Machu Picchu

On day four of the hike, we woke up to rain pitter-pattering on the tent. It was a bit disappointing, but we got ourselves up and ready to go for the day. We still had a few hours to hike before we got the Machu Picchu. We hiked through the rain for two hours before we got to the Sun Gate. The Sun Gate is the first place where you can see Machu Picchu from the trail. When we arrived, we were surrounded by clouds... however... after a few minutes, the clouds separated and we were able to see.
Here is some information about Machu Picchu. The site was basically unknown to the world before 1911 when it was discovered by Hiram Bingham. Bingham was looking for the Lost City of the Inca's, and although this wasn't what he was looking for, he did find something incredible. The words Machu Picchu mean "Old Peak" in Quechua, is actually the name of the mountain behind the site. It is thought to have been built around 1450, during the height of the Incan Empire. It was built as a religious, sacred site, therefore, commoners did not know that it existed. There are, of course, many different theories about what the site was used for, but most scholars agree with it being a religious place.

Our guide filled us in on many of the theories and information as well. One of those supports the sacred theory in that the Spanish conquistadores never found Machu Picchu. They traveled all over Peru, conquered the Inca Empire, found most sites and either destroyed them or turned them in Catholic cathedrals, but they never found Machu Picchu nor many of the other sites along the trail. Another idea is that the site was used to keep the "Virgens of the Sun", or young maidens who were destined for life in the religious aspect of society pure from the temptations of daily life.
The two pictures above show some of the landscape around the site. Instead of a grounds crew or lawnmowers, Machu Picchu is home to around 30 llamas who keep the grass around the area neat and trim. It also includes a lot of terracing, which most of these would not have been for farming but for medicinal herbs.
Above, here we are in what was assumed to be the leader's bedroom. It has an attached bathroom behind us. Below, another shot with llamas, because I love them.

The valley.

Here we are, with the famous, postcard picture. Proof, right here, that we made it.
After the hike was done, looking back, it was the most strenuous, arduous, fulfilling, and worthwhile experience I've had. One thing that helped to make it so worthwhile is that I got to experience it with my father and Jess. It was an adventure of a lifetime, and even though 200+ people start the trek every day, we accomplished something great here, and we did it with some outstanding individuals, guides, and porters.

Inca Trail- Day 3

Day three was supposed to be the day of amazing views.. however... we got rain. I should preface by saying we didn't get rain the whole day, we had a few morning hours shower free to see some sites, but then the rain started and lasted long enough to ruin most of the "spectacular" views we were supposed to see. Here are a few pictures from day 3 before the rain set in.

An Incan site along the path.

Can you find Dad in the picture below?Jesse, striking a pose in front of the mountain scenery.

Dad and Sara

Another Incan site along the path.

There were lots of interesting flora along the way, so here's a picture of one of them.

Easter Island: The Video (Part 2)

Here is part 2 of the Easter Island Video produced by Alex and Caitlin. In case you missed part 1, here is the link to it on YouTube Easter Island: The Video Part 1 Enjoy the exciting conclusion!

Inca Trail- Day 2

Day 2, the challenging day. The course for the day includes a five hour, 1200m (almost 4000ft) climb to Dead Woman's Pass at 4200m (almost 14,000ft). After that incline, there's a roughly two hour 600m descent to our camp for the second night. This incline was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Reaching the pass was an exhilarating experience that I've never felt. As I'm writing, I realize that I am at a loss for words to describe, so I'll let some pictures tell the tale.
This picture of Dad and I was taken about 1 hour into the incline.
Snow-capped mountain off in the distance.
LLlllaaaammmmaaaassss!!! Seen in their natural habitat.
A deer we saw about one hour from the top of the pass.
A view of where we came from... way down there!!
Waterfall along the way. There were a few others, but they didn't show up very well on the camera.
Dad and Sara at the top of Dead Woman's Pass; they are waving to Jesse and I as we come up.
Another view of where we came from. It is way down in the valley.
Our group at the pass. We made it!! Below, the post stating where we are and the altitude.
This is a shot of our campsite, right before the clouds moved it. The video below shows how quickly the weather changes in the Andes.

Inca Trail- Day 1

For over a year, Jesse and I have been planning to travel to Peru and hike the Inca Trail. Especially once we got our jobs in Paraguay, it was decided- we are doing it! We got together with some teachers from here, and after discussing it with Dad, he came along too.

We boarded a bus in Cusco and drove for over four hours to get to kilometer 82, which is where the trail begins. I was a little nervous about embarking on such a long hike, because frankly, I've never really hiked before. Looking back, it was one of the best experiences I've ever had.
Our group wasn't very large, just 9 hikers, plus our two guides. We hiked with a couple on their honeymoon from London, and two other Americans who were studying abroad in Buenas Aires.
We started around 10:30 on Friday morning.

Since I have never really been around mountains, I was constantly amazed by the view. For me, hiking along the path and seeing such amazing scenery was almost inspirational. On the right of the picture below, you can see another path, the commercial path, that follows the river to get to Machu Picchu.
Day 1 is called the Easy day. However for me, it wasn't all that easy! There were quite a few uphills and we climbed about 400m to our camp. Along the way, we stopped to view a few Inca sites along the way.
The sites along the way were Inca villages, or stopping points for messengers when they traveled between towns, especially between Machu Picchu and Cusco.
As we hiked, we stopped for lunch. I don't have the words to express our shock and amazement over the quality of our meals. The trail uses porters who carry our tents, food, and their own personal objects. Porters run ahead and have everything set up for us, including a lunch tent, complete with table and chairs, which they disassemble and reassemble for dinner at the campsite.
Jesse, me, and Dad, at one of the fantastic views. We ended the day at the campsite Wayllabamba, where the porters played soccer and we relaxed in the tents.

