Blog Catch Up!

You may have noticed that we recently added a bunch of posts. Sorry, to do it all at once but we are trying to catch up. Currently, we are in northern Chile, having just completed a 3 day 4x4 trip through the Atacama Desert from Bolivia (blog entry coming shortly, hopefully.) It is very expensive here so we are heading to Argentia as soon as possible.

Stay tuned for our adventures in the desert!

La Paz and surrounding area

We arrived at the edge of La Paz, running into the usual chaos of South American cities. La Paz, although it is the world´s highest capital, is built in a crater. It is also one of latin america´s fastest growing cities, and the sprawl is spilling over the edges, like adobe lava, out of a volcano. The fact that it is in a crater also means that you almost always have to walk up a hill to get somewhere, which at 3660m, is a work out. We stayed at the hostal Loki, which is a good place to party but not to sleep. I can not say that La Paz is very high on my list of favorite South American cities, but we found some good coffee, which was much needed after a prolonged stint of Nescafe. We took advantage of the cheap prices in the markets and did lots of shopping for presents. One intersting area was the Witches´ market, where you could buy dried llama fetuses (Peter, guess what your Christmas present is!) and other unidentifable items. There was also a large balck market but we were unable to find anything remotely illegal. I think we just didn´t go down the right alleys.
We needed to relax a bit so we went to see a movie at the cinemas. In La Paz you are actually assigned a seat in the theatre but no one seems to pay any attention to this system and sits where ever they want. We saw Lions for Lambs, the only movie playing that was not dubbed. We had not idea what it was going to be about, but ended up enjoying it for the most part. I felt like it was trying to make a point, but the director wasn´t quite sure what that poinst was.
After the movie, we witnessed a fender bender, where one taxi driver cut off another. With the way South American´s drive, I am surprised I haven´t seen more crashes. I was curious to see what would happen next and how this sort of thing was resolved. The resolution process involved both drivers duking it out in the middle of the road. The driver who had cut off the other had a signigicant size advantage and quickly took out the little guy. I guess in La Paz, Might is Right.
We also went to the Contemporary Art Museum, which had some really interesting art. There was a very interesting exibition on, but I will have to get back to you on the artist´s name.


Disclaimer: Roxana should not read any further than this.

Just outside of La Paz is the World´s Most Dangerous Road (you can google it to get some pictures.) It has become a major mountain biking destination, I had beeen considering riding down it since we set out on our trip. I felt rather conflicted about biking down a road, that the locals had to use and claimed so many lives. Upon arrival in Bolivia, however, I learned that a new road had been opened last year, and the World´s Most Dangerous Road (WMDR) was now almost solely used for biking. This was the deciding factor for me, as I felt a bit morally better knowning that I would not be creating unneeded traffic on an already dangerous road. I decided to go with Gravity Assited Biking, the original company to start touring the road, which was more expenisve but also the only company reccomended by the Lonely Planet. Once out on the road, I was definetly glad I had not gone with one of the copy cats, as they looked like quite sketchy operations.
The ride starts out a 4800 meters, at a high pass 45 mins outside of La Paz. We were given our gear (pants, jackets, helemts, gloves and gogles) and a new full suspension Kona mountain bike. I took it for a few laps around the parking lot, and jumped it off a few drops, only to be left gasping for breath. At 4800 meters, downhill is the only direction to ride a bike. The first section is along a paved road, still in use by traffic. It would be a crazy longboarding road, as it is full of hairpins and winding s-turns. We also passed through a drug checkpoint, designed to look for materials used for making cocaine. It was the beginning of the rainy season, so we quickly dropped into a cloud and the visibiliy was awful. Personally, I thought this was the most dangerous part, as passing large trucks on a wet, cloudy, windy road is a little scary. Technically, however, this is not the WMDR. The WMDR started about an hour down the road, splitting off the main road onto a narrow gravel road. We were given another saftey talk and headed off down the road. As a mountain biker, I actaully found the road pretty tame, although with traffic I would say it would be much scarier. I would say the road itself is about equivalent to a logging road on Vancouver Island. Not particularly bad, but you don´t want to go over the edge. I think the road claimed so many lives mainly due to the driving habits of South American drivers, which is really something that needs to be witnessed to understand. Everyone drives around corners as if they know they are the only car on the road. The other reasons that so many people have died is that it has become a large attraction for people who really don´t know how to ride a bike that well. Really, it is not hard to keep your bike on a road a car and half wide, yet people still ride off the edge, the last one being in March. The fact that most companies do not give good bikes (failing brakes, etc) and are not prepared for any sort of crash, does not help. On the day I went, a rider in another group managed to hit one of the five signs on the whole 40km road and went over the edge. He was lucky enough to land in a tree, otherwise he would have been the latest life claimed by the road. We only had one crash in our group, just a simple front wheel washout resulting in some scraped up arms. Our company had the training and equipment to clean the scrapes (or deal with something worse), something others did not.
After dropping down 3000 meters we arrived in a small animal rescue center in the Bolivian jungle. We had hot showers and a buffet lunch, while other groups were left at small shacks along the road to buy something that didn´t smell too goodlook that edible. After that we boarded the bus for the 3 hour drive along the new road (which is a year old and already falling off the mountain) back to La Paz. Overall, I would have to say that I did the ride simply to say to rode the World´s Most Dangerous Road. It was not nearly the most dangerous ride, or even the most memorable ride I have ever been on. As Damon, our guide said, it is the most boring ride they offer (they have a two-day downhill single track ride!) All in all, it was still a lot of fun and I got a free t-shirt. They just need to build a few kickers to make it more interesting!

