We had a wonderful time going to a Polynesian restaurant and show!! The music and dancers were fantastic!! John kept receiving decibel warnings because the music and singing were loud at times! I was especially fun because we had seats right on the first row!!The band was fantastic!! I loved the drums!!
This was a fantastic day to see Moai!! We went to about 4 different sites to see a range of Moai. I liked the personality of this guy.We started our tour today by visiting this Moai site. All the Moai here were knocked down face-first indicating that someone lost a fight and the victors knocked down the other group’s Moai face-first to humiliate the losing group.The support structure (Ahu) for these Moai were not interconnected as we saw by the Incas in Peru. The thought is that these were built by Polynesians and never by the Incas because the structure is so different.Although knocked-down, this guy was clearly seen.This is a top-not that used to be on top of a Moai.Although there has been quite a bit of erosion, this guys face is clearly seen.We next drove to another site and this statue is of a famous king on the island.As we learned about the Moai, it was beautiful to watch the Pacific ocean waves burst on the lava rock!!This next site also showed the three Moai had been knocked down face-first.Although substantial erosion has occurred, you can still clearly see this guys face and arms.Although face-down, it was still amazing to see how large and heavy this huge statues were. All kinds of theories have been proposed for how they were moved from the quarry to the edge of the ocean.I loved to watch the Pacific waves crash on the lava rock!!This guy seemed comfortable with his view of the ocean!I absolutely love these flowers!! They are a bright red-orange and seem to grow everywhere on Easter Island!!I love seeing all the bright colors all over Easter Island!!We moved to another location and you can see this Moai had his neck broken. It is noted that it is face-up, so maybe it fell over from erosion rather than someone pushing it over.We next drove to the quarry site and saw many, many Moai!!The rock in the background is where these Moai were carved to create these statues!!This guys face is very clear despite extensive erosion over the years!!It was amazing to see so many statues in one area!!I liked the personality of this guy!!This guy was impressive to me!!This guy is leaning over so far, it makes me wonder how much longer it will remain upright?I was amazed how many Moai were found near the quarry!!There were statues in every direction!!This is the largest Moai found on Easter Island. It was never finished. It still has a keel along its back since the carving was not totally finished.This Moai was still be carved.This statue is unique because he is kneeling. It is the only Moai found on the island where he is kneeling.I could not comprehend how a people had carved so many statues!!This guy seem somber to me.These Moai almost seemed to be talking to each other!!I was impressed with the craftsmanship!!We moved to another location on the island and saw this statue. For a period of time, this statue was moved to Japan and put on display there!!Changing the angle a bit, you can see 15 Moai lined up along the ocean right behind this same guy!!Within the string of Moai, this guy was the tallest.A crane was used in more recent times to move all these Moai together!!It was a massive undertaking to move these statues that were so heavy!!Within this row of Moai, this is the guy that I liked the most!!Near the Moai was the mountain with storm clouds moving in!!I simply love all the colors of hibiscus!!The colors of flowers is spectacular!!After learning about Moai, we went to the beach!!We close the day on Easter Island with a beautiful sunset seen under the storm clouds!!
We arrived in Easter Island today!! This island is in the middle of nowhere!! It is still part of Chile! We are way out in the South Pacific!! As we exited the airport, we were greeted with these beautiful flowers!! It reminds me of a rustic Hawaii. My friend John thinks it is more like Guam.Everywhere you look, there are beautiful flowers. The bird of paradise has always been one of my favorite flowers!!I was captivated by the gorgeous hibiscus flowers!! I do not remember ever seeing such a vibrant pink hibiscus.This Moai is one of the main reasons people visit Easter Island!! This Moai is the only statue on the island that still has eyes. These guys are massive!! They were carved in another section of Easter Island and then moved to the coast of the island.This Moai is near the Moai with eyes, but this guy has lost some of his features as the statue has degraded over time.Everywhere you walk around this Moai’s eyes follow you!!These Moai are not in as great of shape as the Moai with eyes. The pedestal where the Moai sit are called an Ahu.This view shows how close the Moai sit to the Pacific Ocean!This very large red hibiscus really captured my attention. It is on the road, right next to our hotel!! Absolutely stunning!!
