because all the kids in town were playing with fire crackers and fireworks. At midnight christmas mass just got out and then the entire city errupted in noise from all the firecrackers. For almost ten minutes they were going off! Everyone saying merry christmas. I think that is as christmas as it is going to get!!!!
So hear we are on christmas day!!! We are going to go get some food and then we are getting massages and then we are going to go to the hot springs. They have 7 pools, so we heard. It will be a very relaxing day! It will be needed because we think that tommorow with be a really long day! but here we come bolivia!
The next time we write we will be in copacabana, Bolivia!
Talk to you all soon and Merry Christmas!! Enjoy the turkey for us!
Love
Matt and Karalynn

Hello from Cusco , Peru!!! We have been here for like 4 days, it is saposed to be one of the coolest cities in peru........Its ok!!! There is alot to see, way more then other cities. Lots of churches and museums and francy architecture. Tommorow we leave for Matchu Pichu at 6 am and we are there till the 26, then we come back and go right to bolivia. For me (karalynn) i really cant wait to get out of peru. Matt has liked peru much more then me. But its all in good fun right!! we will not be in bolivia for very long max a week and then we are off to Argentina/Uraguay. We have heard that the meat in Argentina is world famous so it will be interesting to see if it compares to Alberta Beef (thats right jen we are going to a country for the meat!!!)
Antie Marlene and Grandpa thanks so much for writting it means alot to me. I hope all my other aunts and uncles and family are reading this too. Grandpa dont worry i will watch out for those tricky lizards!!! Thanks for the advice!
Sheila get better!!!! i will call you soon!
Kevin stay out of trouble and say merry christmas to your sister and your dad for me
Dave did i mention you suck lately!

So FELIZ NAVIDAD!! (MERRY CHRISTMAS) to everyone. Happy New Year too!! We hope everyone has a great christmas and new years. Enjoy the turkey! Mom save me some short bread!We will try and call but we dont know what the phone situation in Matchu Pichu is like.
We love everyone and thanks so much for writting on the blog!!!
ok talk to you all soon
Merry Christmas
Love
Karalynn and Matthew

wow everybody dont all talk at once now you hear!!!!!! wheres the love says matt! You know we asked some people questions last entry, where are the answers?
sooo in the last couple of days we have done quite a bit! We went to this really cool museum here in Arequipa. The main attraction was called JUANITA. She is one of the best perserved mummies in the world. The incas used to sacrifice people to the mountian gods.They usually did this when the volcanos started to act up. They would have to pick someone that would please the gods so this ment a young beautiful virgin. They were almost always kids, that were good kids and of a noble family. So far they have found 14 kids in South America that have been sacrificed. How it would all go down was, they would walk for days to the top of the volcanos or mountains. Once at the top they would dig a tomb and then the child would drink a sedative and go to sleep. The priest or whoever would then hit the child above the right temple with one blow it would kill them instantly. They would then place the child in a fetal position in the tomb, and surround it with offerings to the gods. The thing is that the incas thought that the person who was sacrificed would become almost god like themselves. so yes the child was scared but it was almost an honor. Juanita was in the musuem!!! She was kept in this temperature controlled see through container. She had her hair,teeth,finger nails, all of her brains and internal organs and skin intact. It was really cool!!!
The following day we started our two day tour of the Colca Canyon. It was about 4 hours away and we were 3633 meters above sea level. It was high, you had to drink this tea. It is called coca tea and it is made out of coca leaves it is really good for alltitude sickness. So we got to this town that we were staying in, had lunch and then went on a hike. It was really beautiful but because of the elevation i (karalynn) was having a really hard time breathing, but got through it. At the top of the mountain we were hiking we found out that the incas that used to live in the same town below would bury their dead in tombs at the top. In the tombs they would put everything that the person needed for the next life. Unfortunatly there have been tomb raiders that would steal the valuables.
The tombs that we saw were totally destroyed and all that remained was their skeletons.
Then we went to the hot springs that were about 85 degrees ferenheit. The surrounding colcanos warmed these hot springs. It was great!!!! very relaxing. We went out to dinner and there was mariachi band. They were pretty good but the fun part was when matt got up to dance with one of the girls!!!
The next day we climbed up to see the condors and see the valley. It was way to cold to see any condors which was really dissappointing, but we heard you can see them in Argentina so we will cross our fingers. The valley was ........... deep!!! Amazing and well good! That is about it for that little tour! it was fun
Tommorw we head to Puno to go see some really cool island and the famous lake titicaca(i like saying that). Lake titicaca is the highest largest body of water in the world. We do think that we will be in Matchu Pichu for christmas and be in boliva by new years! soo we are all good, no mud butt yet!
We will write when we can
Love
matt and karalynn