Note: I only shot a couple photos on the ride as it proceeded to get very wet and muddy. I have some pictures that were shot by the guides that I will upload shortly.

Lake Titicaca

We decided to send a bit extra on the bus trip to Puno from Cuzco, so we took the Inca Express. The Inca Express is a tourist bus that stops at a couple locations between the two cities and includes a lunch buffet. It was very touristy, and made us realize how those with money explore South America. I prefer our way, although the lunch buffet was nice (next time we will remember to bring some tupperware.)

Our first stop was at an old church called San Pedro. It was built on Inca foundations and had a lot of really old paintings. It was interesting to see how they had incorporated Inca beliefs into the Christian paintings in order to help convert the Inca. Apparently, the restoration was being funded entirely by the tours going through the church.

The second stop was at an Inca ruin called Raqchi. Although we had seen many ruins, this was still somewhat interesting as it had a 12meter adobe and stone wall that used to support the temple roof. They also had 156 round store rooms, of which a couple had been fully restored. An intersting site, although we were hurried through fairly quickly. Another reason I am not a fan of these package tour sort of things.

Our next stop was at the top of the pass between Cuzco and Puno at an elevation of 4300 meters. We piled out for the obiligatory shot in front of the sign (with llamas!) and the all piled back in the bus.

The third stop was at a museum at Pucra. It contained artifacts from a nearby excavation of a pre-inca city and temple. This was a little disapointing as I thought we´d be going to the actual site, not just the museum. A museum can be anywhere in the world but there is only one excavation site. Nonetheless, it did have some cool stone statues and examples of the Inca Cross, which pre-dated Christ.

After that it was non-stop to Puno through the altiplano. The scenery was very beautiful, and as we pulled into Puno, we got our first views of Lake Titicaca.

Puno, itself was not very impressive, kind of just a dirty border town that once a year has some crazy festivalsin Feburary. We, however, were there to see the floating reed islands, which we set out to see the next day. These islands are entirely made of torta reeds that grow in the lake and are world famous. Too famous actually, as they have turned into something of a floating tourist trap. The islanders originally started living on these island to avoid conflict with the Inca and other hostile tribes. We were there in the low season, yet there were still at least 30 or so boats making trips out to the islands. There were at least a hundred more boats moored that were all used during the peak season. Apparently, there are still some reed islands that have escaped the hordes of tourists, and I hope they stay that way. I make it sound like it was all bad, but it was cool experience and not something you can do anywhere else in the world. It was interesting to see how they had been living for hundereds of years as well as the modern adaptions they had made (note the solar panel next to the reed house.)

