Cuzco and beyond...

We arrived in Cuzco On Monday morning. Surprisingly, the 11,000 ft altitude did not hit as hard as we thought. Then again, mate de coca is extremely important. My friends family recomended this recipe for coping with the altitude in Cuszo: 1 cup of mate de coca tea, 1 hour of rest, a light meal, then to¨Take it easy¨ for the rest of the first day. Believe it or not, this worked well! After a little rest we went on a tour of Cuzco. We saw several important Inca sites and began to really understand the signifacnce of each location. My dad, brother, and I really began to understand the Spanish influence on the Inca culture (mostly bad).

Brother, Dad and I at Sacsayhuaman (sexy woman)

Just outside of Cusco a woman weaves the wool of a baby Alpaca.

We caught the first morning train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes (the base town of Machu Picchu). Once we arrived we made a bee line to the park. We explored the ancient city for a few hours and then decided to hot tub it and call it an afternoon.

Ryan in one of the famous windows at Machu Picchu.

I may or may not have chased this llama for 20 minutes.

The next morning, I got in line at 5:30 am to climb Huayana Picchu, the mountain in the back-drop of the city at Machu Picchu. Only 400 people are aloud to climb Huayana Picchu every day and I was planning on being one of the first. The ticketing started at 6 a.m. and the gates opened at 7. I was the 10th person through the gates and the barely the 3rd to summit. This took just under and hour. Don´t go thinking that this was an easy hike. This was around 40 switchback stair cases that were straight up. The altitude at the base was arount 8000 ft and at the top, close to 9000. I was sucking wind so hard by my 20th step, but got into the crove after 15 mintues or so. This was my favorite part of my experience at Machu Picchu.


The summit of Huayana Picchu. One of the hardest, yet most rewarding hikes I have taken.

After Leaving Machu Picchu, we took a train to the sacred valley. Curently, I am staying in the Sonesta Hotel in Yucay, which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere (I love it). More updates coming soon.