Day 3: Machu Picchu!

On Monday, May 21, David and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary!  Yea for marriage!  This day we had dedicated to visiting Machu Picchu.  We got up early (took a picture of the river running right outside our hotel room), and took a bus to Machu Picchu.  We went on an amazing tour of the ruins...here are (some of) the pictures!

On the train back to Ollantaytambo!

Day 2 Highlights: Anniversary Trip!

Sunday morning we left to travel (and tour along the way) to Aguas Calientes.  We saw the Urubamba River and visited the Pisac ruins, in the Sacred Valley.  The Pisac hike was very difficult for having been in the high altitude (read: thin air) for less than 24 hours, but we did it and got lots of great pictures along the way! After that, we traveled to the Ollantaytambo ruins.  We were told that Ollantaytambo was a resting place for Incan travelers to Machu Picchu.  We had a great view from the top!  After this, we took a train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, where we spent the night so we could get to Machu Picchu early the next day.  After a small problem with our hotel, we finally got settled, got a late dinner, and went to bed.  Check out these pictures, and be sure to do some research on the history of these locations if you're interested; we learned far more than can fit in a blog!

A quick shot of the mountain roads; Day 2 involved a lot of mountain driving as we went from Cusco to The Sacred Valley.

Going through a tunnel in the Pisac ruins

Despite our lack of North Face wear, we made it to the top! 

(For the record, I have never seen so much North Face in my whole life...and far too many pairs of hideous zip-off pants as well!)

David got into a bad habit of taking pictures of us almost constantly.  This is my response to the hundredth picture he tried to take of us, and without anything interesting in the background (unless you find the gentleman pointing  particularly photo-worthy). 

Ollantaytambo- the top terraces and the temple remains

The guardrails were sparse and unreliable.  Thus, this shot of David, terrified of the impending death that would follow a misstep.

A fountain/bath area for the travelers that would have stayed at Ollantaytambo on their way to Machu Picchu

Anniversary Trip! Day One Highlights

 We left Friday night on an overnight bus from Trujillo to Lima, then flew from Lima to Cusco.  Feeling good, Saturday afternoon we decided to tour the city and surrounding sites.  This turned into more than we expected coming from sea level. (Cusco is around 3400 meters, or 11200 feet, above sea level.)  This tour turned out to be a lot more hiking on a lot less rest than we anticipated.  We are so glad, though, that we got to see these cool sites!

 The first 4 photos are from the Qorikancha (Coricancha) temple, one of the coolest juxtapositions of Incan and colonial culture that we got to see during our trip.  In the second photo, you can see the original Inca temple walls.  When the Spanish came, they built the Church of Santo Domingo on the existing site of the temple (see the architecture in the first picture?), and the church and convent are still there today, along with some fabulous colonial artwork and other artifacts.  Fun fact: during earthquakes, the colonial structures were damaged, but the older Incan structures, built out of interlocking stones (no mortar used!) survived without damage.

In the photos above and below you'll see the difference in Incan construction and the later colonial masonry.

In some locations, the Spanish would dismantle the Incan stone structures and use their stones in their foundations...I think we have some good pictures of this from other days, so stay tuned!

 The next 3 photos are from Saqsayhuaman. I'll leave it to you to do the historical research on your own, but the size of these stones was AMAZING! Some of them weighed up to 120 tons, we were told. In the third picture, you can see the cool zig-zag shape these walls were in.  The original walls were likely much taller than the ruins; the Spaniards would use the smaller stones from the top to build their own houses, churches, etc.  The very large stones, of course, would have been too heavy for them to easily move and re-purpose.

The last photo (left) is from Tambomachay. Although there are theories about the source of these fountains, no solution has never been proven. Our guide subscribed to the idea that there is an underground lake.  Of course, they would have to tear apart the ruins to find out for sure.

Those are my highlights from Day 1 of our vacation!  I have so many more pictures and stories to share, so we'll just have to get together when we come home from Peru!  -C

Parenting Attempt #1

As many of you know, David and I were given the opportunity to take care of one of the little girls here at the orphanage for awhile to keep her away from some of the illness going around.  The experience was certainly not without its difficulties, but I think I can speak for both of us and say that we really enjoyed having her live with us.  She added so much fun and joy to our lives, and we will certainly treasure the memories we made with her!  My biggest prayer for her (and maybe you'll pray for her with me?) is that her and her two older siblings will soon belong to a family...before they get too much older.  And now, what you've all been waiting for, photos!  

 

Note her choice of handles--David's ears :)

I loved that she loved looking at and reading books!

Wearing my sandals

You can't tell from the picture, but she REALLY doesn't want to eat her lunch.

So what's the verdict on Parenting Attempt #1?  (Aside from the fact that the short time we spent with her can't compare to the YEARS that parenting actually lasts...)  Awesome.  However, (unfortunately for my mother-in-law) we're still very much looking forward to graduate school before we start having (permanent)  kids of our own!  -C

Tracy, Traci, or Treci...however you spell it, this is about her

Tracy is our dog here at the orphanage.  I have heard visitors muse that she must be part-dingo or part-coyote from the way she looks.  I certainly can't tell for sure!  Here are a few things you might like to know about Tracy:
1. She is a pretty friendly dog...most of the time.  She likes to visit the volunteer floor, and I always see her tail wagging.  
2.  Tracy has never been to obedience school...and it shows!
3.  She had, for awhile, the habit of sleeping just outside our room door, then barking (loudly, mind you) when she heard a threatening noise.  
4.  She ate her litter of puppies...twice.  (For the sake of the squeamish, I will not repeat the story here on the blog...but feel free to ask me later.) 
5.  Tracy likes to bark, chase, and nip at cars/buses...even buses that may are not running...even buses that guys may be pushing at 7 in the morning to try to get them started....David is not a fan.
6.  I (Courtney)  never know what she's been rolling in, so I avoid touching her, despite how she seems to be always begging for a scratch behind the ears (it's nearly too cute). 
7.  She likes to steal socks left out in the open... it's really funny as long as it doesn't happen to you!

Oscar and Bryson locking Tracy up....or trying to at least.  Poor puppy!

8.  Once, when we were having an obstacle course for the kids, she kept trying to pop the balls we were using, so she had to be locked up.  (She then escaped a few times...oh Tracy.)
9.  There are two sides here at the orphanage regarding Tracy: those that love her, and those that do not.  I used to be on the "love her" side until I saw her catch and eat a live bird out in our orchard....not so much like my (dearly loved and dearly missed) black lab, Zoi, I guess.  -C