Once upon a time...

To commemorate the 1 year anniversary of our return from Peru, I thought it'd be a good idea to post photos to prove we were actually there.

Peru was our last BIG trip. Well, I mean, not last as in final. Just the most recent one...which was a year ago. A year ago! Man, time flies I guess. Anyway, this one was great.

We met up in Lima with Jeff and Grace and spent the next couple weeks travelling through the country. Machu Picchu was obviously the big draw, but because we wanted to see so much in not so much time, we opted against the Inca Trail hike. Not that I would've agreed to do it anyway. A 3 to 4 day hike through the mud and rain? No thanks. I'll take my Inca Bucks and super-lux 1st class bus and be on my way.

After checking out Lima, we headed through Pisac and the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. Thankfully our hotel had a lounge with a TV and we were able to catch the season finale of LOST. Damn straight we watched that. The view from the ruins was pretty spiffy as well. From there, a train and bus got us to the big MP. Pretty damn spectacular. The 1st day was chill; we did the tour thing and learned about the ruins. The SECOND day, tho... We lined up at 5am with all these guys just so we could be one of the first 100 and therefore the opportunity to climb up Waynapicchu. It's that mountain you see in the background behind your standard MP shot. THAT was a hike. Not so much the getting to the top, but from there going the long way back around to the start? Ugh. I'm sure Inca Trail folks scoff at it, but whatever dude, I was duh-uhn after that. We actually got yelled at when we lied down to rest on the grass back in the ruins. Guess you can't do that. I also got scolded for jumping down from one terrace to the next. Don't do that either.

We headed back to Cusco that same day. The train and bus stops were madness. It was sometime after midnight when we got our transport to the hotel in Cusco. It was also raining and cold. Couple that with all the mosquito bites I got on our Waynapicchu hike (which you can still see the marks 1 year later), I guess it was inevitable that I got sick. Luckily I was only out for a day, and I really only missed seeing that legendary 12-sided stone. I wasn't too heartbroken.

From there, it was a flight to Arequipa and then a bus ride to Chivay. Along the way, we hit an altitude high of 4910m. By the way, altitude sickness = no fun. Jeff can attest to that too. It eased up in Chivay where we stayed overnight before heading to Colca Canyon to (hopefully) see some condor action. Not that kind of action; just the flying kind. We got lucky apparently. 45 minutes of waiting and finally about 8 or so came soaring up the canyon. And they ain't shy...they can get pretty close.

The next big sight-seeing stop was Paracas and the Ballestas Islands (aka mini-Galapagos). Paracas was really interesting; it's this huge desert peninsula that was a part of the ocean floor millions of years ago. With a marine layer that never goes away and very rarely does it rain, there were no critters anywhere. No bugs or nothing...it was bizarre. Plus the red sand on one of the coasts felt like you were on mars. The Ballestas Islands are the home to a whole ton of birds. So many that they harvest their poop. For what, I can't remember.

Our last big thing were the Nazca Lines. Underwhelming. But I guess it's one of those things. I think I might of been more excited finding the churreria the next day in Lima.

photos!
My top 100 @ flickr
the big album (with videos!) @ picasa

enjoy.