Flake Fun

12 June 2016 - We have mostly caught up on your sleep and are getting back into the groove of normal life.  It was difficult to go back to work but I guess it always is after a vacation.  There are quite a few forest fires in the surrounding counties but so far we haven't had one in Navajo County.

It was SO fun to have Mom here for a couple of days.  We're glad she didn't melt in the extreme heat of Casa Grande.  We had a very relaxing time together. 

So, Peru....

We flew into Lima and arrived around midnight.  It was very similar to Quito as far as that goes (We always picked the volunteers up around midnight!)   We stayed in a little hostel not far from the airport and they were having a loud party that night so we didn't sleep much.

This is Scott leaving our mark when we checked out of the hostel.  As you can tell it is a backpacker hostel and lots of people leave notes and advice "for those who may follow." (Name that movie!)

Then we flew to Arequipa...
                           

Arequipa Cathedral

We stayed there for a few days, did a city tour, tried Chicha Morada (an interesting drink made from purple corn) and went to the Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world.  We didn't hike the canyon but the view from the rim was spectacular.  There were condors gliding around and it was amazing.

          

                                   

 Colca Canyon

From Arequipa we took a bus to Puno, the mainland city on the shores of Lake Titicaca.  We visited Uros, the floating islands on Lake Titicaca.  They are made of reeds and have to be built up every couple of weeks so that the houses don't get wet! 

Then we stayed the night on a regular island (made of dirt) called Amantani, which was 3 hours away.  We hiked to the top of the hill and watched the sunset!!!

That's Bolivia in the background!

We spent the night with Felix and his wife (pictured below) and then toured another island the next morning.

We spent a night in Puno (it was really quite cold) and visited an ancient Incan burial ground called Sillustani. 

Then we headed to Cusco.  Cusco is a quaint little town that was celebrating something so we got to see parades and hear bands in the square!  We saw a lot of ruins and booked a tour to the Sacred Valley.

We went to Moray and saw the agricultural terraces that the ancient Incan's built.  They are located in a valley so each terrace has a different temperature and they were able to grow all sorts of plants that require different climates.  They also had irrigation that ran to the terraces as well as drainage.  Fascinating stuff.

After Moray we went to Maras to see the salt pools.  This is where pink Peruvian salt comes from.  There are over 2,000 salt pools! (Each little square behind us is a salt pool)

Then it was on to Ollantaytambo to see more ruins.

The next morning we took the train to Machu Picchu.

Do you see that tall mountain behind Machu Picchu?  It is called Waynapicchu.  It was a long hike but we did it.  Only 400 tickets are given out each day and we were able to reserve some.  I'm glad we did too because there was a sign that said that the tickets were sold out until the end of August!  

That little blip of light green to the right is Machu Picchu, to give you an idea of how high we were.

We had front row seats on the train on the way back to Ollantaytambo so we were able to look out the front windshield!  It was awesome! 

The next day we flew to Lima.  It is always foggy there...

We had a private ceviche class (one of Scott's favorite mission foods) which was definitely a highlight. 

And then we came home!  So that was our trip in a nutshell!!!!  Love you all!!