Change of plans!

To get to Ollantaytambo, Peru to see my friend Elly, my travel plan was simple: take the bus from Iquique to Arica, drive with my friends from Arica across the border to Tacna, Peru, get on a plane and fly a half hour to Arequipa, get picked up by my student's uncle and explore until getting on a bus overnight to Cusco, meet my friend in the main plaza in Cusco the next morning, hang out there for the day, and take a shared taxi/van to Ollantaytambo.

Ok...so I guess it wasn't so simple...but it got worse.

There was an immediate stop put on these wonderfully thought out plans at the airport in Tacna. My flight was cancelled. They told me that I could either wait to fly out until the same time the next day (missing my bus and losing an entire day of my short 6-day vacation), or get reimbursed and find another way. I opted for the latter...which turned out to be equally stressful. But I was lucky and met a new friend. At the airport a very friendly guy offered his dad, who lives in Tacna, to help me. I went to his office, he took me to the bus station to buy a ticket from Tacna to Arequipa overnight and then I could get a different bus ticket when I got to Arequipa to go to Cusco (which took 13 hours during the day instead of the 9 hours they told me it was going to take...not cool), we went and picked up his wife from work, they brought me to their gorgeous (and huge) house very briefly, then took me out to dinner before bringing me to the bus station and sending me off. I now have friends in Tacna! How did I get so lucky?

These are some pictures of their house...I had to capture some of the strange night...