We have been in Cuzco, Peru for for about a week now, however we left Quito Ecuador 2 weeks ago. Yes, it took an entire 5 days to travel from Quito to Cuzco which included an entire 60 hrs on a bus. Our Journey began on a Thursday night where we had a 12 hour bus ride from Quito to the Peruvian border. Now our logistics guys did a fantastic job and secured us a double decker bus that seemed to luxurious for us on the World Race. (I am forever grateful for that however as we have some sketchy transportation at times.) The next day we have to get on another bus to cross the border as there is only one bus company that will take you across. However this bus did not have enough seats so some of us (including myself) had to stand, I did end up finding a 5 gallon bucket to sit on. When we got across the border we arrived in a town called Tumbes. The bus stop however was just a street corner more or less. We soon found out that we would not be able to get on another bus until the next day so we would need to stay in a hostel that night. The hostel was a few blocks away and the place we were currently at according to the tourism police (there entire job was to ensure the safety of tourism and they loved being around tourism so they wanted to take many pictures with us.) They also became our transportation to the hostel, John and myself had the opportunity to ride in the back I assure you we were never under arrest. 
The following day about 3 in the afternoon we were able to get bus tickets to begin a 24 hr bus ride from the border to Lima, Peru in the center of the country. Our bus for the majority of this leg traveled down the coast so we got to see a lot of the Pacific Ocean and learned that the majority of Peru is actually a desert. When we arrived in Lima we would have to spend another night in a Hotel as buses would not leave until the next day and many of us were also very travel weary as one would expect.
The next part of our journey would be another 20+ hr bus ride from Lima to Cusco the city we are currently living and serving in. Thus concluding 60+hrs of travel. On this last bus ride through several different towns south of Lima we noticed that they had received lots of rain and many of the streets were flooded our bus seemed to make it fairly easy through the roads even though they were about 6-8 inches of water on them. It is currently the rainy season here in Peru so we didn’t think nothing about it and though it was normal. Many of the roads in Peru are very broken down, made of dirt, and treacherous to navigate. About 3am in the morning and 15+hrs into the ride we were awoken by our bus being stopped on the side of the road. Apparently a bridge ahead of us had been washed away from the recent rain so we had to wait about an hr or so to be able to continue our journey.
On the 5th day of our travel we finally arrived in Cusco. Our team along with two others that would be serving here. Cusco is a city that sits at about 11,000 ft elevation. Any of you who have ever been at a high elevation would know that it can be very difficult to adjust to. Many of my team members became ill (including myself to a certain degree) trying to adjust to life in a high altitude. The high altitude can have many effects on you and trying to adjust to the low oxygen levels are trouble enough.
Soon after we arrived in Cusco we learned that the rains and flood water were not the norm that Peru might be accustomed to during the rainy season. The country is suffering from historic floods that is affect many aspects of life here. We were informed that many of the teams in and around the Lima area were affected greatly by the floods. The people in the areas are experiencing a water shortage. Deliveries and buses in and out of the area came to a halt as they simply could not get in or out. The roads were non existent. Water was rationed to low amounts per day and that was for the people who could afford it in the first place. More than 100,000 homes have been completely destroyed. Here in Cusco and in the south we have not been affected, but many people are still feeling the affects and are struggling to meet their basic daily needs. I ask that you would pray for this country, the people that have been affected by this natural disaster, our team as we serve this incredible city, the people we come in contact with as we serve, and our loving ministry host Darwin and Annie.
