Panoramic shot of Machu Picchu

I am so excited to be back. When I was here in 2007 it was cloudy and the light was poor. This time it is bright and sunny and... Really humid. I thought I was gonna die from the humidity. It was in the low 80's but the humidity was probably about the same. I was feeling pretty bad from the cold I'd picked up before leaving home and the altitude was most certainly not helping. But, who cares? I was at Machu Picchu!!

Taxis in Peru.

We were able to ride in quite a few taxis while in Peru. They proved to be a part of the adventure and we 

I just found this unfinished post (July 29, 2014) and I'm guessing Brad is planning on writing about the taxis in Puno and his buddy, Pacho. Hopefully Brad will come back and finish that story because it's a good one. His own adventure as I was in the clinique feeling pretty awful. I did however, find some great photos of taxis and thought I'd post them here. Some are from Cusco and some from Ollantaytamba. 

STOS

Sorry to Over Share

I thought it might be fun to begin writing about the spectacular and nonsensical dreams I had over the two nights I spent in the Public Clinica in Puna, Peru. I also want to preserve them before they fade in my memory. They are in no particular order but why would order matter when discussing nonsense? I'm sure a psycology professional would have fun with these. Have at it. 😵

Dream 1

I am sleeping in my "private room" in the clinica. Suddenly I receive a strong electrical shock which sends me into spasms on my bed. They make me strike the back of my head against the rock-hard bed. Picture a patient with the rigid paralysis of tetanus: back arched to the breaking point, jaw clenched shut, bones snapping from the force of the spasms. While I writhe in pain, I feel something, an animal of some sort (it's too dark to make out any detail except for the neon green eyes), is pulling me from the bed to the floor. I am unable to resist but finally the shock ends and I pull myself away. I don't think it would have ended well for me if the animal, or demon, or whatever it was, had been successful. I try to scream out in pain and fear and for help but no sound escapes my mouth. The spasm ends and I gasp for breath. A few moments later, it happens again. And again.

Dream 2

This begins with me walking from our room to the lobby at Hotel Casa Andena Private Collection in Urubamba (In the Sacred Valley). I am in my nightgown. (STOS) I am going to purchase a couple bottles of water to get through the evening. It is around mid-night but there a quire a few people moving around the property. I am enjoying the walk and the mild weather.

I arrive at the lobby and I'm met by many startled looks but I genuinely don't understand the problem. The hotel manager wraps a blanket around me and ushers me away to... Hmm, it gets fuzzy here. I also can't recall if I got the water. That's the significant part of this dream. Um, right? 

Dream 3

Brace yourself for this one. I dreamed that in Peru I was not allowed to flush paper, OF ANY SORT, down the toilet. Instead I had to place it into a small receptacle next to the toilet. That receptacle was not emptied even once during my stay at the clinica. Oh, wait! That WASN'T a dream! STOS. I remembered to comply approximately about 80% of the time. Again, STOS. 

Dream 4

Seriously, I have no clue where this came from... 

This just sorta begins. Initially I'm not a participant in this craziness but rather I am watching the sitcom Modern Family on TV. The two young male characters, Luke and Manny are arguing. Luke kills Manny in a fit of rage. He stabs him and dices him into stew-sized pieces. (No Doctor, I'd rather not talk about it).  Remember, I'm watching this unfold on TV and it is not the "turn of plot" I'd expect to see on Modern Family. 

After a commercial break comes a new scene. The show sponsor this evening is Inka Cola.  Luke has transported "Manny" by bicycle to a small, remote, dirt and gravel road. "Manny" is in a playmate cooler typically used to transport organs for transplants. There is a steep drop off to the south of the road, dry weeds and rocks to the north. Luke distributes the "Manny chunks" along the road then runs over them repeatedly with his bicycle. He's grinding them in so they won't be discovered. 

For some reason, which escapes me, I am riding nearby in my golf cart. I turn down the very same road but Luke is gone. The road is steep and I become concerned the cart won't be able to make it back if I go too much further. I turn around and head back but (sorry to be so predictable) my cart spins out and gets stuck. I hike to the roadway and find four "Duck Dynasty" types sitting in a duck blind. After I explain my dilemma they cheerfully (or maybe that was creepily) agree to help. 

We walk back to my cart, they pick it up and carry it to the road. I drive away waving thanks to the Duck Dynasty guys. 

We didn't notice the Manny chunks. Luke's plan is working.

I wonder if Manny's family ever found his remains. I wonder where Luke is now. 

