Maccu-Piccu and Cuzco too...

Cuzco, Peru

Hello all. Man I was doing so well, I had you all caught up and everything, but then I guess I got a little arrogant in my sucess and now I'm all behind again. We last left you in Montanita for carnaval I believe. Let's see now the next big thing to happen was Spring Break, which meant the end of my studying in Quito (I am now working in an internship on a small island, but we'll have to save that for another email), and the arrival of my mother for visit for a few weeks. This was exciting, since in all my travels and all my working in various places, this was the first time that she was able to make it down to visit me, and her first time travelling in a number of years. We spent her first few days in Quito. She got to meet my Quito parents and experience the attitude, altitude and culture of my home of the last six months. Then, since I was ready to go somewhere outside of Ecuador, we headed off to Cuzco, Peru. Cuzco is a city whose beauty almost makes up for the massive infestation of tourists and the locals who inevitably capitalize on such an infestation. It's full of beautiful churches, narrow cobblestone passageways, and cute little girls traditionally dressed holding baby goats and badger you to take their picture for 50 cents. Despite the annoyance of so many touristas (which I do realize, I am apart of) the sacred valley around Cuzco is incredible. I have never seen so much evidence of an ancient civilization infused with modern life. The first day we were there, we went to a cool little market that was run by a womens co-op, and it wasn't long before we joined the mass of sheepish gringos walking around, wondering how in the hell we're going to get that entirely unnecessary huge alpaca blanket home. The next day we headed off to Macchu Piccu, the real reason for our trip. The only way to get there is to take a train that runs between magnificent craggy peaks and churning blue rivers. We made it to the town of Aguas Calientes, spent the night and were ready to go up to Macchu Piccu in the morning.

When we entered the park it was in a cloud. We could barely see ten feet in front of us. Grey Incan walls materialized out of nowhere from the swirling white mist. As mother is like son, we didn't bother to bring much of a map into the ruins, trusting that our superior sense of direction and animal like instincts would guide us through the sprawling ruins without any effort. We were lost immediately. Once a park worker pointed us back on the right track we wandered down into the ruins. The city itself is straddles a sharp ridge between two jagged mountains, and is surrounded by beautiful green terraces that stair-step down into deep valleys below as far as the eye can see. But as of yet we didn't know this, since our eyes couldn't see a damn thing. I read in my book that we could easily climb the mountain that overlooked the ruins, so after stumbling blindly through the ruins we finally found the trail head. The sign cheerfully told us that it was just a short 40 minute hike, and we thought "hey no problem" and since we couldn't see the mountain at that moment, we decided to take their word for it. I'm not sure when Tenzig Norgay visited the park, but a forty minute hike it was not. It was an hour or two of hiking straight up, much of it stairs. In some places the park thoughtfully provided a rope, but in other places, not. Now though my mother has always been an adventurous spirit, a mountaineer she's not. But slowly and surely we made our way up the mountain and when we got to the top, the clouds broke and we were finally rewarded with a stunning view of not only the ruins but of the craggy peaks and never ending valleys below. We made our way back down and were able to explore the ruins in daylight, taking some amazing photos of the ruins. The city is a jumble of geometry with square windows set into triangular walls that overlook rectangular plazas and are built with perfect fitting smooth stones.

The next day we found out that a landslide had taken out the train tracks and we ended up stranded in Aguas Calientes for a couple of days. I had been trying to buy a return ticket ever since we had come, but had been thwarted for different reasons every time. My chagrin increased when I found out that the ticketholders were being flown out by helicopter. Damn, that would have been cool. In the end we had to hike out past the landslide where a train picked us up. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I see that this is getting a bit long, and so I'll cut it short saying that we enjoyed the rest of my Mom's visit. Anyway, next time I will try to update the endeavor that I am partaking in now, but for now I wish you all a good night. Moe.