Our tour of Santiago first started at this famous church. The roof is unique compared to many churches.“Palabra de Dios” means the word of God. This is an important statement!I liked the simplicity of these candles!Santiago was named after the apostle Santiago ( apostle James).
This curved building was designed after French architecture.This plaque remembers people held and killed because of their political beliefs opposing Pinochet’s dictatorship.These were terrific strawberries and cherries!!I liked this motorized bicycle!!This building is part of the most famous university in Santiago.This building was designed to mimic New York and was built as a triangle.This is the original Chilean stock exchange. Now, most everything in conducted online.This is the Chilean Presidential Palace!! The car seen by the entrance is a 1966 Ford Galaxie gifted to Chile by the Queen Elizabeth of England. In enjoyed these colorful windmills!!I liked the design of this classic building!These horses were guarding the Presidential Palace!I always enjoy seeing the flags of different countries!This shinny “living statue guy” painted in gold created quite crowd in this park. It was fun to watch him move around.I thought this jacaranda was beautiful with its purple flowers!!We rode a “funicular” to the top of a nearby mountain that had a great view of Santiago!! This is an incredible large city of almost 10 million people!!There are buildings in every direction!!On the top of this hill is this statue honoring the virgin Mary and the immaculate conception. The Pope visited here and blessed the area.This photo shows the high Andes mountains that surround Santiago!!We rode these gondolas back down the mountain!I enjoyed the rich colors of these flowers!!I enjoyed looking at the two-toned colors of these flowers!!Bougainvilleas grow very well in Santiago and I loved this rich purple color!!
I bought this poncho today!! I was not planning to buy anything, but it is so incredibly soft from the baby alpacas that I could not resist the purchase.Within Cusco, we first visited a large Inca ruin site, right in the middle of Cusco!! It was amazing to see the craftmanship of the ruins.We were amazed to see how precisely the stones were cut as the walls were built. The elevation of this was was 11,800 feet above sea level. Walking up and down the steps made me become short of breath very quickly!!It was incredible to see the width of the stones through the door openings!!The stones were huge!!I was impressed with the detail of the rocks as the wall was constructed!How tour guide brought us to this section of the wall to emphasize the enormous weight of the cut rocks!!I have no idea how they cut the stones into such weird shapes and fit everything together!!The Incas designed this waterspout to all water to drain from the upper level!!This statue of Jesus overlooking Cusco mimics the famous statue in Brazil.We kept walking and walking and the wall just seemed to go on and on.The name of this Inca ruin is “Saqsaywaman.” The Peruvians who know English call it “sexy woman.”This is a long-haired llama and he loved seeing us!!These long-haired llamas were fun to see!!This short-haired llama was showing his teeth and wanting something to eat!!I thought this fuzzy alpaca was especially cute!!This guy was quite inquisitive!!This long necked llama was shaggy, but very soft!!This long-haired llama was amazing. The tour guide said he looked like he had dreadlocks. This dog is an actual “hairless” dog. She was quite friendly!!This alpaca was incredibly soft!!They seemed to see fine through their shaggy hair.I thought this guy was very cute!!I was impressed with all the colors of the llamas!!This alpaca was so soft!!This llama was checking everyone out!!This llama had such different colored hair!!He looks shaggy, but his hair is so incredibly soft!!This llama was short-haired!!This was a Peruvian deer that liked to get into mischief and eat the flowers.These women were taking the hair and making different articles.I thought the weaving design was beautiful!The type and color of hat indicates where the ladies are from in Peru.My new poncho is reversible!!We next went to another Inca site within Cusco. I was so impressed with their building precision!! This is looking through a window in a wall and it shows how a series of windows were lined up perfectly!!The doorways had the same trapezoidal design that we saw at Machu Picchu.Over the Inca site, the Spanish built this convent. The straight lines were built by the Incas and the arches were built by the Spanish.This is a view from the convent out over Cusco. In the distance you can see “Viva el Peru”