STOS

Dream 5

The cardiologist at the clinica orders blood draws, venous and arterial, to better access my oxygen saturation. I am very anxious upon seeing the nurse approach me with a needle and syringe. My veins are destroyed from the ABVD treatment I received as treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma so I know this will not go well. I attempt to pantomime the problem and offer sites I believe will work best. For whatever reason, and I'm sure there was a reason, the nurses reject my offerings. I agree to let them try and after a few, painful failures they obtain their samples. Sweet relief. 

Another nurse enters with an IV kit and a bottle of lactated ringers solution. I am afraid. She begins to examine my hands and arms for possibilities and my anxiety grows. She decided upon my right hand and goes to work. After a couple of minutes of "exploration" she successfully begins the IV. We both let out the breath we were holding and smile wanly at each other.

OMG, I realize this is NOT a dream! STOS.

Dream 6

It is Saturday evening at the clinica. We have just finished a marathon arguing session with the local doctor and the insurance company with assistance from Dr. Cristal Cunningham. Things are still up in the air and my anxiety levels are high. I am given several medications via my IV and everyone who speaks English leaves for the night. I'm alone in the room, lying on the miserably hard bed and I realize I need to use el bano. I get up, put on my zappatos and shuffle the few feet across the room to the bathroom. I am amazed at the volume of pee I produce. STOS. I make it back to bed and adjust the pile of heavy blankets on myself and close my eyes. Wait a minute, I need to pee again! Repeat above process and once again, back to bed. I fall asleep for 15 minutes and... I need to pee AGAIN! WTF? This goes on for a couple of hours and finally comes sweet sleep. With nightmares.

The next morning when my entourage arrives I mention this to Cristal. She gets a sheepish look on her face and confesses, I was given LASIK. Geez. I now understand, in the most personal of ways, the expression "I just peed like a racehorse." 

I'm sure you've gathered, this was not a dream. STOS.

The Clinica

A panoramic view of my room

The BEST gift ever - A roll of TP

To be fair I should mention, it WAS a room with a view

And yet another gift. I am such a lucky girl

Gotta love a good hematoma. I have several.

We wanted an adventure........

Be careful what you ask for......

We left Cusco Saturday morning w great reluctance. What a wonderful metropolitan city in the mountains of Peru with friendly people, good food, nice architecture and fun shopping. Walking around was a bit of a challenge due to the altitude. Taking it slow helped, so did the disposable bottle of oxygen purchased at the local pharmacy. Lisa seemed to be affected by the altitude more than me.

We were in for an 8 hour bus ride from Cusco, through Juliaca (a true armpit of a city) to Puno and Lake Titicaca. We would travel through the high plains, or altiplano, an area I have been reading about for 18 years since purchasing our first alpacas. We would reach 14,500 feet at one point where we stopped for a "technical stop" or potty break. 

By this time it was apparent Lisa was not well and VERY ill. Her cough had worsened quite a bit and she seemed a bit confused, both signs of high altitude sickness. We had the oxygen and sickness pills, along with 2.5 hours of travel before we reached a civilized part of the world and medical attention.... On we went.

I was very worried about Lisa and could do nothing to help her. We had called ahead to have a doctor waiting to meet us at our hotel adjacent to Lake Titicaca, that calmed some of my fears but I was scared and felt very alone. Coupled with the guilt of enjoying the scenery, seeing vicunas and alpacas at the estancias, with their amazing stone corrals, I put on my headphones and cranked up CSNY and the Allman Brothers. I lowered my cap so no one could see my tears. It was the most alone I have ever felt, or so I thought.

We arrived at Lake Titicaca and were met by a doctor who performed a brief exam of Lisa. He confirmed our fears, high pulmonary edema and he also suspected a mild brain edema, her blood oxygen was 70%, he advised she be taken to a local "clinic" as there are no hospitals in the immediate area adjacent to Puno. He warned me that the clinic is "primitive" and I imagined dirt floors and no windows. It was not THAT bad, but it had no heat or hot water. The daily temp range was 30-60 degrees.

