| Highlights of Peru (November 2006) | ||||||||||||
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Peru has a mysterious allure to the visitor. It is home to the mighty Incan Empire and fearsome Shining Path, as well as the haunting pan-pipes and giant condor.
Exploring its deserts and Andean peaks will realize a lifelong dream. |
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Space: (Eats) The Final Front Ear
Racing south to mountainous Cusco, we were joined by our San Franciscan friend, Space. Straight into the swing of things, he chowed down on local delicacy cuy (grilled guinea pig) and chicha (corn beer fermented with human spit). Great work by the Indiana Jones impersonator! |
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Ninja vs. Inca Death Match
Ninja Cheryl's devastating double-eye poke is foiled by Magnus' silly-Incan-hatted block. |
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Sexywoman
High above Cusco, ancient Incan temples of Sacsayhuaman - enjoyably pronounced: "Sexywoman"! |
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A Man Called Chosac
On a 5 day hike to the legendary mountain-top Incan city of Machu Picchu, we stayed at the village of our porters. By day, we ruined centuries of hard work in their fields with our inept plowing. At night, we experienced a unique discoteque, powered by the pumping beats of one man and his harp. As the village looked on, we took turns dancing the funky chicken. Adopting him as a long-lost son, the villagers gave Space the Quechua name "Chosac", which apparently translates to "The Unbearable Absence Of Being"! |
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The Curse Of The Inca (pt.1)
Locals offer a first taste of their food and drink to the gods for luck. Chosac forgot this and the gods were not merciful: as he stepped out onto the Inca Trail he turned his ankle with his first step. With 4 days of hard hiking ahead, the chirpy Californian could barely contain his delight. |
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Coke Is It!
The Inca Trail leads up and up over remote mountain passes. To help reduce the effects of altitude sickness, we followed the lead of the porters, we chomped down on coca leaves. They give a mild caffeine-like buzz but taste terrible! |
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An Ande Place To Pitch Camp
On day 2, we summited the highest pass and camped exhausted at this dream-like location, amidst a sea of clouds. |
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Say It Again, Punk!
Space will think again before mocking Cheryl for being " kinda slow up the hills..." |
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A Lost City In The Clouds
Machu Picchu lies in an incredibly beautiful mountain-top location. The beautiful stonework is perfectly preserved: the Spanish never discovered the city. |
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Good Idea For Recharging The Batteries
Space reaches out to the Intihuatana lodestone of Machu Picchu - famed for its mystical energy properties. |
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Bad Idea For Recharging
Along with Cheryl he also takes a recuperative nap in an alcove that held the mummies of Incan priests. |
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Curse Of The Inca (pt.2)
In the midst of losing a long-anticipated game of cribbage at Machu Picchu, Magnus cried out to the Inca gods for help. On cue, the skies opened and in the torrential downpour the game had to be abandoned! Cheryl shouldn't have stored up that bad juju by napping in the mummy's crypt... |
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Rafting The Source Of The Amazon
The Urubamba river starts high in the Andes before draining into the Amazon basin stretching 3000 miles to the Atlantic Ocean. We donned our wetsuits and rafted the chilly white waters that feed the greatest river in the world. |
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Sandboarding
Between the Andes and the coast: the Nasca desert. At an oasis we bounded over giant sand dunes in a buggy and sandboarded down their precipitous slopes. |
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E.T. Phone Home?
The Nasca Lines, giant geometric, animal and spaceman shapes, visible from the air. One theory is that the Nascans invented hot air balloons and viewed the figures from the sky themselves; another that they were created by extra-terrestrial beings... |
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Sandy And Icy Graves
The dry desert perfectly preserves Nascan mummies. Similarly, the icy top of mountains preserved Incan mummies such as human sacrifice Juanita - the famous "Ice Maiden". |
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Flight Of The Condor
The deepest canyons in the world brought us face to face with camelid cousins of the llama - vicuna and alpaca. In the Valley of the Condor, the gigantic birds could only barely be seen circling in the far distance (this picture is actually a finger-puppet reconstruction). |
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Purely Peru
Wherever we went, the colourful traditional garb and long-suffering faces of the indigenous people of Peru told its own story. |
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- See more pictures from this section - Go to next section : Bolivia - Go to previous section : Ecuador |
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