Machupicchu!

We are now back in the USA but still wanted to complete our blog in case anyone is still keeping track! Our nearly 3 month adventure culminated with an incredible visit to Machupicchu. We spent a few days in Cuzco exploring the beautiful city, dodging the hordes of tourists, and sorting out the hundreds of ways to get to the sacred ruins. After considering the train or various treks, we luckily met a guide who sounded very different from the commercial companies and quickly decided to leave on a trek with him the next day. We drove through the sacred valley stopping at the town of Ollantaytambo, the only Incan village remaining where people still live in the original stone homes and walk the same stone sidewalks. We also saw a ruin site where the king kept the many beautiful women he had selected as they grew up waiting to be come his wives. The second day Pepe let us on a trek along the fringes of the Peruvian Amazon jungle. We climbed high into the hills and walked along sections of a recently discovered and cleared off original Incan trail. There are only 3 sections remaining of the Incan trail to Machupicchu from the South. Very few tourist make the trek along this Incan trail, where as the famous "Incan trail" from the North requires reservations 6 months ahead of time.

Paint from the seeds of a plant

Pepe teaching us an Incan prayer using sacred coca leaves

Tasty seeds

Learning the Incan dance of the Pachamama at a coffee farmer's house along our hike

Badly behaved monkey biting Jordan's hand

A Picuro, a very strange jungle animal

This is how pineapples grow!

Incan trail to Machupicchu from the South

Very well constructed rock walls and stairways

Coffee beans grown in the jungle

We spent the next day hiking around the base of the mountains upon which Machupicchu sits.

Approaching Machupicchu from below

Wayna Picchu and Mount Machupicchu above

We camped close enough so that we could begin the 1 hour vertical climb up restored Incan stone steps by 5 am. Only the first 400 people in line get to climb up Waynu Picchu each day (the steep peak behind Machupicchu in the classic photos). The hike alone was worth it as we saw the most spectacular sunrise from the trail. The misty sky turned deep purple as the sun rose behind the mountains and slowly lit up the layers of steep and gigantic peeks appearing between the clouds. It looked like a watercolor painting. Finally we arrived at the top and were among the first 130 people so we got our choice to climb up Wayna Picchu at 10am! The hordes of tourists started arriving by bus just after all the more adventurous travelers who chose to do the hike.

1st view of the ruins!! 6am

We made it! So excited.

Pepe showed us the trail up Mt Machupicchu which we hiked half way up to watch the sunrise and get a great view of the ruins before exploring them. Sun rising over the layers and layers of mountains surrounding the site

Up on Mt. Machupicchu to get a view of the ruins

Our guide Pepe!

Another intact section of the Incan trail from the South. Literally rock walls built into a cliff. The final section of the same trail we hiked 2 days before.

After a short rest we embarked on the climb up Wayna Picchu (this tall peak in the background). We couldn't believe we were once again climbing up more steep steps after the morning's tough climb. But the hike was worth it to see the ruins at the top where supposedly the virgins of the sun got married to the sun god.

Llama residents

The Incans must have been short!

Not a bad view!

This place is huge!

We spent from 6am to 3:30pm in Machpicchu and the time passed so quickly! We could have stayed so much longer. The ruins and the spectacular views around far surpassed our expectations of this famous site. It really does live up to all the hype.

Sacrifice to the sun gods

4 tourists with cameras above. Unfortunately we were not the only tourists in Machupicchu. But they did provide some entertainment.

Wayna Picchu in the background

Yoga in the morning

Breakfast before beginning the long journey back to Cuzco

We have arrived back safely in the USA and are happy to state we never got mugged, kidnapped, injured, sick, or very lost. We are happily enjoying hot showers, clean drinking water, and the ability to flush toilet paper down the toilet. We can't wait to plan another trip someday!!

Thanks for reading!

THE END

Arequipa & Canyon del Colca

Unfortunately we both felt sick for most of our 2 days in Arequipa so we didn´t tour around as much as we would have liked. Maybe it was related to the delicious ceviche we ate for lunch the first day? We did see some mummies at the history museum, the colonial art museum, a few cathedrals, and the beautiful Plaza de Armas. While Jordan was in bed with a fever, Molly went to hear the Cusco Orchestra play a concert in La Catedral on the plaza. The nearby Volcano Misti sets the backdrop to this colonial city, along with 81 other volcanoes in the region. Once feeling better, we planned a trip into Canyon del Colca, the 2^nd deepest canyon in the world, only after its neighbor Canyon del Cotahausi. It is supposedly twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. We got on a tour which left Arequipa at 3am in order to get to a viewpoint to see the magnificent Andean Condors in flight in the early morning. With a wingspan of up to 3.2 meters, it is only fitting that the largest bird lives in the deepest canyons.

Condor!

After breakfast we began the steep hike descending into the canyon. With the hot desert sun it was a pretty intense hike. After nearly 3 hours we crossed the river at the bottom of the canyon and had lunch. Next we walked across the floor of the canyon along the river, passing agave cactus, 2 types of fruiting cacti which we sampled, avocado trees, and tons of other beautiful flowering desert plants. We then arrived at the oasis at the bottom of the canyon where we spent the night in a rustic hospedaje.

Desert Canyon

Agave Cactus

So many stars above the canyon at night!

In order to beat the heat for the ascent, We began the climb at 5am in the dark. The series of switch backs steadily climbed up the canyon on a different trail than we had come down. The sun slowly rose over the canyon walls and illuminated the mountains around us. We made it to the top after a tough 2.5 hours then had a much deserved breakfast in the little town another 20 minute walk further.

Made it to the top!

Woman in the typical dress of the Colca region

In the valley below are terraces for farming

Terrace farming

Llamas and alpacas! (Alpacas are delicious)The tour took us to a hot springs outside the canyon which was was a good way to loosen up before our last overnight bus heading to Cusco.

Huacachina, Pisco & Sandboarding

Traveling further south on the Panamerican highway along the Southern Peruvian coastline, we came to Ica then drove into the rolling sand dunes to the little town of Huacachina. The town is built around a natural oasis lagoon between the dry dunes. We rented sand boards (plywood with straps) and hiked up the dunes to try the silly local sport. Some people were taking it seriously with real snowboards and building jumps, but most people were just laughing as they tried their hardest get the board down the hill and not fall off. Really it was more like sledding. 

The next day we went on a tour of 2 local bodegas. This region of Peru is famous for its pisco, liquor distilled from sweet wine. At the first bodega we got a tour of the grape squishing, fermenting, and distillation process, then got to sample a variety of piscos made from different types of grapes.

Their old press.

Pisco storage and fermentation jugs.

All the different types of Pisco

At the second bodega the guides were already drunk and just continued drinking and stumbling as they poured us samples. No tour involved at this sloppy operation. One of the other guides even fell asleep during a tour he was giving.

Back to the Oasis.

In the afternoon we went out for a dunebuggy sandboarding adventure. Traveling further into the dunes you start to lose perspective as there are rolling hills of sand in every direction as far as you can see. Our driver liked to go fast. As fast as possible. Jordan describes the adventure as road warrior meets Lawrence of Arabia. It was a blast.

Our ride.

Patterns in the sand.

S-hand Stand?

Between time-trials we stopped a few times to board down the huge dunes and watch sunset before zipping back to town.

After getting rid of as much of the sand as possible we headed into Ica to catch another fun overnight bus south to Arequipa, the white city.