We had had enough of Puno so the early the next morning we caught a bus to Copacabana, Bolivia. Much to our surprise, the two names on the registar above ours were Luke Pretty and Laura Lambert. They happened to be making a trip down to Bolivia before their hike on the Inca Trail, and had decided to go to the same town as us.

After a little confusion at the border we were across into Bolivia. I am glad that I am travelling under my Canadian passport as the border gaurds had decided to charge all Americans $100 for a visa. Other Americans, who came into Bolivia a different way said they didn´t have to pay but it may have been a new tax. Their were a few Americans on our bus who were surprised by this and ended up being held and the bus went on without them. Not a fun situation for them.

The town Copacabana was nice, especially after Puno. It is fairly small and is nestled in between some hills right on the lake shore. We checked into our hotel (90 bolivianos a night which is only $12!), explored the markets and hiked up one of the nearby hills. All along the trail are crosses that pilgrams place rocks at the bottom as they hike up. At the top are a bunch more crosses, an amazing view and a bunch of vendors selling miniture items. It is traditon to buy these small items (eg. toy cars) and have them blessed in the hopes that you will receive a real life one in the following year. An interesting tradition that has done wonders for the toy trade.

The next day we caught a boat out to Isla del Sol, a small island that is believed to be the birth place of the first inca, Manco Inca, and the sun itself. We had been recommend a small family run hostel just outside the main town which turned out to be an amazing little place. The family was very friendly and a night´s stay, dinner and breakfest was only 120 bolivianos($16!!) for both Katie and I. I had the most amazing rainbow trout, which the stock apparently originated from Canada. The four of us also went on a 14km trek around the islands, which was very tiring as the elevation ranged from 3815m (lakeshore) to over 4000m. Along the hike we were met by many local children who all wanted our cookies. Katie, being a sucker for small children, gave them our precious cookies and bought some candies to hand out. We visited a couple more ruins including them Temple of the Sun, which had an amazing view of lake. We also found, with the help of an Argentian women, the Rock of the Puma, which is were Manco Inca and the Sun were born. The views along the hike were breath taking, I can understand why the Inca believed that this was such a special place.
The next day we boated back to the mainland, said goodbye to Luke and Laura, who were heading to Cuzco and boarded a bus to La Paz.

I have some more photos posted here:

Inca Express

Lake Titicaca

Day 3 of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu

Day three began early, and we crawled out of our tents to sunshine although we were still drying out. After breakfest we began to immediately to climb up to the second pass on the trail. The clouds were lifting a little bit and we were able to get a glimpse of the surronding mountains. Before reaching the summit of the second pass we stopped at the first ruin of the day, Runkurakay, which means basket shaped ruin in Quechua. This small outpost was believed to be reststop or perhaps a watchtower as it had a commanding view of the valley below. We continued up, past a few small lakes and down the other side. The next ruin we came across was called Sayaqmarka. This was one of my favorite ruins on the trail, as we were able to see some of the clever inventions the Incas created. These included... doorhinges carved into the rock, a water level used to level their floors and terraces, steps integrated into the retaining walls and an amazing network or fountains running through the site.

This ruin also had an amazing view of the river valley below and the a smaller ruin, believed to be a store house, below it. After a tour of the ruins we continued on to lunch. By this time we had descended into the cloud forest and the vegetation had changed dramaticlly from the high grasslands. The trees were now of considerable size and covered in moss. In many places the trail was simply a tunnel through the vegetation. After lunch we continued on up to the third pass. The cloud forest lived up to its name, so we did not get to see any amazing views but the trail continued to provided enough to see. The work that the Inca put into the trail was amazing and it was all still in excellent shape. In some section they had cleared away the vegetation so that you could see the foundations of the trail, which in some places went down over 6 meters. They also created several tunnels through natural fissures in the rock, where it would have been difficult to build around the outside of the cliff. The views at the top of the third pass were supposed to be amazing but we only got glimpses through the clouds but we still got a peak at the mountain Macchu Picchu. From the thrid pass the trail drops, almost vertically in sections, down 1000 meters to the final camp. Along the way we went through Phuyupatamarka, an Inca temple with some amazing stone work. From here on the steps got even steep and in places were cut right into the bed rock. Before the last camp, the trail split into two, one heading directly to camp, the other through Intiputa. Katie, lured by the promise of hot showers, went down to camp and I continued on to Intiputa. This site was composed of a huge number of terraces over looking the Urabamba River was believed to be an agricultural site for suppling Machu Picchu with food.