They performed a chest x-ray and an EKG. The x-ray showed some fluid and the EKG did not indicate a heart attack, thank God. She was placed on oxygen, given IV fluids and appeared stable. After six months of ABVD chemo therapy a number of years ago Lisa'S veins are like think ropes in her arms. While the nurses were competent it takes an excellent phlebotomist to get an IV started and keep it running for any amount of time. Watching Lisa writhe in pain while they got an IV going was difficult but she is such a trooper and they got one going that remained viable for the duration of her stay. By this time it was 10pm. I left for the local supermarket to get her some food and basic neccessities. Upon return, Lisa was the same and resigned she would be there at least overnight. The nurses, as they always are, were quite competent and friendly. Language was a barrier, but such is life. I left for the hotel hoping I would see Lisa in the morning and that she would show imrovement. Leaving her there was quite demoralizing and again the loneliness crept in.... I could only imagine how she felt. : (

From the time we arrived I was in contact with our travel insurance company, who was incredibly supportive and friendly. We discussed options and began making arrangements to have Lisa air evacuated to Lima at sea level and then on to the United States. These things take time, to get a nurse from the US to Puno, arrange the flights and coordinate and confirm and approve benefits on the weekend, in Puno Peru. I spent the night on the phone, talking to doctors, nurses, case managers and plan administrators begging them to help. They needed information from the attending doctor and the medicsl clinic. It was the weekend and the insisted they were moving as quickly as they could........ I was supposed to be resting but how could I knowing how important it was to get Lisa home safely?

Thankfully Sunday morning arrived, I had not slept, eaten or showered since Saturday morning but received a text from Lisa. That was the best news I had received in a long time (I think since they told us "Lisa's cancer is in remission). I called a cab and headed over to see her and meet with the doctor. (I will write more about cab rides and other experiences on Peru later) While she was improving, she could not yet travel and the air ambulance arrangements were stalled for many reasons; the attending doctor seemed to keep changing her condition when updating the insurance company, the insurance company had challenges due to the weekend and my insistance on being included in any travel arrangements was out of the norm. We were scheduled to leave Monday afternoon and it was appearring I would be expected to leave Lisa and trust things would be handled. This was not going to happen. Lisa and I did not agree on this topic, but there was no time to argue. The end game was to get her stabilized and to sea level. We have the rest of our lives to argue..... : )

Sunday crawled along and sped by. We needed a plan. I am a planner by profession and a fixer by gender. Peruvians seem to think time is not an enemy but when faced with potentially losing the most precious person in your life, you need a plan. Lisa and I both insisted she would be on the flight on Monday, unless an air ambulance could arrive prior. The insurance company had made it clear to me that any air evac efforts would be for Lisa and her nurse, not me. If we missed the flight Monday afternoon and she was air evac'd I would have to make last minute travel arrangements. There is one flight a day from Juliaca to Lima and they were sold out for one week in advance.  The flights from Lima to the US would be a bit easier, but I would fly standby at great expense.... But money is not an issue when dealing w life or death of my precious wife. 

There was a surgeon in the tour group, Dr. Cristal Cunningham. An amazingly unique person we had befriended on the first day. A deep and gentle soul. I called her and enlisted her assistance w the insurance company and the attending doctor at the clinic. Including her Sunday afternoon made all the difference in the world and in hindsight was critical to the eventual result. Having a medical advocate changed many peoples perspectives. And she helped validate each step of the plan. Lisa was improving but growing impatient and scared that she would be left alone, despite my statements to the contrary. We attempted to arrange permission for oxygen on the plane, this required 48 hours advance approval by the airline and $100 paid in cash in Bolivia, the tour group could help w the payment but not the time. The air evac was still over 24 hours away and while this was still an option it caused other ripples that we would not prefer. The only viable solution was to get Lisa on the plane on Monday afternoon with me and the group. She would have to clear a medical evaluation by the doctor and appear healthy at the airport to board the plane, as the airline could deem her unfit to fly. Additionally, if she became ill on the flight the airline could divert the flight and offload Lisa so they could continue. Dr. Cunningham assured me we could get her to pass the evaluation but suggested we arrange to have oxygen in a private transport between Puno and Juliaca, a 1.5 hour drive. She began to work on the doctor, insisting Lisa was improving, she really was. I began working w the tour group to arrange oxygen and private transport. Time was running out, it was now Sunday evening and everyone in Puno was not working, except us. We found two oxygen bottles, empty. No way to fill until Monday morning. We would have to trust they could be filled prior to our leaving. The doctor and Cristal reached agreement on the criteria Lisa must meet to be deemed safe to travel. These were levels she was already at and unless she digressed overnight she should be okay and discharged. Private transport was secured late Sunday through a local tour group manager who had just returned from Arequipa. Off to the supermarket to get Lisa some dinner and then back to the hotel to sleep, yeah right. Shopping in the market was quite the experience as well, worthy of a blog entry at a later date.

