it's amazing where we've been over the past few month. we left you last in iquique, chile, enjoying some beach time. then, after a couple day journey, we made it to cusco, peru, where we joined lauren's parents for a week of travel around the sacred valley. unfortunately, we got bad news right after our return from machu picchu that lauren's grandmother had passed away. so, after a couple crazy days of flight booking and travel, we made it all the way back to sweet home chicago. after the stressful weekend and seeing tons of family (there were still some that joe had never met, that's what happens when you enter into a family of 17 aunts and uncles :), we are on our last day of relaxation in lauren's hometown. next...back to chile and argentina!
so...enjoy our snapshots of the rest of our beach time in chile and our immersion into the amazing incan ruins of peru :)
ahhh, beach time in chile. probably the best beach weather you could ask for. except for the fact that the water is just about as cold as maine's coast. eeeek!
awesome sunset with just a little sliver o' moon
had hopes of hitting up the craps tables at "dreams" casino. unfortunately, we crossed a picket line to go in, and, no craps.
pig birds of the palms
onto trying out one of the best extreme sports ever...paragliding! joe is all suited up, ready to walk off that cliff and fly...
we decided to paraglide in iquique because it has some of the best conditions in south america and, about 90% of the time, you land on the beach! plus, way cheaper than the US, the weather is great, and, why not?!...it's a chance to FLY!!!!!!!!!!!!
lauren, in the air, relaxing mid-flight
after almost 40 minutes in the air, we saw our landing spot, the beach
joe landing, right before he fell to his knees :) but this picture makes his landing looks soooo smooth!
cheers to jo and mike buchmeier for this awesome seafood lunch that they gave us through WiseGifter! we also followed it with some beers and fresh fruit juices :)
cool, colonial beach buildings of iquique
you don't have to walk far in this city to find some cool graffiti...
dig it
chile, we shall return very soon....and so begun the journey to cusco, peru.
first meal back in peru - chicken hearts on a stick! yummmers
pisco sour happy hour! (that rhymes!)
probably the best plaza on our journey so far...lunching with a view of cusco, peru
lauren's parents made it to peru...whoohooo! here's lisa, lauren's mom, with some indigenous women and a sweet little goat. paid-for-picture number 1. yes...these pictures are not free. tons of women and children wander around the city with llamas, alpacas, goats, and whatever cute little things they could bring with them to try to persuade tourists to take photos for a "donation" of about 50 cents. we gave in a few times :)
incan stonework. pretty amazing what they could do without modern tools. aided by aliens? we think so :)
awesome terraces of qorikancha temple, an ancient incan temple in the middle of the city (now forms the base of a church and convent)
some awesome peruvian food...rocoto rellenos (similar to stuffed peppers), choclo (peruvian version of corn on the cob), and, since there always has to be a starch, potatoes. mmmm yummm
taking a stroll around the market amidst some of our piggie friends
paid-for-picture number 2...corn man!
incan walls along the streets of cusco. amazing thing about incan construction is that most stonework is compiled with no mortar. craaaazy
more amazing streets of cusco
lauren's dad enjoying the beer of cusco
checking out some traditional song and dance at the cusco native art center
these guys put on a goood show
qorikancha temple at night
and the incan ruins begin. number one - tambomachay.
this llama knows what to do when tourists come around...he was seriously posing for the camera
ruin number 2 on our day hike out of the city - puka pukara.
family photo! one of the good parts about being in peru during the rainy season is the endless fields of green
dig these purple flowers
most of the houses around cusco were decorated with two bulls, like these ones. showing off the superstition that exists in peru - these bulls, as with most other decorative objects that adorn local houses, bring luck!
dig it
lisa and dave, making a new friend at the ruins of Q'enko, ruin #3 of the day
tall eucalyptus forest
final ruin of the day! - sacsaywaman
another example of walls built of HUGE rocks - how did they do it? (aliens)
the walls of this fortress were built in a zig-zag fashion, for better defense. and this is lauren demonstrating just how huge these rocks are!