After a snack, our assistant guide, Ceaser, took a a small group of us to see one last ruin, Winay Wayna. I was glad I dedided to see this last extra one as it was by far one of my favorites. It had a room known as the temple of the Rainbow, as it had seven windows, one for each colour of the rainbow, looking out over the Urabamba valley. Supposedly there are often rainbows there and the Inca believed that by worshiping them, it would bring good rain for there crops. There were also a series of fountains, that were still working, that ran through the site. Our guide told us that traditionally, pilgrams on there way to Machu Picchu would stop here to cleanse their souls by placing their head in the fountain before continuing to Machu Picchu, so we all cleansed our souls before heading back to camp.

The next day started early, 3:30 am early. This was partly to get to the sungate at sunrise and to give our porters enough time to make it down the mountain in one peice to catch their train back to Cuzco. There is a gate at the campsite and no one is allowed to leave for the sun gate before 5:20 am so a large line builds up and everyone goes charging off at once. We were warned of people running and pushing and shoving but were lucky to avoid any of that. We arrived at the Intipunku, the sun gate an hour later, right when the sun is supposed to shine through the gate and onto Machu Picchu... or at least that is what would have happened if we could have seen anything through the clouds. It was a little dissapointing, but we posed for a group photo and continued on. As we descended into the lost city, the clouds began to lift and we were rewarded with an amazing view of the city. After posing for a few classic photos, we began a tour of the city. The scale and gradeur of ruins is impossible to explain in words and pictures do not do it justice. It is something that you simply need to experience. Washington gave us an excellent tour, explaining the history of the city, its discovery by Hiram Brigham and the archelogical work that has happened since. We toured through the Temple of the Sun, Temple of the Three Windows(very original name), the main plaza, and Intihuatana, the Hitching Post of the Sun. Although this has been mistakenly called a sun dial, a calender would be a more accurate description as the Inca used it to figure out the solstices and equanoixes, not the time of day. After the tour we said goodbye and thanks to our two awesome guides, and were let loose to explore the ruins on our own. I decided to climb Wayian Picchu, but Katie, tired from the hike chose to wander around the ruins some more. Wayan Picchu towers over 300 meters above the ruins, so I stuffed a wad of coca leaves into my mouth and set off at a good pace to the top. Thirty mintues later I was standing above the Lost City of the Incas, having climbed a trail that seem merely carved into the edge of the cliff. The view was amazing. I could see the Urabamba River snaking its way around both sides of the city, the mountain Machu Picchu towering behind the ruins and snow capped peaks behind. Well worth the climb. Since Katie was waiting below, I snapped a few pictures and started down the mountain at what some would call a frightening pace. The steps leading through the ruins at the top were nearly vertical and only large enough for about half of my foot. Twenty minutes later I was back in the main ruins. Apparently the record is seven minutes to the top, but I find that hard to believe. Katie informed me that she had been witness to some rather naughty llama behavior that caused quite a stir among the tourists. What is a trip to Machu Picchu without some llama lovin' ? By this time the crowds of tourist groups from the train were beginging to fill the ruins so we decided to head back down to the town of Agua Calineties for some lunch and wait for our train back to Cuzco. We met the rest of our group at a resturant for a well earned celebratory beer. ( one liter of beer for only $2!!)
The train ride back along the Urabamba River snaked along the canyon floor and past more ruins. It was almost ten by the time we arrived back in Cuzco, too tired to do anything but fall asleep. It seemed that we had passed a major milestone in our trip, and the second half of our trip waiting ahead of us.