Today was a very fun day!! We drove to Chinchero and watched a demonstration about how these rural women took raw alpaca, lamb, and vicuna wool, died the wool, and then created hand-made items for sale. These women were incredibly talented!! I came very close to buying this poncho!!This is a menu at a restaurant across the street from our hotel. They are advertising the foods available on the menu. Cuy is guinea pig, ceviche is the raw fish in lime juice and spices, gallina is a Peruvian chicken stew, and anticucho is a popular Peruvian meat dish usually made from beef heart. It was certainly fascinating!!This is a statue of Pachacuti. He was the first historical emperor of the Incas. He is highly regarded by the Peruvian people.We ate lunch today in Chinchero. It is high in the Andes at 12,450 feet above sea level!! The air was so thin that one of our travel mates needed to receive oxygen. They served us a wonderful series of foods. This photo is of a fantastic potato soup with a variety of vegetables and spices.On the table was a basket of things we thought was a decoration assortment of rocks. It turns out that these were corn nuts that were dried and baked to make them nice and crunchy. They were great!!This food was a shock! Next, the woman carried in a plate of cooked guinea pig!! Everyone was shocked!! A few minutes after this photo was taken, she served a series of pieces of guinea pig meat. I did not think I would eat it, but once it was sitting in front of us, most everyone picked it up and tried it. The skin was tough, but the meat tasted like pork. I would probably never order it, but a taste seemed not too bad to try.We enjoyed looking at all the products these women created. From ponchos, to bedspreads, to table clothes, these ladies had made some fantastic products!! My favorite aspect was all the colors!!They provided a demonstration of how they began with raw wool, cleaned it, and started to create thread.It was interesting to watch how quickly their fingers moved to get ready to weave the wool.This massive bedspread was the work of 10 different women each making a panel and then weaving all the panels together. It required several months to create it!!My favorite part of the demonstration was how the dying process worked. The showed different plant parts and insects (in the baskets on top of the table) that were crushed, placed in boiling water and then the wool was placed in the mixture. We were shown different product that created the various colors. My favorites with the blues and purples. It was fascinating to watch!!
Today I checked-off a major bucket list item!! After decades and decades, I was finally able to visit Machu Picchu! It was wonderful to see. We had the son breaking through the clouds when we first arrived, and later it started raining as we walked throughout the ruins.
Machu Picchu is very famous and is know to be one of the seven wonders of the world!! It is also a UNESCO world heritage site. It was built by the Incas and was never discovered by the Spanish when the colonized Peru.
The Andes are very steep mountains. All around Machu Picchu there are these impressive mountains. Machu Picchu is located where the sun rises during the summer and winter solstices. There were impressive buildings all over Machu Picchu. These ruins may be largest in the entire world. The Inca trail is longer than the great wall of China.It is amazing to me that these structures are still standing and in such great shape.It has been great for John and I to have connected and enjoyed such a fabulous trip together after being roommates 49 years ago.It was so beautiful to see the sun break through the clouds and shine directly on Machu Picchu while the other areas were still in shadows.It is jaw-dropping to see how huge the ruins are!!Everyone loves to have their photo taken with the ruins in the background!! This lady was arranging her hand to appear above one of the nearby mountains.I love the Peruvian colors!!These woman were great modeling before the ruins!!I could not get over how closely and carefully the stones were cut!!These walls pointed toward the east. On the other side of the mountains in the distance in the Amazon!The craftsmanship of the cut stones was so impressive!!The Andes are the longest mountain range in the world!! This massive terrace section was overwhelming! I enabled crops to grow on the steep slopes!!All the walls, buildings, and doors just kept going and going!!The doorways were designed to be trapezoids by the Incas because it made them more stable against earthquakes!!This is a famous section of Machu Picchu! This structure was designed for worshiping the “son god.” During the summer and winter solstices, the sun shines directly through two of these windows. It was very impressive engineering to be constructed so long ago by the Incas!!I absolutely loved walking through all the buildings in Machu Picchu!!This appears to be the largest home in Machu Picchu. Since it is the largest, it is probably where the king lived.The beautiful flower is called an Angel Trumpet. The grow all around Machu Picchu.This is the western side of Machu Picchu. I am simply amazed by its size and complexity!!The section shows where the base of Machu Picchu was unstable and a section of the wall has shifted. The Peruvian government has stabilized this section to prevent further damage.These lamas live in Machu Picchu. They largely ignore the visitors and enjoy the beauty and grazing in their home.Lamas and people share and enjoy the same trails throughout the ruins!!It was almost a celebration to walk through Machu Picchu in the drizzling rain. It created a special feeling and reverence.I enjoyed the deep greenery throughout the ruins!!There seemed to be large terraces in every direction!!The construction and design was amazing!!The walls were thick to withstand earthquakes!!This lama peeking his head above the ridge seemed interested watching me walk by.This mountain in the background is actually called Machu Picchu mountain!!
