From the Desert to Peru...


Yes yes...I'm finally continuing with my travel stories from almost two weeks ago. I'll attempt to spare you a play by play with the boring details and stick to the interesting parts with the assistance of pictures.



So first off, this was the hostel in Cusco Peru. Leaving the desert was more of a relief than anything. The day of the 2 day bus journey (yes...it took two days in a bus to get from the desert to Cusco), San Pedro ran out of water. When we arrived at Cusco we were excited for water, but then got the shock of our lives to find out that water was short there as well. Not as scarce, obviously, but the water did cut out about once every night or so.

So Peru had a lot to offer in the way of Incan ruins. And by the time we left the country, I was actually rather Incaed out. The Incas were extremely intelligent (in case you didn't already know) and have left behind amazing constructions. They worshipped their gods and held animals in the highest regards. Four animals appeared repeatedly throughout the ruins I visited: 1 the llama, which was used in a number of rituals including sacrificial ceremonies, and was considered one of the most important animals; 2 the condour, which represents peace; 3 the serpent of intelligence; 4 the puma, which represents strength.




I was rather impressed with the Incan sculpting skills --and their architecture as well...Obviously-- but I was rather taken aback by one of the rituals I heard about. Apparently they used to cover these rather fun looking, slide-like structures in oil --but they didn't slide down them as I would imagine...the men would have to scale them in order to win a wife. Rather barbaric if you ask me...although I suppose we have similar rituals still today, just on a different scale.



When the Spanish arrived in South America, they destroyed all of the Incan's architecture. This picture is of what used to be a staircase before the Spanish flipped it upside down. The Incan structures that still remain are astounding as it is, but I can't even imagine what they were like back when they existed in their entirety.





I was fortunate enough to have time in our trip --well actually it was the reason we went to Peru...but still-- to visit Machu Picchu, the only Incan structure that was never found by the Spanish, and thus the only structure left to change by nature alone. And thank goodness it was. The site is absolutely breathtaking. It makes the 3 hour train ride worth every minute. I've seen postcards and photographs of Machu Picchu before, but it's completely different to be standing in the midst of the ruins, looking out into the expansive nothingness that surrounds the area. Every photograph turned out beautifully, which has nothing to do with photographic skills, but everything to do with the landscape.



At the top of one of look-out points, Mark and I left our own little mark amoung the stacked pebbles that tourists had left behind. I chose to display my newfound knowledge and leave behind a serpent along with a small stone bridge construction. The stacked pabbles actually did originate from the Incas and their travels across the desert. They would leave behind stacks of rocks to mark areas with underground water currents and animal territories for hunting knowledge. Tourists have of course taken the idea and used it in a "Bob was here" sort of fashion, but its origins are still well rooted in the Incan past.





If you take note of that particularly large mountain in the background of the last picture, I would like to proudly state that I climbed to the very top during my trip. While wandering around the ruins, we came upon an old man of about 65 or 70 years with his granddaughter of about 23 years (or maybe it was his daughter...I just assumed...). We had a brief conversation about the ruins and then were informed of their morning trek to the top. Mark and I looked skeptically at the mountain off in the distance, but upon hearing that the old man had made it to the top in only a little over an hour, we decided to go for it. So with the image of the old man in our minds, we headed up the mountain...



INTERMISSION....
--I think a page break here would be a good idea...go get some coffee or something...or maybe soup since i think it's kinda cold back in michigan--