I have posted more photos here:

The Inca Trail

Machu Picchu

The Inca Trail - Part 1

We awoke early on the morning we began the Inca Trail. We were told to be ready to be picked up at 5:30am, and our ride was pretty much right on time. We hopped onto the bus and drove around Cuzco until we had filled it up with fellow hikers, our two guides, and a few of the porters. We headed to Ollaytantambo. There we stopped for breakfast and some supplies (I bought a new hat at last!) before heading to the trail head. We stopped in a small town just before the trail hesd to find a few more porters. As it is the rainy season, it is hard to find enough porters for the number of hikers doing the trail each day, as the porters are working on their family farms instead. 200 people start the trek each day, and around 200 porters are needed to carry all the gear utilized, meaning around 400 people are hikin a given section of the trail everyday. It is quite amazing, I have never done a hike with so many people at once.

We began the hike at around 10:30, after passing through our first check point. The trail on the first day was quite mellow, a good warm up for the days to come. We hiked slowly uphill, on a gradually inclining path along the river into the mountains. We got to know our fellow trekkers, as we hiked next to different people. Our group was composed of 15 travellers, and it was nice to have different people to talk to and pass the time. Before lunch we stopped at our first Inca ruins of the trip, Llactapata. We could only view the ruin from above, but we took lots of photos, and sat to listen to our guide, Washington, explain the significance of these particular ruins and the Inca culture in general. That is until we were interrupted by the rain. We put on our rain jackets and ponchos and pressed on to our lunch spot.

We arrived to find lunch being prepared by the porters, and the lunch tent already set up, complete with folding stools and tables. As we waited for lunch to be ready, Washington took us through the rest of his explanation of the ruins, and a bit of Inca history. He was very passionate about the subject and it was good to have such an enthusiastic and interesting guide. He finished just as lunch was being served. It was an amazing 3 course meal, with tea to finish. I have never eaten so well on a hike before. We left for our campsite full to the brim, and exicted to see what was next.

We passed through several settlements on the way to camp that day. There were lots of Peruvians out selling bottled water, beverages and snacks to the hikers. We climbed higher into the Andes, I felt a bit out of breath as I lugged my pack up the hill. By the time we arrived in the campsite, I was ready to remove my boots and relax. It was incredible to arrive in camp to find all the tents set up and dinner already underway. It was the most deluxe camping I have ever experienced. Our campsite was perched on a hill over looking yet another Inca ruin. We had a beautiful view down the valley we had just hiked up, as well as a view up the pass that we were to hike the next day.

Before dinner that night, we were introduced to the porters, and introduced ourselves to them. It was a good way to form a bond in the group, and gain better appreciation for the porters. From then on we could use their names and greet them as they passed us on the trail lugging much heavier loads than we were burdened with.

Dinner that night as just as spectacular as lunch. We went to bed that night in good spirits, ready to tackle Dead Woman´s Pass the next day, our most challenging day on the trail.

We awoke early the next morning to tea served to us in our tents. We packed up our gear and got ready for the day. I had hired a personal porter for the day to take my heavy bag over the pass, so Timb traded me his sleeping bag for some of my things. We ate a delicious breakfast, and started out for the day, climbing steadily up to 4200m.

It was a constant upward climb, and as we reached the summit of the pass I was glad to not have my heavy bag to hold me back. It began top rain as we climbed higher, but when we reached the top, the rain ended for a brief moment and allowed us to take some celebratory shots. The good weather did not last long, however, and we quickly began to descend to our campsite, as the rain became harder. Timb sprinted down the backside of the pass, but I took my time on the slick rock stairs. By the time I reached camp that night everythig as thourougly soaked, including, unofrtunately, my camera. We did our best to dry things out, and luckily the rain stopped or a while to allow us to wander around camp without being soaked. The kitchen tent became a sort of drying center, with people drying clothes and shoes over the gas burners. I held my camera over the burners at a good distance in order to dry out the inner components, but sadly was not able to use it for the rest of the trip.

