Peru trip!

Our trip to Peru was so much fun! It was such a good trip and I can't believe that it has come and gone already! The first day we went to Lima.

I wanted to get a picture of the ocean, the cliffs and the sky rise buildings...so this is what you get...

This is us at the temple in Lima. It was really pretty!

This is in Cusco at a place called Qoriqancha. The bottom part of this building was from the Incas.

This is me trying to go down the rock slide. Curtis and Bill had gone down before and I was a little worried...so the tour guide told me to spit on my hands so I wouldn't go as fast. Well, I was a little dehydrated because of the high altitude and so it was a little hard. Mike offered to spit on them for me, but I told him I could manage without his help. :)

This is just before a little cave that we went through. It was VERY tiny and pitch black inside!

This is at Sacsayhuaman. It was a fort that the Incas used. They carried the rock behind us 4 km to where it is at now. Curtis kept saying the whole trip, "They are just good at stacking rocks...it's in their blood." and he was right because EVERYWHERE we went there were stacked rocks.

This is us hiking up Waynu Picchu. We had to get up at 3:30 in the morning to get in the bus line by 4. They only let 400 people a day climb this mountain. It was a very steep climb! The view was totally worth it!

This is the view from the top of Waynu Picchu.

After we hiked Waynu Picchu (yes it is that tall mountain in the background.) we went on a tour of Macchu Picchu.

Then we went to a petting/feeding farm to feed different kinds of llamas and alpacas. No, Curtis isn't kissing the alpacas, it just looks like it!

This is overlooking the Sacred valley.

These are some ruins at Pisac.

Curtis in time out at Pisac...(just kidding, he wasn't really in time out...)

This is our whole group at Ollantatambo.

If you look carefully on this mountain-it is straight across from Ollantatambo- you can see the storagehouses the Incas built. When the Spanish conquered the Incas, it took the Spanish 40 years to use all the things in the storagehouses. Now that is some good food storage!

After Cusco we flew into Juliaca and then on to Lake Titicaca.

Marianne, Bill, Deanne, and Curtis on one of the floating islands at Lake Titicaca.

This is the president of one of the islands. He is showing us that they use the roots of reeds to keep the islands floating and then they put sticks in each of the square pieces to tie them together so that their island stays together.

He also told us that they have to rebuild their homes every 5 months because that is about how long they last. They also have to lay down new reeds every 1-2 weeks. It was so fascinating how they lived!

This is a picture of Mike and Marianne riding on a tricycle in Puno.

After Puno we flew into Arequipa.

This is at the square in Arequipa. It was gorgeous!

Then we went on a tour to go see Colca Canyon-the deepest canyon in the world. This is on our way there. You can see the volcano Misti in the background.

On our way to Colca Canyon we went over some pretty high mountains. This is at the highest point we reached--almost 16,000 feet. It can be fairly hard to breathe that high up because of the altitude. However they stack rocks up at this point as an offering to nature so here Curtis is trying to stack his own rocks!

This is at a dinner show in a little town we stayed in that night. Somehow I was chosen to particpate in this show...(I blame it on Curtis.) They dressed me up and taught me a little dance.

This is Curtis at Colca Canyon. I couldn't get a good picture of the whole thing because it was too big!

This is us at Colca canyon again.

After we finished Colca canyon we went back to Arequipa and went on a tour through a really old convent. It was really neat.

Curtis standing in one of the courtyards.

While we were in a couple of different places we were able to see some of the members that Curtis worked with on his mission. This is Hermana Maxi. She was the sweetest woman ever!

This was the first baptism that Curtis had on his mission. When he was baptized he was in a wheelchair and when we saw him he was starting to walk again.

This is at the airport in Arequipa when we began our trip home. It was an AMAZING trip! We had a lot of fun, but it is always good to be home.