Did i mention how great the marriott hotel is?!!!! Thanks again mom and dad, matt and i really appreciated it!!! Because dad is a gold member we got our asses kissed!!! we got free late cheak out and all of our meals for free. So after two glorious days at the hotel we had to leave. However we did not realize how hard traveling around peru was, the bus rides are really long. So we decided to come to Arequipa which is the 2nd biggest city in peru. It is 16 hours away. Yes that is right we had to sit on a bus for 18 and a half hours. Matt was not impressed!!!! We got on the bus at 4:30 pm on dec 12 and arrived here at 10:30 am dec 13. ouch!!! Tommorw we will be going on a tour to what is called the colca canyon, it is 2 times as deep as the grand canyon. Here we will see alot of different towns. One big attreaction is the condors. They are the biggest bird in the world with a wing span of 12 ft. They are saposed to be great!!! There are also volcanos with hot springs so we will be able to go into those too.
Arequipa is like antigua for me except there are no gringos really at all, so my spanish is being put to the test! i am doing ok but it is very hard. Here there is saposed to be 300 days of sunshine a year, i know its great!!! whats the weather like at home????
sheila what are your phone numbers again? How is work and the house selling?
Jen where are you i havent herd from you in awhiel
Mom pls make sure mark is watering my plants, matt thinks he is going to kill them!
Dad(matts dad) HAPPY BIRTHDAY i tried calling but no one picked up i will try calling again
Ryan HAPPY BIRTHDAY(kathy and bud if he dosent read this pls let him know)
Mom and bud thanks for writting, keep reading the blog we will keep everyone up to date on our crazy adventures!!!
antie sherry, fernald and the kids, and crystal and bryant hello, having a great time! keep in contact. Tanny, amber where are my messages?
Let me tell you guys, the drivers out here are crazy. Sharing lanes, no signaling, no speed limits. On the way here on the bus ride from hell we were on like a cliff right beside the ocean and i swear he was going to drive us right off the cliff. So it is going to take some getting use to!!!
From here we are going to go to the city of puno there are some really cool jungle like towns and national parks that we are going to go to. The lake is called Titicaca, yep titicaca anyways it is saposed to be great!!! We will probley be in peru for christmas, but we dont really know yet. From here we are going to go to chile or bolivia we dont know! we will let you guys know
WEll we are off to see the historical sites of the city
Bye
Love
Karalynn and Matt

Matt has arrived!!!!!!! He arrived this morning at about 6.30 am. We are so excited!!!!! i feel like we are at home because i have never been with someone i know away from home, and matt feels like he is in a dream!!! i know it is going to be interesting if this is how he feels in a 5 star hotel.He has already mentioned how crazy the drivers are(one thing i forgot to mention opps) like they drive all over the lanes, no speed limits, and for someone like matt who dosent like being in the car whiel other ppl drive ahahahahahahaha I swear i never want to leave this hotel. I know it sounds bad because i am a backpacker after all but you are treated like royalty!! thanks again dad and mom!
We will be spending the day figuring out what is to happen tommorw so in a couple of days i will write with a plan, and i am sure a few stories!!!!
Love you all karalynn

i love puerto veijo costa rica. There is something about this place that is just great!!! so on Wed morning i got up and got to the airport, and just managed to catch the last bus to P.V. I was really worried i would have to stay the night in san jose but nope i got here.
I walked in to Rocking jays (the hostle) and there was my friend jasons face! i was so happy that he was there. So we caught up and hung out.
I is so hot here so you can imagen, i have spent the last two days on the beach, swimming and sun tanning. I think i got burnt today. I forgot what it sounds like to fal asleep to the sound of the ocean. Its beautiful.!!!! The fist night in the hammock some how my right top of my arm got bitten like 15 times and my face!!! my face 4 times! that sucks. I have my net up now so they cant eat me alive anymore. Yesterday i just went to a close beach but today i rented a bike and peddled my way down the beach for about 45 mins. It was even more beautiful!!!! i love just sittting there reading. On the way back we saw a tucan. yep and it was really close, you have no idea how beautiful their beaks really are.I always think of fruit loops. you know tucan sam!!!!The hammocks are so great! i missed them
Oh ya and the adiction is back. What adiction you ask, oh it is the TRIT adiction. I have been good only 2 a day this time!!!!! i feel fat!
So a couple more days here and then off to see matty!!!! we are going to have so much fun!!!! i know it feels like forever since i saw you. I keep thinking about oh well if matt was here....... all good things!!!!! glad your having fun matt!
so i will probley write once more beforte i leave here, Its to hard to set up skype so i am not calling anyone here!
Anyways have to go to return my bike!!! i think i will be late, i hope he dosent charge me more. Anyways
Bye
Karalynn

Sorry i havent written, its been along week!
so i climbed picaya(volcano) on sat and it sucked. It was cloudy and dark, the only really cool thing about it was the fact that at some point it was like sitting infront of a huge fire it was so hot. I could see the lava. Then as i was trying to take pics of this the camara decided it did not like the brandnew batteries i put in it and would not allow me to take anymore pics. Dont worry dad the camara is fine!!!!
Yesterday in the morning i was sleeping and i woke up because my bed was shaking and then the entire house was shaking, and then it stopped about 1 min after it started. Yes it was a trrimmer. Now i am not sure if it is because of the volcanos or and actual earthquake. The things was is i have had acouple of those here just way smaller and i just thought that i was imagening it. I know i am so dumb. Oh well now i know what it is (2 days before i leave)
Today is my last class yahahahahahaha. I cant wait to be done!!!
The next two days will be spent getting things ready to leave, laundy ect.....
By this time in 3 days i will be swinging in a hammock on the beach in costa rica yayaya
Matt left this morning for texsas so its really cool to think that his adventure has just begun!! hi baby i hope your flight was ok!

Last night i was thinking about family, and how important it really is to me. I am so happy that in this point in my life i am getting closer to my brothers and my sister. But what i was thinking is sad is how we are with our cousins. Most of us are not close to each other, and that makes me really sad. Some of them probley dont even know our names. Cousins: as we grow up and have families it will be about us getting together for the hoildays and such things and i dont know, i just think that if we are not close now then we might not do that. Like candise and kristopher you guys are in edmonton and i havent seen you in like forever.Jermey,justin and jordon you guys are also close and we never talk. Its not like we are kids anymore and our parents will bring us together every year. I am going to make more of an effort on that front and i hope you will all hold me to that!!! i love you all. Cam, mark and jenn i really really love you guys!!!!!!! well enough of this emotionl shit!!!!!

My cold is gone, it all cleared up, thanks goodness i was pretty worried. Thanks for the concern and prayers!!!
Anyways i dont know if i will write again before i leave antigua sooo if i dont i will talk to you all when i get to beautiful costa rica!!!
Love you all very much
Karalynn Tiffant Taves