Peru (the Reader's Digest Condensed Version)

For 12 days, Greg and I had the experience of seeing for ourselves a part of the world that few people will ever see except in photographs. Of course, the people that live in Peru see their country everyday. But even most of the people who live in Peru do not have the opportunity to climb the Andes Mountains nor walk through the jungles of Amazonia. Most of them will never see Machu Pichu. Greg and I can now say that we climbed up to 15,000 feet (halfway to Mt. Everest) and that we slept deep in the jungle.

There were many lessons learned from our experiences and we feel grateful to be alive and to say that we never gave up when the going got rough (which it was most of the time). Now that we are home, I can say that it was an incredible experience. While going through the adventure, I didn't always think it was so wonderful. But the amazingness of the mountains, the Machu Pichu ruins, the people and nature was not lost on me. I tried to relish the moments even when the trails were narrow and steep and it was tough just to breathe. I would stop on the trail and just look around me and think how incredible it was that I was "on top of the world" all the while I was taking deep breaths hoping that I would survive!

I will write about our trip in it's entirety but I'll give the long version only to those who might ask for it. For those who would like to just see some highlights, this blog entry is for you. The following photos will give you a glimpse into the amazing sights we viewed in Peru:

These ladies, in a small village in the Andes, sheer the alpacas, dye the wool, spin the threads, and weave the beautiful cloth seen in the background. Of course we had to buy at least a table runner!

Alapacas (shorter necks) and llamas (longer necks) were the animals seen everywhere. Alpacas can be milked and also their milk is sometimes made into cheese.

Our group bought fruit and bread to give to children along the way. They rarely get fruit. The only thing that grows well in the tops of the Andes are potatoes.

Here we are high in the Andes at the top of the first mountain pass with our group of hikers. We were known as the "Dream Team" and our guide (who took the picture) made us all feel so good when we achieved even small milestones.


The "Dream Team" at Machu Pichu. We spent four hours roaming the city ruins all the while saying, "I can't believe anyone could build a city here--how did they ever do it?" It was such an amazing sight.