sacred valley

we took one day and went and explored the sacred valley.

we saw so many amazing ruins and i have mad respect for those incas.

i was almost dying from just hiking to all their ruins, 

so i have no idea how they climbed to the top of mountains, carried all the supplies, and built civilizations.

this was one of my favorite days of the whole trip even though it was completely exhausting.

i'm out of shape already, and then trying to hike at an 11,000 ft altitude was no bueno.

i obviously have zero inca blood in my veins.

(in case the blonde hair and blue eyes wasn't a dead giveaway).

saqsaywaman

"i like that boulder. that is a NICE boulder." (name that movie)

but seriously. 

how did they carry these up there, magically cut them to fit, then stack them perfectly?

i swear dumbledore had to have helped them out or something.

i have never thought that dawson looked small until he stood next to these.

i am still amazed just looking at the pictures.

side note. when dawson and i were dating a friend from nursing school was telling me about these ruins he visited in peru.  i could only remember the name because it sounds just like "sexy woman", so then when i saw dawson next i brought up the ruins by name and started talking about them.  he was very impressed.

pisaq

those terraces ^^^ were where they would grow all their food.

whoever got that job sure drew the short stick. rough.

urubamba

i loved all the animals in peru, even if they did all have fleas.

llama, alpaca, or this cute little vicuna ^^^

i like to think that they all loved me back.

until this one time that i was peer pressured into eating alpaca.

yep. cut a bite. picked it up with my fork. put it in my mouth. chewed. swallowed. almost puked.

dawson happily ate alpaca and octopus without batting an eye and still feels great.

i, on the other hand, still haven't been able to forgive myself.

i will live with that guilt for the rest of my life.

ollantaytambo

can you see the face in the mountain ^^^?

this face is even harder to see but you can't deny that it looks like an inca warrior ^^^

chinchero

in a lot of cuzco there is inca ruins on the bottom, 

and then spanish buildings built on top of them from when they came and took over.

this spanish church built on top of these ruins is a perfect example.

dang those spaniards.

peru (well the sacred valley at least) was absolutely beautiful.

i'm so lucky to have been able to travel to this amazing place with the best travel partner in the world.