1) Brenda receiving a "treatment" from a traditional healer.
2) Jonna also receiving a "treatment" just before the offering was burned.
3) Potatoes, fresh and hot from the fire. These potatoes were laid on hot coals, then covered with rocks and soil. They baked while we were visiting the shaman and then dug from the ground for us to try on our way out.
4) On the outskirts of Cuzco, we visited an alpaca wool outlet. Here, a lady explains the difference between good quality and poor quality alpaca wool. (It is left as an exercise of the photo viewer to guess whether the lady said this shop was selling good or poor quality wool.)
5) Alan skipped the alpaca wool shopping and instead shot this panorama photo of Cuzco from the back deck of the shop.
6) One unique thing that OAT (the company who organized this tour) does is set up meals with local families. In Cuzco, we had a group lunch with a Peruvia family. Here, the proud hostess displays the main course: two well-roasted cuya (Guinea pigs). Each had a small apple in their mouths. Fortunately for Alan, the vegetarian, the meal also included vegetable soup, fava bean soup, corn fritters, corn on the cob and fresh baked bread.
7) This is a private shrine inside the home of the Peruvian family which hosted our lunch.
8) In the kitchen were the girls who did all the cooking but who did not eat with us during our home-hosted lunch.
9) This is the family saying goodbye after a lovely lunch at their home. We left some University of Colorado baseball hats as thank-you gifts, so if anyone sees a kid walking around Cuzco in a CU hat...
10) Our trip to Machu Picchu started with a early morning bus ride from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo. We stopped on a ridge top at sun rise to enjoy this view of the Andes before heading down into the valley and to the train station to catch the train to Machu Picchu.
11) The train to Machu Picchu follows the Urubamba river. Here is a view of the terrain taken from the train somewhere between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes.
12) Even with it being a major tourist destination, Machu Picchu is an amazing place. The best part of this trip was getting to share it with Alan's parents. Here is a photo of the Fleming gang at Machu Picchu.
13) Obligatory postcard photo of Machu Picchu. With the amazing landscape, jungle greenery and spectacular ruins, it is a particularly scenic place to take photos.
14) Incan walls at Machu Picchu. These walls are hundreds of years old, have been burned twice and were left unattended for centuries but are still in remarkable shape.
15) This little girl seems dumbstuck by the group of American tourists. Fortunately, Veronica (one of our guides) was there to protect her.
Look of wonder from,
a child of pachamama.
Ancestors look down.
16) Landscaping within the ruins is handled by wild llamas, like this one which was wandering around the grounds.
17) This photo of the terraced walls gives some idea of just how steep the hillsides of Machu Picchu are and how incredible the Inca builders were who built it.
18) A jungle downpour drove us out of the ruins in the afternoon. However, for a brief time we got to see what the site looks like empty of tourists and got to enjoy a nice rainbow as well.
19) On the trip back to Cuzco, we stopped at a chicharia. These roadside bars sell homemade corn beer. The primary entertainment, other than drinking beer, comes from these coin toss games. This one has a brass frog at in the center and various slots around it. A coin is tossed and points are awarded based on where the coin lands.
20) The owner of the chicharia also provides food for patrons. Here is the kitchen were both the brewing and cooking takes place.
21) Our tour group enjoyed both regular and strawberry flavored chicha (corn beer). Pictured here are Roberta, Dirk, Lyle and tour guide Roberto.
22) Alan looking in the window of the chicharia while watching the rest of the group try the chicha.
23) Remember above where I mentioned food is prepared for customers? Where, here is a photo of the food: The cuya breeding room - not Alan's favorite place.
24) As a motorcyclist, Alan got a kick out of the motorcycle trike taxis. The small town of Urubamba was packed with them, most powered by 150cc Hondas.
25) In Urubamba, we visited the pottery workshop of Pablo Semenario. Here slabs of fresh clay are stacked inside.
26) Many of the homes in the highlands of Peru are adorned with traditional roof ornaments for prosperity. This ornament is made up of numerous symbols, each of which has a metaphoric meaning.
27) The tour stopped at a native wildlife breeding center where captive alpaca, llama, guanacos and vicunas are kept. Alan the animal lover enjoyed getting a chance to feed the critters, including this vaicano.
28) Another impressive Inca site were the ruins at Pisac. Outside the ruins, these native girls from Biacha (with the rosy cheeks typical of highland peoples) were selling belts and singing "Urpichayay" folk songs in the native quechua language.
Go back to the first '09
Peru & Ecuador Trip Photo Page.
Go forward to the third
'09 Peru & Ecuador Trip Photo Page.
Return to Alan and Jonna's Travel Page
