Machu Picchu - photos 2

Machu Picchu (2430m):
- The "Prison group" of the City,
- The Agricultural Sector of the City with the typical Inca terraces,
- Admiring the Condor Sector of the city. The scenery was spectacular!,
- Lee on the way down. We did not take the bus on the way back but we took the trail through the "jungle". Obviously it took us longer but it was a superb environment,
- Leaving the "Historical Sanctuary of Machu Picchu". After the bridge over the Urubamba river, there was still 2km more to go in the rain which was increasing by the minute. By the time we reached "Aguas Calientes" or now "Machu Picchu village", it was p****** down!

Machu Picchu - photos 1

Machu Picchu (2430m) :
- Us in front of the ruins. We have not been very lucky with the weather! Woken up at 4.30am to buy the ticket at 5.00am and take the first bus at 5.30am, we arrived at the "Puerta del Sol" or Sungate to observe the sunrise and have a panoramic view of the ruins. Unfortunately for us, a very thick fog was covering the Inca city which did not disappear for all day. Furthermore it was spitting!,
- After more than an hour waiting, the fog became less dense for 5 min only so we could admire the Machu Picchu!!,
- Mid morning, the fog was still here and I was freezing! Very difficult to smile with this awful weather knowing that the day before it was sunny!
- View of the sector "Hanan" of the city (pyramidal form) with in the background, the Huayna Picchu which signifies "young mountain" in contrast to Machu Picchu which means "old mountain".
- The central place of the City.

Sacred valley - Ollantaytambo - photos

Ollantaytambo (2850m) in the Sacred Valley of the Incas:
- Main stairs leading to the Inca fortress,
- Parts of the walls and fortress,
- In front of the very imposing mountain with gravity defying houses clinging to the side!,
- View of the Inca terraces used for crop cultivation,
- Partial view of the village built on 2 mountains.

Sacred valley - Chinchero and Moray- photos

Chinchero (3760m) and Moray (3575m) in the Sacred Valley of the Incas:
- Inca agricultural ruins of Chinchero,
- Stairs in Chinchero leading to the top of the village, pretty steep!!,
- Inca ruins of Moray. It is an archeological site composed by a group of 4 elliptic platforms called "Muyus", possible used for agricultural research. Each ring is at a different altitude and therefore temperature so the study of the effect of the different conditions on crop growth could be determined,
- Lee is mid-way from the bottom of the biggest "Muyus", 150meters deep!. The guy at the bottom looks very small!.

Sacred valley - Pisaq - photos

Pisaq in the Sacred Valley of the Incas:
-Part of the footpath we took to reach the fortress,
- Final steps prior to reaching the top of the mountain. I can't remember how many steps we used, too many!!,
- "Q'allaqasa" or the citadel,
- "Intihuatana" or "the temple of the sun",
- Parade of kids in traditional costumes, full of colours, preciseness and of course laughs!

Cuzco - photos

Cuzco, historical capital of Peru (and capital of the Inca empire in the past of course!):
- Church "Compania de Jesus" on the main place, "la Plaza de Armas",
- View from the Plaza de Armas. All around the place, Inca palaces can be seen like the "Inka Roq'a" here right in the picture ,
- Typical local woman. For a couple of soles, she posed for tourists with her baby and a baby lama,
- The bells from the church "Compania de Jesus" and from the Convent "La Merced" in the background,
- View from the window of our hostel situated in the San Blas district.

Colca canyon - photos 2

Colca canyon:
- Lee in the swimming pool. Each hostel in the Oasis had its own pool with natural water. The water was too cold for me! In the background one of the habitation made of bamboo stick only possessing a bed made also in bamboo,
- Sunrise on the Oasis. We left the camp at 6.00am,
- The trail we took on our way back to Cabanaconde. Very steep indeed!! I was happy as I arrived at the top of the valley in 3hrs (average)!!,
- In our trip to the Canyon, we met Oyana and Enico (hope I am spelling their names correctly!), a nice couple from Pamplona, north of Spain (right of the picture). We met also Sam (picture) and Shayne (not on the picture) from New Zealand.
- Lee in front of the bus company with a little dog (on his left). This dog, named Alonso by Sam and Shayne, followed the guys all along the trail to the Canyon and the Oasis. Apparently, he does this every couple of days! We found him again in Cabanaconde. We waited here 3h30 as the bus we were supposed to take had been canceled!

Colca canyon - photos 1

Colca canyon:
- The bus from Arequipa to Cabanaconde was full of locals. Here at Chivay, they are in front of the bus collecting their belongings (lots of heavy bags!) which were held on the bus roof. On the right, people in the queue are hoping having a seat to go to Cabanaconde. For information, the queue system in Peru is far from being perfect and you need to play with your elbows...,
- On the way down from Cabanaconde (3287m). Colca canyon is one the deepest canyons in the world. It tooks us 3h30 to reach the bridge "San Juan" and the river Colca which is the deepest point,
- Lee, on the way down, with his new hat, was playing at the cowboy sheriff!,
- View of Sangalle, the "Oasis Paradise", which was our objective after a 8hrs walking journey. The track seen on the right was the one we took from a village called Malata to reach the Oasis where we spent the night. On the left, the track we took on the way back..,
- Superb church from Malata village. The villages at this side of the valley were only accessible by small trails.

Arequipa (Peru from here) - photos

Arequipa in Peru:
- View of the "Plaza de Armas",
- The Catedral situated in the "Plaza de Armas",
- View of the Misti volcano (5825m) from the Mirador of Yanahura,
- View of the "campina" or countryside with in the background the Chachani volcano (6075m),
- Sunset on the Plaza de Armas with beautiful golden colours.

update

The blog has been updated with lots of pictures! Please check the current page and the previous ones.

Le blog a ete mis a jour avec plein de photos! Regarde la page actuelle et les precedentes.

Copacabana (Titicaca Lake) - photos 2

Copacabana - Isla del Sol (main island on the Titicaca Lake, bolivian side)

-Cha´llampampa town, north of the island where we were waiting the return boat to Copacabana,

-View of the island with typical terrasses,

-Visiting the Inca ruins north of the island. Superb colours,

-The same wall but with Lee in front,

-The Isla de la Luna. Picture taken from the Isla del Sol.

Copacabana (Titicaca Lake) - photos 1

Copacabana:

- El Puerto de Copacabana where lots of small boats, pedalos...can be rented,

- Lee is watching the nice view of the town from the Mirador,

- At the top of the Mirador, a Bolivian woman was on her way to wrap up her baby...,

- The same Bolivian woman with her baby on her back using the typical colourful blanket. Please use these pictures for advice to how to carry your baby on your back!

- Sunset on the Lago Titicaca.