Adventures in Peru

pisac, an impressive agricultural site. if in cusco, make the bus ride. building ledges into the moutain side to create farmland. it is rediculous.

ollantaytambo is my favorite of the three sites. it is actually a town with ruins on one mountain, and the appearance of ruins on the opposing. the ruins were very enjoyable. walked around them listening to a mixed minidisc. i went for a rather long walk that day. i listened to one 4 hour minidisc the entire way thru, and over half of it a second time.

on the none ruins mountian construction was happening. i found a path up the mountian. the higher up the path got the harder it was to follow. not because the climb was hard, but because it was not well worn. in the end i made the mistake of assuming that the path went to the place that i wanted to go. that was not the case. i followed this non-path for a ways. then i started to think that there is no possible way that i could backtrack on this path without the risk of falling (inevitably to my death.) that was the point i hit an almost dead end. i could see my ‘destination’ just 4 meters up from my location. i had the choice to backtrack, or climb a cliff. it was one hell of a situation. i stood for a while looking down at the place i would die if i fell, then i started to examine the plants growing on the cliff face, and started to plan my route up. then i saw it. a wild orchid. based on my location, there is a good chance that i will be the only human to see that bloom. then i climbed the cliff. the vantage point from there was fantasticly awesome; i found the ‘real’ path. i continued along the path for some time. it lead me to a constuction site, with a different orchid specied growing in it. the workers had a good laugh at the gringo taking a picture of a flower growing in the work site.

machu picchu became boring fast. with 2 days of ruins before it, it was not that great. the view from machu picchu was splendid. to pass the time i started up the machu picchu mountain trail. ofter 2 or so hours of climbing i noticed that the park closed in less than 2 hours. i started down. the trail was great, orchids everywhere. there were only 3 types of orchids in bloom this time of year, but atleast 10 types growing in the area. walked back and left. i am to start school monday.

all in all, south america or peru are NOT worth a visit just for machu picchu. all the power tourists that travel halfway around the world are being ripped off. there isn’t even a starbuck or macdonalds at the site. they don’t sell alcohol. and it is as reconstructed as the great wall. there were repair crews working when i was there, no doubt fixing their shabby craftmenship because of the pisco earthquake.

i spent my first day as a tourist.

what fun. checking out the inca ruins.

it turns out that this town was originally in the shape of a puma. it does not resemble that any more. checked out saqsaywaman. all the seniors on the bus tour kept calling it sexywoman. like all great ancient structures it is still being worked on right now. it was not till after i was gone that i thought about getting a photo with the workers, it would be like going back in time; and having proof.

the trip continued to see el cristo blanco: the white jesus. he was tall and white. a bus tour that had arrived at saqsaywaman shortly shortly before i left for el christo blanco was just leaving as i got there. it is a 15 minute walk. the bus tour spent less then 20 minutes at a site that i spent 1.5 hours. the jesus was not very impressive, exept for his mesmerizing eyes.

onto the next sight, another 10 or 15 minutes down that road. the bus tour left before i even finished the walk to the site.

these see peru in 6 days tours are amazing. i would never want to do one. it seems alot like the see europe in a fortnight.