South American Blunders

I arrived in Lima at midnight and at 5 the next morning flew to Cusco to meet Becca Maxwell. This went surprisingly smoothly as i found her in the plaza, right where i was supposed to and right on time. Yesterday (the day after I arrived) we went to Machu Picchu and it was breathtaking, spectacular, etc. The ruins themselves were amazing but it was the views from up there in the clouds that were so staggering.
We then killed 4.5 hours in the little town at the foot of the mountain until our train came. Then, at 4:30, we left our spot and missed our train by 5 minutes...of course. Got back on a later train and I saw Becca off at 4 this morning. I´ve got one more day in Cusco and hopefully tomorrow I´m setting out to find my friend MG at her remote jungle research station. Below are the instructions I´ve received on how exactly to get there...should be interesting. I plan to spend a few days there and then head to the Bolivian monkey reserve that I´ve mentioned to some of you.
Cusco is really a neat little town. Most of the architecture consists of ruins from the early 16th century. Most of the women wear top hats and ruffly skirts and the altitude is brutal. If I wash my hair with too much rigor I find myself panting and my heart pounding (literally, that happened this morning after almost 3 days here).
My trip is just starting and I have a long way to go so e-mail me and tell me you haven´t forgotten me because, though it´ll be lifechanging and exciting, this is a pretty lonesome undertaking and I find myself sappily missing all of my friends and family.
alright, that was relatively painless. Hugs and drugs, peaches and orgasms, fight the good fight. Much love.
Aaron/J
MG´s instructions:
...you can share a taxi with 5 other people. This way it is cheaper. You should be at the taxi at 6, so that you
get to Laberento around 7. Once in Laberento, ask where the boats
leave from. It is only a two block walk, maybe less, to get there
(laberento is super small). Then, when you get to the boats, ask
which one is going to "San Juan" or "Boca Amigo" or "Colorado". This
is the one you want to get on. Tell them that you are going to
CICRA.. that is the name of the field station I work at. If they
don't know where CICRA is, tell them that it is right after Boca
Amigo, and on the right side of the river. The boat will cost you 30
soles one way, and you pay when you get off. It is often really
really full of people, and takes at least 11 hours but often stops
over night in little villages. If you get stuck in Boca Amigo, ask
for Betty and tell her that you know me (but you have to say Marjorie,
not MG, because they only know me as Marjorie) and tell her you are
stranded there for the night. There are no hotels in these little
towns, so if you get stuck you are at the mercy of the people who live
there, who are often very very very nice. When you get to CICRA, you
will see boats and a sign that says something like "CICRA- Biological
Concession for the Conservation of the Amazon". Then, you will have
to walk up about 300 stairs (in the dark too, so pack your head lamp)
and then you will be at the field station! Just ask for me and they
will get me, there aren't very many people here.