Monday morning arrived at breakneck snails speed.... The insurance company informed me that not following their plan of air evac would "leave us on our own" and require us to pay any and all expenses and submit for repayment when returning to the US. I had nothing to do but agree. Arguing was fruitless. Besides, all I cared about was getting Lisa to Lima, money did not matter at that moment. I received a text message from Lisa early Monday, she was hysterical, scared and needed to get out of the clinic as soon as possible. Her physical condition had improved but mentally she was begiinning to lose it, with good reason. No hot water, no heat, no care after hours, no changing of the bedding, no cleaning of the bathroom, no cleaning of the floors since she had been admiited. After a mild breakdown, I composed myself, called my new friend Pacho the cab driver and rushed to be with her, hopefully relieve her anxiety and get her the heck out of there.....

I was met by the doctor, he pronounced her fit to travel, like he had a choice. First hurdle cleared. We received a call that the oxygen was secured. Second hurdle cleared. Private transport arranged. Another hurdle. Let's go! 

Well wait a minute...... It seems the insurance company did not want to pay the doctor and the clinic after telling me that I would be responsible for expenses moving forward. I now had to pay both to get Lisa out. Holy crap! I had been thinking of money but not the whole bill. Did I have enough cash on hand or did I need to find a bank in Puno, get a cash advance and get back to pay the bills (doctor and clinic) before we needed to leave for Juliaca? The doctor presented a reasonable bill that I quickly paid before he changed his mind. His total fee was surely for less than one hour of a US doctors time. God was working with us this morning. I met him twice on Saturday, three times Sunday and once on Monday. Another hurdled cleared. He told me the clinic bill total. I was agreeable, perhaps too agreeable and began to count out 20's before walking downstairs to pay the bill. Yep, I had it. No problema. I rode the elevator down 5 floors and was presented a bill for 50% more than I was told 5 minutes prior. Holy shit. Now there WAS a problem, I needed to find some cash, fast. Dr. Cunningham to the rescue. She loaned me enough money to pay the bill and back downstairs I went with the exact amount, or so I thought. The doctor had ordered a lovenox shot, to prevent Lisa from having a DVT, during my scraping up the cash and I needed another $15 freakin dollars. Dr. Cunnignham to the rescue again. Okay, lets get the heck out of here before they add something else. We hopped into the private transport, driver, tour guide, Lisa, where the heck is Dr. Cunningham? El bano, really? Right now?! She shows up and off we go. Another hurdle cleared. 

The drive from Puno to Juliaca is like the road between Oatman and Kingman Arizona. Small, twisty, bumpy and with crazy drivers. Inside the town of Juliaca to get to the airport it gets worse. In Juliaca there are hundreds of taxis, little sedans, and thousands of people walking on small streets tightly lined with buildings. I was in a comfortable tour bus. There is no way Lise was comfortable in a small old van. It felt like we were smuggling someone out of the country, I was beginning to believe it would happen! We lost sight of the transport twice in Juliaca and I freaked out. Had they been in an accident? Had Lisa crashed? Did they get lost? The tour guide was in phone contact and they were fine.....

We finally arrived at the airport and headed to check in. Lisa waited in the van to remain on oxygen as long as possible. She needed to walk through security, wait to board and get on the plane without appearring too ill to travel. It seemed to take forever to get to the point we were ready for her. Okay, let's go. Through security into departure lounge. 20 minutes until we board... Crap! Arriving flight is delayed and transport with oxygen is on other side of security, no going back. Check of oxygen level 95% still good.... There is the plane, okay lets go. All we need is a pressurized cabin and we are at 8500 feet, a mild improvement from 13,000 feet. Juliaca airport does not use the jetways but stairs. Poor Lisa had to walk up 25 steps, yes I counted them, and appear healthy when greeted at the top. She did it! We were seated, the cabin pressurized and off into the wild blue yonder we went. I could now let all the emotion out and wept like a baby for about half the flight, all the while smiling like the man in love I am.

After a completely uneventful flight, we arrived safely in Lima late Monday afternoon. As promised, Lisa was feeling better almost immediately. What wonderful news!  Walking down the same sidewalk where a week earler we had agreed that we were in for an adventure but had no idea what lie ahead.........

There are many side stories to this long winded diatribe that I hope to share later. Lisa's version will vary slightly. I am sure pleased to be sitting next to her on the flight home. I love her more every day. Her strength and courage are enviable, but if you are reading this you already know that about her. She inspires me daily to be a better person.