sacsaywaman was built on a huge hill overlooking the city - amazing views of cusco from up top
enjoying the view after a long day of walking
the way back down to cusco center, just hangin in the road with our parent's sweet blue ponchos :)
impromptu parade - 20 people marching around the plaza playing music
next day - more ruins! pisaq is a group of ruins that is actually bigger than machu picchu. amazing terraces were built in nearly every area possible. so beautiful
built into the side of a mountain
the holes here in the cliff face were graves for the incas where their mummies were all found in the fetal position. unfortunately, they've since been opened and looted
look closely - there's joe!
lauren overlooking the sacred valley
lots of walking, lots of stairs, exhaustion entailed
next stop - pisaq market! since we can't buy all these beautiful weavings, we'll document them with photos :)
the red bag outside of the house means that chicha's on! let's go in!
enjoying our chicha, a type of beer made from corn - mmmm... you may be sad to know that this chicha was NOT made from fermented spit :(
although it sure looked like it! - big pot of chicha
this chicherria also had a cuy (guinea pig) 'farm'. they're traditionally eaten in Peru (more on that later). i love how dark and dungeon-like this picture is...
at the chicherria, the locals hang out, drink chicha, and throw metal discs at a little metal frog's mouth. kind of like washers - but with frogs!
the ruins at ollantaytambo (much easier to write than to say) - i love the rock forming the bottom of this shelf. aliens!
the terraces at ollantaytambo
cool terraces at moray - this area was used as a kind of 'testing ground' for agriculture. each level formed a unique micro-climate, used for testing different crops
the area surrounding moray was gorgeous
agave surrounding moray
let's do this thing
rio urubamba - the train followed this rushing, raging river most of the way to aguas calientes (the town next to machu pichu). would NOT want to fall into this river, you wouldn't make it out alive
up and at the bus stop at 5am - waiting for the first bus up to machu picchu - oh, and it's raining... hard... hopefully, it will clear up by the time we get to the ruins...
or not. still raining up top - it gave the ruins a mysterious feel, emerging from the fog
a little clearer, what a beautiful sight
in the morning, in the rain, we took a guided tour through the ruins. here our tour guide, wilfredo, shows us how to use an old mortar stone, used for grinding various grains and such
room of the three windows...again, some awesome incan architecture
the one stone staircase!
used as an astronomical viewing area once it filled up with water. pretty sweet!
the beak of the condor. the condor was one of the most important animals to the incas. apparently they would sacrifice llamas behind this rock and the blood would run up to the beak. cooooooooool
hiking to the incan drawbridge in our stylin ponchos!
the overlook of the incan drawbridge. this was one of the few paths to machu picchu. they had the ability to pull out the bridge when necessary...
wish we could've checked it out further, but, due to someone falling 400 meters to their death a few years back, this is the farthest you can get to the bridge!
lisa hanging out in the clouds
what the rainy season brings
turtle emerging from a jungle flower!
5 hours after our arrival, the clouds begin to move...
annnnnd they're gone!
time to take about 200 photos here!
it's really impossible to grasp how beautiful it was!
terraces surrounding the ruins
more views of the city
our little vizcacha friend hanging out in the ruins!
the road to machu picchu from aguas calientes. it's slooow goin
some filmmakers brought 2 llamas here in the 90's. now, there are about 20 and they are NOT afraid of tourists
we made it!
our last day in cusco and what haven't we had yet...cuy (guinea pig)! we all shrieked when our waiter brought it out. it still had teeth!
we flipped a coin and joe was the lucky one who got to indulge in the head. jk jk. just the cheeks :)
one more museum before we left cusco. got to see some great weavers in action
wood carvings circa 500 a.d.
one of our favorite water pitchers
back to chicago! some of lauren's family enjoying our favorite local hangout - goodenow grove :)
our niece haley was a trumpet whiz! she picked it up after never having played before and within 30 seconds she was playing better than either of us could!
tomorrow we're back on the road, heading to santiago, chile to wrap our our journey through south america. this past month has kept us on our toes and really tested our flexibility. we've learned that flying kicks ass. we've learned that there is such a thing as seeing 'too many ruins'. we've learned that guinea pigs are cute and tasty. and we've learned to never trust the airlines - they are pure evil. seriously...
"a good traveler has no plans and is not intent on arriving." - lao tzu
tallyho,
lauren and joe
