Cuzco and Pisac Ruins

OK! We finally made it here. 19 hour bus ride to cuzco. Badly needed rest, see above. But anyway, the land of Machu Pichu!!! Guys, do you know how many times I stared at the cover of my 8th grade social studies book with the small picture of Machu Pichu on it. A lot! I barely opened that book up that year. I wasn't the best of students, but that picture used to steal my mind for so many minutes. So, like 12 or 13 years have past and we are finally here. Well, not yet. First, we had to go through Cuzco, which actually was the capital of the Inca Empire. Well nowadays, though not the capital of the Incas anymore, it is the capital of tourists and their money. After travelling through Peru for the last almost 3 months, Cuzco was a shocker. Everything is double or triple the price and the poor exterminated Incas are staring at you through every other store front window of souvenir shops and restaurants. But other than that, it is a beautiful colonial city with it's windy cobble stone streets, the old Spanish churches and of course the thrill of seeing the ruins of cities and fortresses of an ancient civilization. But here is the man who really started it all. Some say he was the son of the sun, some that he was just a really handsome stranger. But no matter what it was, he is the man to whom Cuzco will always be in debt for its economy. The first Inca: We all arrived here a little sick, so we set off quietly walking the streets, buying some cool gifts, and spending our nights either dancing and drinking or laughing in our room over some wine. Yes, drinking was involved, but not too much. It was the awesome company that called for it. Whatever we did, whether it was complaining to each other by how much we were getting ripped off or staring at something really, really cool, it was all good since we had the most awesomest (I don't know if that's a real word) company. We started with going to Pisac which is an old Incan ruin just north of Cuzco. Thanks Franco for the recommendation. Franco, our friend from Chachapoyas, told us to go. So we went. First, I must say this. Ruins are awesome, but what is necessary is for you to be alone or almost alone without a lot of tourists like us running around talking. At least that's the case for me. I sit on an ancient wall and meditate on how many men it took to build it. I try to hear the voices and the noise that were here a long time ago rustling around me. Once, there was a mountain and then there was a fortress built here. People lived, cried, ate, had dinner with their families, worshiped their gods, fought, had children, died. And now I am sitting on this wall, alone trying to see it all. I also kind of went crazy with the black and white feature of my camera. It seems to really fit here.

It is amazing as well as beautiful, the agricultural terraces are strictly Incan. I guess after a while, the Incas realized that farming on the sides of steep mountains was a pain in the ass and also made the fields prone to mudslides, hence they created the terraces. Now, they are not used, but at least make the view more spectacular.

And of course, here is the happy couple. Eeey!!

As for Matty... well, he was gone. The man discovered climbing and climbed all over the damn ruins instead of taking the paths. What can we say? He found his element among a lot of other elements. We also found snakes, the last remaining residents of Pisac. Little guys though...

Back in Cuzco, we resumed making fools out of ourselves. Its not easy, mind you, but when there are 2 fools it makes it possible.

The cool faces!

See you guys in Machu Pichu... coming soon...