We were all thoroughly exhausted by the days hike in the rain, and relaxed by playing some cards before dinner. We were lucky to have a group of hikers that all got along rather well, and it was nice to socialize with everyone after a long day of hiking.

We still had two days of the trail to go, but it felt good to be half way there. I was excited for more ruins and spectacular views on the days to come.

Strolling into the Sacred Valley

We left Nasca at 8:30pm, taking an overnight bus to Cusco. From the moment we hit the winding road outside of Nasca, I was motionsick. The road wound its way up switchbacks, climbing higher and higher into the mountains. As we rose in altitude, it became harder and harder for me to maintain composure, and I slept rockily, waking every half hour or so, as Timb slept calmly next to me. We arrived in Cusco at 10:00am the next morning, and it was a relief to disembark from the bus.

We headed to our hostel, and then out into the city to find a restaraunt for lunch. We ate at a place called Victor Victoria, which has amazingly large portions. Timb had an alpaca steak, and I had a Peruvian dish called aji de gallena. Both were quite good, and we left stuffed and ready to explore.

Cusco is rather touristy, and as we ventured into the center at Plaza de Armas, we were accosted by many vendors on the street, selling paintings, postcards, and trying to convince us to eat at their restaraunts. We took some photos around the plaza of the amazing churches built atop Incan foundations, and explored some of the pedestrian-only side streets, surrounded by 2 meter high Incan walls.

The Cathedral in Plaza de Armas, Cusco

We went to go view the famous 12-sided stone, however it was surrouned by a large tourist group, who were also being hassled by locals for tips because they had pointed out the easily locatable stone. We were able to see it much more clearly the next morning, and it really isn´t anything that special. We set off back to the hostel to clean up and wait for the Peru Treks office to open, so that we could pay the balance of our Macchu Piccu trip.


After finishing up the formalities at the Peru Treks office Timb and I headed for our first Cusco museum. We purchased a Boleto Turistico using our student ID´s and were determined to see most of the sights that these tickets gave us entrance to. The first museum we went to was housed in the former home of an Incan activist, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. It held some interesting Incan and pre-Incan artifacts, but nothing too special. It also displayed furnishings and art from when the house was originally possised by Vega. These were interesting most particularly due to their ornate decoration. I especailly liked the intricately carved wooden trunks. The museum was closing and we were rushed out of it after 45 minutes of looking around.


We headed to a cafe on the plaza for dinner, which had an amazing view of the cathedral and the fountain, elegantly lit up. The cafe was especially good because of its coffee. Timb was delighted to discover that they had bodems of coffee, and thoroughly enjoyed his with his meal. It was a relaxing way to end a rather tiring day.

Timb dunking a biscuit, enjoying his bodem of coffee.

The next morning I awoke to find that Timb had arisen hours earlier and had already formulated a complete itinerary of events for the day. We started by packing up the buns that our hostel supplied as continental breakfast for lunch, and then headed to a cafe in San Blas to get some real food. We had some amazing eggs and waffles, and then grabbed a taxi to take us up the hill outside of Cusco to see our first Incan ruins. We had read in the guide book that we could walk back into town from the farthest of four ruins in about 4 hours, so we started at Tambomachay and worked our way back into town passing through Puca Pucara, Quenco, and Sachsaywaman. The ruins themselves were quite amazing, expecially the still functioning fountains at Tambomachay, and the large scale of the walls and fortifications at Sachsaywaman. We enjoyed our walk down from the hills, and it made for a good warm up to the Inca Trail.

The working fountains at Tambomachay

Timb and I on our Incan ruin dayhike, with Cusco in the background.

Timb on some Inca stairs at the ruins of Sachsaywaman.

On the way back to Cusco from Sachsaywaman we took a detour up to the Cristo Blanco, a huge white statue of Jesus that I had to have a picture with.

Blanco Cristo

We returned to Cusco down some rocky Inca stairs, and found a cafe in which to have a snack before heading back to our hostel to pack and prepare to leave for the Inca Trail the next day.


