¡Feliz día de la madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!)
And happy birthday to my (LeAnn’s) own beautiful mother!
It’s been an eventful week … Lane celebrated his birthday on
Monday and then we were able to take some time to tour more of Peru. We flew to
Cusco on Wednesday and spent time seeing beautiful country and amazing
archeological ruins in Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu, and Cusco. We arrived back
in Lima Friday night. This part of the world has some stunning sites,
unbelievable architectural and geographical creations, and fascinating history!
(See pics, but warning … picture overload!)
Hearing stories of the many Incan wars and tragedies drove
home the point that conquest, war, and conflict have been part of the human
experience for millennia. Thankfully, in April, Elder Patrick Kearon reminded
us of some of the comforting eternal truths that the Lord has promised:
Fear not. (Isaiah 41:10)
I know your sorrows, and I have come to deliver you. (Exodus
3:7-8)
I will not leave you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)
My name is upon you, and my angels have charge over you.
(D&C 109:22)
I will do wonders among you. (Joshua 3:5)
Walk with me; learn of me; I will give you rest. (D&C
19:23)
I am in your midst. (D&C 38:7)
You are mine. (Isaiah 43:1)
¡Que tengan una buena semana! (Have a great week!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
Birthday cake for Lane from the Assistants!
Blowing out the magic candles, which ultimately had to be extinguished using pliers to pinch the flame and dip them in water.
No power (lights) in the apartment again. On Lane's birthday. Our entire block was out for several hours. Luckily we had a gas stove and flashlights to get us through a little dinner in the dark.
Then we went to the office in the evening to have some light.
This is a sample day of shopping at the grocery store for us. Little quiz: guess whose part of the shopping cart this is? Right, LeAnn's. Nothing to sweeten the tooth. All healthy, no fun.
Now... guess whose part of the shopping cart this is? Of course, it's Lane's! 100% chocolate goodies ... joy!
We were able to go visit Cusco, Machu Picchu, and many other fascinating archeological sites and ruins this week. It was amazing to fly out of Lima and actually see the sun, white fluffy clouds, and beautiful blue skies again!
Landing in clear skies, high altitude Cusco. It was an amazing tour to see and hear about all the ancient Inca archeological sites and stories associated with them.
We had a very good private tour guide the whole way. On the way to Machu Picchu, we stopped in the town of Chinchero where we were able to see how they raise Guinea pigs ("cuy") to eat. Very common dish. Chinchero is about a 40 minute drive from Cusco, is over 12,000 feet above sea level, and will be the home of a new international airport to service Machu Picchu in 2024. And yes, LeAnn had a splitting headache pretty much the entire 1st afternoon despite taking high altitude medication ... Lane wasn't hit quite as hard.
In Chinchero we visited a textile creation place that showed how the natives make fabric from wool, llama, and alpaca. LeAnn is with our guide here feeding some type of long straw to the llamas.
Then the native woman showed how she made all the different colors for the fabric using different ingredients.
This particular red dye color is produced by a type of greyish-white insect larvae they pull from prickly pear cactus plants, and they squish the larvae and it comes out bright red!
Dipping the woolen strands into the boiling pots to dye them with the selected colors.
The strands are then hand-woven into table runners and other items.
This native woman who gave us the instructional presentation told us she is originally from Chinchero, has lived there her entire life, and is 27 years old. The extra red color on her bottom lip is a sample of how the red dye she extracted from the larvae can also be used for lipstick!
Overlooking the Sacred Valley as we continued on the journey.
We then stopped at the Moray agricultural archeological complex, where the Incas developed varying levels of terraces in circular rings. Each terrace maintained a different temperature for growing a variety of crops.
This is our personal guide, Renato, in the town and ruins of Ollantaytambo. This town was the intersection of the Sacred Valley and where the transition from drier agriculture lands to jungle begins. The Inca Trail starts here, which is a four-day hike to Machu Picchu.
Looking from the Ollantaytambo temple area toward the mountain where the people lived. The people carved the face of their Inca leader in the mountain (It's really a half face as part of the face was damaged in an earthquake). It is the lighter area in roughly the middle of the photo.
Temple ruins
More ruins
Overlooking Ollantaytambo
Ollantaytambo temple
On the train to Machu Picchu. Love those required face masks. Not.
Looking out the window at the train cars ahead of us.
Beautiful roaring river view from our hotel window in Aguascalientes at the base of Machu Picchu.
We actually tried something new at dinner in Aguascalientes. Rare for us. But they were roasted corn kernels. Actually tasted good.
Long line at the bus station at 7:00 am in the morning to head up to Machu Picchu.
And a long line behind us also.
About a 30 minute bus ride up the mountain to Machu Picchu ruins.
Love this Machu Picchu view? Very cloudy and drizzly day. But it was bright and sunny the day before! Couldn't see any adjacent mountains. But at least we could see the ruins close up.
Well, if we couldn't see it all clearly, at least the view was mystical.
This was our Machu Picchu tour guide.
Upon returning to Cusco we were able to watch these two performing traditional Inca music outside on the sidewalk area near the central plaza.
We also visited Q'enqo, near Cusco, which is considered a temple or religious area of archeological ruins.
Also visited Sacsaywaman ruins near Cusco. Amazingly huge stones used in constructing this complex.
Finished off our tour by visiting the Qorikancha ruins that were built over and around by the Santo Domingo Cathedral during the Spanish conquest.
Qorikancha temple ruins inside the Santo Domingo Cathedral.
Overlooking Cusco from the Qorikancha ruins and cathedral.
