Henri does Moochie Poochie

The rest of the world knows it as 'Macchu Picchu', which is Quechua for Old Man. Macchu Picchu was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911. I say rediscovered, since obviously the locals knew it ws there.
MaPi was an Incan temple, and is located in the middle of the jungle, on top of an unimaginably steep mountain. It can be accessed by: a) train, b) foot. That's it. The terrain is too rough even for a road.

Henriette in front of agricultural terraces. Coca, considered a spiritual and sacred plant, was the main crop grown here. Coca leaves are a local remedy for altitude sickness in the Andes Mountains, are very commonly used, and are legal in personal quantities.

llamas still range on the site
Temple of the 3 Windows

a photo of a flower? What a shock, on my blog!

The Incas considered the moon as a god, so these pools of water were mirrors for ceremonies to worship the moon.

The Incans considered 3 animals as sacred:
the snake - which signified intelligence
the puma - which singified power and fertility
and the condor - which ranged from the Earth to the Heavens

Temple of the Condor - chicha (a beer of fermented corn) and blood (both animal and human) was poured along the condor's neck and head as part of ceremonies.

Tara at Marine Corps Training Camp, Part II

I did a fantistic hike on Saturday! I started at Aguas Calientes, Peru (the closest town to Macchu Picchu) and summited a mountain called Putucosi.
Total elevation gain: 500 m.
Time to summit: 1h 15 mins, with plenty of rest. And a mouth full of coca leaves.

view of Putucosi, from Macchu Picchu


Aguas Calientes, in the valley bottom

mountain views
Alpenglow in the Andes

and this is why it was a quick summit - ladders!!!!

technically for Marine Corps training, I should have had a 50 pound pack instead of a shopping bag slung over one shoulder....but seriously, I have never done a hike so steep it involved many ladders!

view from the summit, looking down on Macchu Picchu

And in case you were going to ask, NO, Auntie was not up for this hike!

Santa Catalina Monastery

Apologies to all Catholics, or anyone who might be offended by my flippant comments.

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Yesterday, we visted the Santa Catalina Monastery. It was a fully cloistered nun facility for 400 years until part of it was opened to the public in the 1970s.

There were a surprising number of plants. Of course, the nuns are too busy to tend them themselves, so they have gardeners now.

Sorry to Catholics, but I don't understand the whole scary tortured Christ thing. Burned fingers? Yuck. I'd choose a softer, nicer religion myself.


This lime flower smlled INCREDIBLE. Did not know that lime trees have thorns - huh. And how do nuns use limes? Margaritas, perhaps?

One of the courtyards within the complex.

A note on the colours: the stone was originally all white, as is common in Arequipa. But, in the 1800s, a doctor told them to paint a bunch of walls, as the nuns were haivng eye problems. So they chose rust and sky blue.

a nun's bedroom. the bed is under an arch as protection during earthquakes. (Arches are structurally stronger than flat roofs.)

a well-used kitchen. Again food is protected by an arch.

an oven. Pizza, anyone?

the cooking area is made of sillar stone, from a nearby volcano.

rust walls, a window and geraniums. Maybe I could be a nun? hahahahhaha

me n Aunt Henri at the group laundry area.

translation, anyone??

condor fresco

close-up of the menu in the Nun's cafe. Who knew nuns were so funny?

courtyard

Peru Pics II

Here is the second set of pics from Peru.
Auntie and I did a weekend trip to Colca Canyon. It was terrific!!!

Tara had a little lamb...

vicunas, a wild relative of the camel

vicunas

ninos hamming it up in Chivay

fiesta parade in Chivay

close-up of boy in parade - LOVE THE JESUS CAPE!!

Actually, I did see another fiesta parade the night before... It started with people in costume, then came some religious stuff, then a couple guys in regular clothes carrying a crate of beer, then a few more guys in regular clothes, then a brass band. Hmmmm, maybe they were on to something: the beer starred in the parade!

woman with eagle and llama

Henriette said: "Boy, this hat is heavy!"

the crowd at Cruz del Condor...waiting to see mythic birds

condor

blogger on edge

valley view

doing the Love Dance at 7 AM at 4200 masl

shopping at 4900 masl

the hard sell

a Coot, my fave waterfowl (b/c they are so weird!!)

One final story: at lunch on Sunday, my constant attitude of "I'll eat anything once" led me astray.... I tried a little bit of stewed Cuy (guinea pig), as the locals kept telling me it was tasty. It sorta was nice, a bit like chicken, but then I accidentally ate a guinea pig FOOT. ICK. The others at the table had a massive laugh at the look on my face. :)