Sidenote: When we returned to Cusco following the Inca Trail and Macchu Piccu, Timb decided that he had to try cuy (roasted guinea pig). We went to this great restauraunt recommended in Lonley Planet; I had cheese and brocoli soup, and Timb had cuy. I tasted a bit, and it wasn´t that great to be honest, but Timb seemed to enjoy it. It was more bones than anything else, and the spicy sauce was key.

Timb digging into his cuy, if you look closely you can see the legs.

Alien landing strips and Mummies

After an interesting ride through the desert from Lima, we arrived in Nazca, which is located in southern Peru in the Atacama desert. We disembarked from the bus into a crowd of taxi drivers and hotel promoters, all trying to get us to go with them. We had been warned that now we were on the ¨Gringo Trail¨that this would get worse. We were staying at the Hotel Alegria, and there was actually a Hotel Alergia II that several taxi drivers tried to get us to go to. Our hotel was quite nice, and had a pool which proved to be vital for an enjoyable day in the desert. Upon arrival we booked a flight for the next morning over the Nazca Lines.

We arose at 6:30am the next day to get out to the airport for the flight. The lines are best seen when the angle of the sun is low and there tends to be strong winds in the evening that blow up dust, decreasing visibility. After a short video on the history of the lines and possible theories to there purpose we were escorted out to a small four passenger cessna. A short taxi and sprint down the runway and we were airborn, the Atacama Desert streching out under us. The pilot then took us over a dizzying run over all the Nazca Lines, which are shaped as animals, geometric shapes and other designs. In order to allow for good photos the pilot would pull into a sharp turn and spiral around the geoglyph, so that the ground was below one wingtip and the other pointed towards the sky. To be fair to passengers on both sides this was executed in both clockwise and counter clockwise directions. Katie was glad that we hadn´t had the chance to have breakfest yet.

That evening we had an amazing meal at a local resturant. We had a pollo causa to start, which is a sort of potato and chicken cassarole/cake. For my main I had lomo saltado, which is like a beef stir fry but is seasoned with a local sauce. We had pisco sour, a grape liquor drink made with egg whites and lime juice, and tres leches for desert. One of the best meals so far this trip!

The next day we spent a lazy morning enjoying the pool in the hot desert sun. We decided to got to a local chicken joint for lunch and ordered a platter of different bbq meats. I really wish my spainish was a little better as in addition to chicken kabobs , the platter included beef heart kabobs and beef sweetbread (i.e. cow brains.) I managed to eat a squewer of the beef hearts, which had a very distinct taste and texture but the brains were way to chewy for me. Katie looked as if she had just gone for another flight over the lines.

That afternoon we headed out on a tour of the Chauchilla Cemetery. The cemetery contains bones, skulls, and mummies dating back to the Nazca culture around 1000 AD. The site had been thourghly sacked by grave robbers and the remains left scatter in the desert until recent efforts had restored some of the tombs. We had a good guide who gave us a detailed tour of the tombs and explained about what was known about the people. The mummies were pretty cool and very well preserved. Apparently having very long hair was a sign of success or prestige in their culture so many of the mummies looked like rasta skeletons. Some of the tombs also had "trophy skulls" that were buried with them. Very morbid but very interesting.

After the cemetary we went to a local potter who was still using traditional techniques to create some amazing artwork. We were given a demostration on how it was done, which included using paint brushes made from baby hair and polishing using a stone and oil from the side of your nose. After that we went to see a local gold processing plant. It was a very primitive operation were raw ore was crushed under a stone by rocking it back and forth. Mercury was then added to the paste, which was then put in mesh bags and the mercury was squeezed out by hand. Not a very healthy method, and only extracted about 60% of the gold. The leftover slurry was then left for the owner of the plant who sold it to larger companies (like Tom´s?) who used more sophisticated methods to retrieve the rest.
After our tour we headed back to town and caught the night bus to Cuzco. It was one of the windest roads I have ever been on and went over a pass over 4000 meters high. It was quite a bus ride but we arrrived safely in Cuzco at 10 am the next morning.

I have some more photos on facebook and you can see them by following the link below:

Photo Album