Today was another fantastic day in Peru!! How day was filled with wonderful sites to see and great people to meet. This was the courtyard right outside my hotel room. I love all the colors in Peru!!I loved the clouds above this church that was next to our hotel!!I loved the simplicity and beauty of the flowers in Peru!!We started our day visiting the local market!! It was amazing to see so many items. These chickens were popular for people to buy.Their market was an eye-popping explosion of color and sounds!!All the fruits and vegetables available for purchase were amazing!!Every food imaginable was there for purchase. Grains to vegetables. Meats to fruits.This woman could cut up a chicken faster than I could watch her move it around on her work counter!!These chickens were amazing to me!!I loved the attire of so many Peruvian women!! Their hats were absolutely marvelous!!These were some of the fattest I have every seen!!I enjoyed watching these ladies do business as the woman with the hat was buying her groceries.These chilies and ginger looked so good!!I loved all the colors of the vegetables and fruits!!It was amazing to walk through the market and enjoy so many great foods!!Peruvians appreciate great and colorful food!!Some items were spicy and others not so much!!There seemed to be no end to the great foods the vendors were selling!!I liked the eggplants and limes too!!I absolutely loved the hat this lady wore as she was selling her strawberries!!This fish was brought in from the Peruvian cost to the Sacred Valley.Peruvians certainly love their bread products!!After we spent time in the market, we rode in “tuk-tuks” to Urubamaba.
John and I had fun sharing a “tuk-tuk”!!After lunch we went to Ollantaytambo!! This was an impressive placed filled Inca and pre-Inca ruins. There were also many shops in the area. It was amazing!!Peruvian people were going through their normal day as tourists flooded the area to see the amazing sites!!I enjoyed the colors of these items hanging between shops!!It was fun to watch the colorful ornaments move with the breeze!!It was shocking to stand before these terraces and realize they were all built so soundly by the Incas so long ago!!Everyone fell in love with the alpacas happily eating along the terraces!!These guys were giving me the look as I took their photo!!It was very fun to watch these playful creatures!!This child was very happy and content withing the colorful bundle carried by Mom!!I thought this guy was especially adorable!!Our tour director talked about how well the Incas used the rocks to make their walls without any spaces or need for motor!!Most people probably do not like this topic. Guinea pigs are common in Peru. The primary reason they are so popular is they are used for food. Our tour director told us how much she enjoyed eating Guinea pig meat. I think I will pass it that is every offered to me. I have know people that had Guinea pigs for pets, so eating them seems quite strange to me.This bull was next to our the path of one walk today. I am glad he was tied up so that there were no misunderstandings!!One of our special highlights today was to go to the Sacred Valley Project!! This non-profit organization is dedicated to improving access to education for young women from low-income families in remote mountain communities in Peru. They have three schools in Peru and give the girls safe places to stay, nutritious meals, access to schools, and mentorship. I was incredibly impressed with the school. The woman in this photo is from Argentina and she runs one of the schools. If anyone is interested, their website is sacredvalleyproject.org.
