What happened to May?

I didn't post at all in May and there are 2 really, really good reasons for that:

1. Finals. I passed in my last assignment for grad school on May 10th. So I am all graduated!
2. Visitors. Friends from the States - Celia, Eric and Marilyn - arrived on May 12th and the last of them left on June 1st.

So I celebrated the first by partying with the second - Colorado-style. We traveled to Cuzco for a week, the highlight of which was our trek from some small town outside of Cuzco city, past the peak of Salkantay, and into Machu Picchu.

Mother nature threw everything at us on our hike, from wind, freezing cold and hail, to rain, heat, and high humidity. There were times our trip was distinctly uncomfortable, which included our first night's camp in the shadow of Salkantay peak (the temperature had to be close to freezing; I don't think any of us was warm enough to sleep); the day after the sky opened up and poured torrents on us and all of our clothes and packs were still soaking wet; and the night we spent in a moldy, mildewy, humid hostel in Aguas Calientes. But there were also really wonderful moments that more than made up for the difficulties: like surviving the hike up near Salkantay and reaching my first destination over 15,000 feet (4600 meters, or 15, 092 feet), walking through such beautiful scenery (woods, mountains, an eerie mist-filled "valley", jungle), and finally making it to one of the manmade wonders of the world, Machu Picchu (although the climb up Wayna Picchu nearly killed me - damn you, Incas; you and your freakin' stairs!). Oh, and I mustn't forget the discovery of such wonders as Romeo, so nasty. That one alone kept us going for the whole week...

This first image is of Salkantay peak, taken as I huffed and puffed and nearly had a heart attack climbing up to our first camp site. The altitude and lack of oxygen had me chowing down on coca leaves the whole time, or at least attempting to when I could breathe well enough to chew.


This, of course, was our campsite under the peak of Salkantay. Saying that it was cold is an understatement. I stupidly packed at 5AM for this trip, the day I left, and therefore forgot a few key essentials: a hat, gloves, and a change of underwear. That last item wasn't exactly essential on the first night, but by the time we returned to the city I am sure that even the rural folk could smell me coming.


I look stupid, but that's likely because some of my better brain cells died off due to the altitude. So here I am, vacantly contemplating the pile of stones some other hiker (or potentially a Peruvian just traveling through) created in the hopes of attaining some wish.

Despite the fact that this was the day that it rained on us all afternoon, this was my favorite part of the hike, and not just because we were coming down off of that damn mountain. You can see that we were basically hiking in the clouds, which lent the whole scenery this eerie glow, kind of like the effect you get from dry ice or a fog machine. The rocks and greenery also really reminded me of Ireland. Go figure.

This is what I lovingly refer to as a "banana bush." Marilyn thinks these plants are something right out of The Lorax. Whatever; they're just pretty.

This was our camp the second night - there were actually other people there, amazing! Clearly we were staying on some rural Peruvian's farm, but we were happy because they had an outhouse (an outhouse!). And it was pretty clean, considering how many backpackers were staying there.

This shot is our entire hiking group at some ancient observatory just across the way from Machu Picchu. From l-r: Eric, Marilyn, Luis (our guide), Kasey, Celia, Rachel, and me. We probably look so happy because we actually stopped hiking for more than 10 seconds.

This was supposed to be a picture of us jumping over Machu Picchu, but you really can't see it in the background, now can you? Well, trust me, it's there. It would have been a mere speck, but it was there. And so we just walked down this mountain and up the next one and we were there.

Just a lovely hiking shot.

Watch out for falling rocks.

Finally! Machu Picchu, in the mid-morning sunlight. We had probably already been there at least 4 hours (something about being at the bus stop around 4:45AM to be on the first shuttle up). That pointy looking mountain thing in the background is Wayna Picchu.

Requisite self-portrait - if by self-portrait you mean "Make Marilyn take your picture."

Marilyn, myself, and Celia made it (in glorious fashion) to the top of Wayna Picchu. In the distant background is Machu Picchu. Note that if you turn your computer screen completely upside down, the outline of Machu Picchu is the shape of a condor, an animal that was very important to the Incas.

Also note that a lot of tourists die each year by falling off the top of Wayna Picchu. There is no limit to the number of people up there, other tourists will not move to make room for you, and you are scrambling across open rock. It's not exactly pleasant. Three days after we took this photo, another American tourist fell to his death from there. Luckily for us, all we accomplished was overcoming Marilyn's fear of heights.

No words are needed to describe the joy.