I will also post pictures over the next few days. I took two pics of Lake Titicaca from the hotel room. Lisa will post some of hers from and of the clinic. The pics seem fairly inconsequential right now, maybe later.

Brad

Loved this young lady. Mature beyond her 17 years. Marisol, from Chinchero.

I believe prayers make a difference. So does hard work.

Dr. Cristal Cunningham

Cusco

We spent the day in Cusco kinda relaxing, walking around taking in the sights, acclimating to the elevation. Lisa is struggling a bit w altitude sickness so we are taking it slow. Peacticing my Spanish and using "NO Gracias" more than I would like to the street vendors. How many llama key chains does one person need?

Of course, Lisa is well enough to shop and we chilled for lunch in an incredible bakery drinking coca tea and sampling the baked goods. The favorable exchange rate is nice for the most part. The alpaca clothing is unbelievable, the styles very modern. Unfortunately, Southern California weather does not warrant more alpaca clothing. As Lisa said, " that's okay, I can buy more silver jewelry!" She has picked out some lovely pieces.... I am glad to see her having such fun.

Dinner with the group tonight, a nice buffet with traditinal and contemporary dishes. Some of the group is still experiencing the "Cusco Cleanse" but most are back to normal. Interestingly, the hotels have oxygen available for guests and you can buy canned oxygen at the pharmacy, heck you can buy most anything at the pharmacy....

8 hour bus ride tomorrow as we head to Lake Titicaca and Puno. We say goodbye to one of our guides, Edson. He is an extremely bright and articulate young man. Very polite and patient, he is a perfect example of the Peruvian people with a kind and gentle soul. While very proud, he respects others and treats them as if they are his family. A true gift to humanity and I am honored to have met him. 

We will reach over 14,000 feet above sea level.... Holy crap! Sunday we visit the floating Uros Islands. Hard to believe there are less days ahead of us than behind us on the trip..... It is an adventure, for sure.

A few pictures from today in Cusco.

Brad

Machu Picchu

Today was a long day, we were up at 4:50am, on the bus to train station at Ollantayambo 6am, arrived at Aguas Calientes at 8am and were walking through the gates to Machu Picchu at 9am. We spent 4-1/2 hours walking up and down, through and around the most amazing terraces with truly incredible stonework. The precision of the work, the size of the stones, the elevation the work was performed, the rugged terrain have me in shaking my head in wonder. Lisa was great, she normally is quite the scaredy cat when walking up or down steps without railings and uneven steps. We both kinda huffed and puffed our way around, but it was more than worth it. 

We met some llamas there, of course. A male cria and a really funny female. The feamle was quite standoffish with quite a few people wanting a picture w her, as she was adjacent to a main walkway. We tried a few tricks, but nothing.... A grabbed an empty water bottle (we are drinking ALOT of water) and crunched it in my hands..... That got her attention and over she came. Once people started feeding her she became quite friendly and a crowd gathered.

They were cutting the grass today and the rich, green smell permeated the whole site. It was very nice ~65 F with a breeze. But the sun is intense and I got a little sunburned. It got quite crowded as the day progressed, they get 2,500 people a day there. We met a young couple in line to catch the bus from MP to AC celebrating their honeymoon. They had hiked 4 days to get there and still had great attitudes, despite not having showered for 4 days. Nice people. It was really cool not experiencing people w attitudes or pissy behavior. The place was quiet, serene and obviously majestic. It is worth the trip.

We left MP about 1:30pm back to AC and had lunch w two of our tour friends at a nice place adjacent to the river. Aguas Calientes is quite busy with restaurants, hotels, hostels, camping, the train station and plenty of shopping. The Peruvian people are so warm, sincere and kind souls. Totally unpretentious, a quality I wish I could assign to myself. 

After lunch, back on the train, The Vistadome, back to Ollantaytambo. There was a small fashion show of alpaca products, which was cute. Very nice quality products at reasonable prices. We visited w other people in our tour group. By this time everyone was getting pretty tired and quiet.

At Ollantaytambo, back on the tour bus for a three hour ride to Cusco, our home for two days. Here we will visit a weaving museum, a couple of cathedrals from 1600's and of course..... More shopping for Lisa.  We arrived at 9pm, too tired to eat or even chat w our group. We all kinda sat and stared at each other waiting for room assignments. Thankfully, our tour organizer is handling our baggage and it is waiting in our rooms when we arrive....... 

