Salt Mines

A surreal martian experience. I wanted to go down into the mines but apparently we were not allowed to so I bought some pantalones instead.

Oh and some salt too.

Moray

Moray. A great place to wear hats.

Formerly, a place to celebrate Pachamama (Mother Earth). It's a site with really good energy and as you descend into the center, the temperature rises.

It was a place to grow crops and have celebrations. This was my favorite spot of the whole trip.

Getting Down. Getting Up. -- Rock stairs!

Top o the World with best buddies Angie and Abby.

Wheeeeee!

Temple Ruins

Where the Incans at?

Temple Ruins

The Aussie connection. Tony, me and Angie hanging at the sun temple.

Matthew scouting it out.

Gray and Me in our best "holy crap, check that out!" pose. We instantly became friends when he pulled out his awesome camera. I love me some Gray!

Part of ze group. Such amazing peeps.

Diego.

Pisaq Market Day

The river that flows through the Valley of the Sacred Incas. Walking it into town was awesome. Such a crazy strong current.

On that walk I got to watch a sheep chase a cow all the way down it. That was one angry sheep!

The market had everything you could ever want. A lot of the locals who live up in the mountains and can't make it down everyday come on Sundays to sell their stuff. There were a lot of Rasta peeps from the US too.

Cool blues.

The vegetables taste so different down there. They have a lot more life and flavor. I wanted to eat everything I saw. Last night I made some quinoa soup last night to remind me of how good we ate in Peru. Que bueno!

Cusco

A birthday present I bought for Abby.

Dried fruit that has been carved with images. The sun is Patchapapa and the moon on the other side is the symbol for Patchamama.

While we chatted she carved out the top lid and sanded the insides.

She has 7 children and one grandchild which she showed me a picture of. Her husband carves the images and she sells them in the square.

Beautiful stained glass at the coffee shop.

Nice view from a coffee shop! The rainbow flag is the symbol of Cusco.

So ok. Working backwards, Cusco was an interesting place but not necessarily my favorite. It's a city for sure and after spending all my time in the Sacred Valley of the Incas it was a bit much for me. It seems to be the jump-off spot for all the cool power places in southern Peru. Mucho turistos.

Crowds can drain me quickly and after walking a bit I chose to stop have a coffee and sit in the square. A lady approached me with a bag full of colorful gourds and asked me if I wanted to buy. I said no and she sat down. She started to ask me some questions and the conversation developed.

My Spanish quickly came back as we chatted for a few. She started to show me all the symbols on the gourds and after that I couldn't resist. I asked her about the drawings and she told me her husband carved them all. So intricate.

We chatted about everything as she carved out the lid and sanded it out.

It was perfect and I got the little travel time experience I like to have outside of the retreat. The best part of traveling is going places and chatting up the locals.

It usually happens just like this did. Such kind people in Peru. Between scouting out the markets and taking in the sites, it was a nice way to end the trip.

Peru, I love you.

An amazing trip.

Crazy unexplainable experiences and some the most beautiful people I have ever met. I have so much love in my heart right now, I never want to forget this feeling.

Got everything I wanted and more. Ah Peru, how I love you.

More pics to come after I recover from the jet lag and sprint across MIA...