Cusco, Peru

After picking Dad up at the airport, the next morning, we boarded a flight to Cusco. Cusco is in the middle of the Andes moutains, so therefore, is at quite an elevation, 11,000 feet, so we were a little concerned about how our bodies would handle it. It was also the center of the Incan empire when the Spanish conquistadores conquered Peru. The whole city demonstrates the power of that empire and everything that the Spanish did to change its people. The dynamic of the city was quite amazing.

We went out to lunch at a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the main square. Here, Dad and I are enjoying our first meal in Cusco. Jesse decided to go adventurous on this first meal- he ordered an alpaca dish. It was absolutely delicious! We all tried a little bit.
Here is a little bit better picture of the main cathedral of Cusco. This was an original Incan temple that the Spanish turned into a Catholic church. We toured this church the next day. A few interesting things about the chuch: there is a rendition of the last supper where instead of a fish on the table, there a guinea pig; there is an altar with a black Jesus on the cross, it was stated that during an earthquake, some people grabbed the cruxifix and once they started taking it outside, the earthquake stopped, so then people started burning candles underneath it and it turned black, like the Andean people.
After lunch, we huffed and puffed our way to Koricancha, which was the Incan temple of the sun. The Spanish took over every Incan temple and turned them into Catholic churches, but this church still has original Incan walls and follows the original design.
Here's an up close shot of the walls. There is no mortar, no caulk, there is nothing between the stones. Its amazing how they were built; they are earthquake proof as well. Many of the Spanish built churches have suffered structural damage due to earthquakes, but the Incan built walls still stand.
The next day we took a tour up to Sasquaywaman, which was though to be a fortress of some kind, but now, archaeologists think it was another temple. We saw a woman in traditional Andean dress with a llama. I had to cry out- llllllaaaaaammmmmmaaaa! And then take the pictture. I really like llamas.
The cool thing about Sacsaywaman (besides the name which sounds like sexy woman) is how its built and its location. Its built like the picture above, but with huge rocks!
Here is Dad and me, standing underneath the largest Incan doorway still standing.
To show the size of some of the rocks, here is Jesse to help with dimensions. The rock is huge! Our guide told us that some of the rocks were moved to their current spot, but others were already there, and the Incans left the large rocks where they were as a sort of worship towards mother earth.

Here is the location I was referring to earlier. Sacsaywaman overlooks Cusco.

We also visited two other major Incan sites around Cusco that same day. One of them showed us how the Incans used aquaducts to supply water to their cities. It seems pretty awesome that those aquaducts are still working today, after 600 years. On our last day before we started the Inca Trail, we went on a rafting trip. Dad really wanted to go because he'd never done it before, and me personally, I love rafting! Our friends Amy and Sara met up with us in Cusco and they joined us for the trip.

Lima, Peru

After saying good-bye to Alex and Caitlin, we headed north to Peru. We had two days in Lima before Dad arrived, so we went into the city to explore.

We hopped on a tiny bus and headed into the main plaza. We got there just in time to see the changing of the guard in front of the Presidential Palace. There was a lot of pomp and circumstance, so we didn't stick around for the whole thing, but it was neat. The band was playing an interesting mix of songs, one of which Jesse recognized as the Gladiator theme song.
The main plaza was pretty cool, in that there were tons of locals around and there was one big church and some quaint shops.

One thing that we did that was pretty cool was take a tour of the Franciscan Monastery. The monastery has been open and running since the Spanish took over in the 1500's. The coolest part about the monastery was that they had catacombs underneath that were part of the tour. We weren't able to take pictures, but about 25,000 people had been buried underneath the church, with the skulls and femurs still there. We saw them. It was pretty cool. The other church we visited (above) has a large collection of artwork from the Spanish colonial times. It was interesting because Jesse could see similarities between the artwork here and the artwork he saw in Spain.

The next plaza we went to had an awesome restuarant that had been recommended to us by our hotel owner. The cool part about this particular restaurant is the soccer paraphernalia that covered the walls. Even the chairs were labeled a particular player. Also, they had wax statues of some of the best soccer players in South American history. Jesse sat down with Pele (a great Brazilian player) to shake his hand and chit chat.
A final, interesting note on Lima. The picture below is of a statue that was built in Spain to come to Lima. If you look carefully at the woman in the front of the statue, (you might have to zoom in) you'll notice something interesting on her head. Its a llama. Lama means flames in Spanish, and when this statue was commissioned, the creator got a bit confused and instead of putting flames or a torch on her head, there's a llama.

Puerto Varas, Chile

In between Christmas and New Year's, the four of us took a 14 hour, overnight bus trip to Puerto Varas. For those unfamiliar with Chilean geography, Puerto Varas is in the Lake District region, which has a similar latitude to Wisconsin (obviously southern instead of northern). The region in known for canoeing, hiking, camping, etc., and it is also just north of the Patagonia region. Its the farthest south any of us have ever been before.

The unfortunate part about our time there was that since this year was an El Nino year, we had rain every day we were there, which limited the amount of outdoorsy activities we could do. We did get to do two small hikes in between the rain and clouds, and here are a few pictures of what we saw.

The view from our hostel.