We are in Cusco and feeling a bit weary but excited to get out and see the city. We elected to spend the day on our own, bypassing the group tours. I needed some time w just Lisa, telling her "NO" when wanting to shop : ). There is a central market where we can get a taste of local flavor, literally. Speaking of taste, I tried alpaca for the first time. It is very lean and tasty. I had a loin portion served medium. Of course. I could never eat one of ours but had to try it. Cusco is a large city and the architecture is amazing, mainly with Spanish influence. The roads are stone and narrow. The cabs about the size of a Smart Car. Today will be fun and relaxing with a dinner including all of our companeros to talk about the day and plan our long journey tomorrow to ~14,000 feet at Lake Titicaca. Some of our group have experienced the "Cusco Cleanse" and are look quite bleak. I will let you figure it out.....

Okay, out for a day a fun a frivolity, followed by a pisco sour. They are 2 for 1 everywhere. : )

Brad

Machu Picchu

Look at the size of that stone!

The grass "fields"

Maras and Maray

We spent the day visiting Maras and Maray. Maras is a salt spring that feeds evaporation pools providing a unique pink salt, among other minerals. The engineering of these salt evaporators on the side of a mountain is remarkable in that the have been built, maintained and the salt mined w/o mechanical equipment. Their are over 300 pools Nd the elevation from the spring to the lowest pool is over 150 feet. All fed from a mountain spring providing 10 gallons per minute. All of this at ~10,000 feet above sea level. I am not certain the pics do it justice. 

Maray is a pre-Incan agricultural area designed to low the natives an opportunity to control the soil conditions ( acidity/alkalinity), temperature by change in elevation, rainfall (by flooding certain levels), and other conditions. They uses this info to decide what they would grow where within the empire. Again, the engineering is outstanding! We hikes to the bottom and it was 18 degrees warmer at the bottom than the top. Even the youngsters were winded from this hike at 10,000 feet. 

We started the day at a local "farmers" market. Corn, potatoes, quinoa, beans, pigs, chickens, ducks, cuy (guinea pig, tastes like greasy chicken) along with ropes, alpaca garments and a sheep soup ( w all parts of the sheep included, NOPE did not try it) all being sold by locals competing w each other for customers. They used bullhorns to advertise their wares. Really interesting and busy. 

Brad

Ollantaytambo

I'll post more photos later but look at the incredible cutting on these rocks.

Ok, I'm back (today is July 29, 2014) with more photos from Ollantaytamba, Peru. BTW, this is Lisa posting.

Irrigation from the time of the Incans

I'll add more photos of this structure in a moment to give you a better idea of its size and scale relative to the rest of the area. We were told this was used to store food such as seeds (corn, beans, etc.) for long periods of time. The winds that blew here were very effective in drying and preserving the food.

That looks like one tricky hike up there. 

Remains of yet another structure high up the side of the mountain.

Beautiful cut stones with lichens growing on them.

Crazy people! Brad is one of them.

 

Casa Andina. Wow!

The hotel is amazing. The grounds incredible and the stars at night as bright as I have ever seen. There is a planetarium I plan to visit tonite. Unless I fall asleep before I hit the pillow, like last evening. 

We are headed out to a couple of small villages today, Maras  and Morey. One is a salt mining town the other an agricultural center. 

Brad

This is Lisa, back on July 29, 2014 to add some photos. I loved this place.

What a day!

Up at 5:30, flight from Lima to Cusco, then a 3 hour bus ride to Ollantaytambo with a short stop for lunch at Chinchero. Chinchero was amazing, lunch w locals and a presentation of weaving and dying of alpaca wool using flowers and plants. The presenter, Marisol, is a 17yo beauty. 

Ollantaytambo is an Incan ruin of amazing proportion. 

Headed to dinner with our group, everyone needing/wanting a beer or a pisco sour. 

Brad

This is Lisa adding more photos. I really enjoyed the day.

That "cute" little adobe house in the background, complete with balconies... Is home for our lunch. Can you say cuy? Koo-eee. Or... Guinea pig!

Wow, the women walk, run, carry stuff and spin yarn the entire time.

Materials used to make dyes for the yarn. Everything from flowers, to seeds, to parasitic insects scraped off cacti plants. 

Holy cow! Or should I say "pig?" Guinea pig, that is! When asked why they were cooked with the heads on it was explained that was so the people were certain they weren't eating rats. I struggle with this distinction.

Every detail was just perfectly done.

Brad looks great in red. What a smile.

Demonstrating how the wonderful colors are achieved.