Today we began our project….FINALLY!! Brianna and I just returned from a great trip to Cuzco and Arequipa, but alas, could not make it Machu Pichu! We had our train tickets, our hotel reservations….but no entrance tickets! As everyone was on vacation in Peru, the entrance tickets had already been sold out. I must admit, it was a bit crushing to take a grueling 21 hour bus ride from Lima to Cusco only to not go! It’s alright though, we ended up spending a day touring the Sacred Valley around Cusco – wow! What a place. After a full day of 4 different stunning, gigantic and breathtaking ruins, I was pretty satisfied. But wow, the altitude truly was killer. Each time I went to one of the sites, I felt confident that I was in shape enough to climb them without any problems, but each time I found myself almost literally incapacitated as a result of the altitude. I'd climb about 15 stair and felt as if I'd just run a marathon. It was quite intense, but only made it that much more rewarding when I reached the top. Check out the pics below for a few glimpses.
Top Left:Maras y Moray -
Moray was an important center of Incan agricultural crop research which was carried out on different sized plots located at various altitudes. The Andean terraces, built on retaining walls filled with fertile soil and watered via a complex irrigation system, offered up more than 250 different types of vegetables and cereals, such as corn, quinoa and kiwicha.
Top Right: Canon Colca - the second deepest canon in the world - rivaled only by it's neighbor just a few hours drive. The canon is more than twice as deep as the grand canon.
Center Left + Right: Ollantaytambo - one of the best preserved Incan civilizations (after Machu Pichu of course). The ruins offered three different parts of the remaining settlements that you could hike into.
Bottom Right: Fail! A repeat. Unfortunately not computer savvy enough to delete it! :(
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