We had a very busy day today. We started leaving our Lima hotel quite early and headed to the airport. We flew to Cuzco and arranged to have our luggage delivered to our hotel in Yucay. Nothing happens quickly with busy airports with thousands and thousands of people. Once in Cuzco, we drove to a fantastic restaurant at more than 9,000 feet!We next drove to Pisaq and walked all around some fascinating Inca ruins. It was amazing to be in the middle of the Andes and see how steep the slopes were all around us! It was amazing to see the structures still standing that were crafted by the Incas so long ago.These structures and walls were built on the steep slopes by the Incas!!We could look over the valleys and see current communities.These intricate stairsteps were built to create ground for growing crops on the steep slopes. They also prevented erosion of the ground.I was amazed to see how these huge levels were built!!The Andes are beautiful and fierce mountains.These people demonstrate the large size of the fields that were built!!These exposed holes that are now visible show an Incan cemetery!!Each of the built levels of soil are supported along edges by these intricate placement of stones. They form an amazing jig-saw puzzle!!This couple was very nice and I thoroughly enjoyed practicing my Spanish speaking skills with them!!I was quite amazed that a structure made mostly of mud and rocks by the Incas was still standing today!!This friendly woman was determined to get me to buy a hat or scarf!!I liked this bell tower in a local church where we stopped to go shopping. Silver products are plentiful!!
Our group had a wonderful time walking all over Lima!! This cartoon character is very popular and famous throughout South America and we loved having our photo with it!!This is a pyramid within Lima that is being excavated and restored within Lima. For years and years, it was thought to simply be a natural hill in the city. To everyone’s surprise, it was actually a pyramid!This used to be the entrance to Peru’s stock exchange in downtown Lima!!This guy watering the plants in Lima!!Indigenous people performing in the street!!
Unique artwork found in the downtown district of Lima.This was a happy guy selling orange juice!!Unique transportation in Lima!!The church architecture was amazing to see!!The ornate detail was amazing!!I loved the colors with this rose!!This elaborate wooden ceiling was within one of the churches in downtown Lima!!This was an impressive library contained in one of the Lima churches!!The grandeur of this church was amazing!!I loved the loved the colorful design of this Lima sign!!I was impressed with the intricate design of this woodwork!!This bed is in a privately owned home that is open to the public (by reservation) by a family that has lived in this Lima home for 18 generations!!Indigenous dress meets modern technology!!I loved the colors of this woman’s clothing!! The girl in her white dress was very cute!!This chapel within the church was beautiful!! This was one of the more elaborate designs.I was impressed with the detail of this church. The choir sits along the wooden seats on the sides.I really enjoyed the blue colors of this building!!This was my appetizer today. It is ceviche, which is one of the most famous dishes in all of Peru!! It is uncooked fish mixed with lime, combined with corn, and some very spicy chilies. I absolutely loved it!!This was my main course at lunch. It was fish combined with rice in parihuela juices and rocoto peppers. It was fantastic!!Dessert was this fabulous creme brulee and fruit!!After our huge lunch, we went for a walk along the beach!!I enjoyed practicing my Spanish talking to this great couple!!I had fun talking to these four ladies. They loved that I was trying to speak with them in Spanish!! They live in Santiago, Chile and were enjoying a vacation together in Lima, Peru. They were excited that I would be visiting their city next week.This guy was a street performer having fun in Lima. His clothing is similar to some people living in rural Peru.To everyone’s surprise, he suddenly pulled a woman from our group and they started dancing down the street!This woman was playing beautifully to the crowd!!I loved the bright colors in the baby carrier used by mother and child!!We were excited to see the local library!!We all gathered around to have our photo taken with this cartoon character that is especially famous in Argentina.
Fiesta on Wheels 