Entries from July 2009 ↓

Peru

I joined my sister, my oldest niece, and a cousin’s daughter in L.A. and together we flew to Lima (eight hour flight) and then on to Cusco (one hour flight).

Cusco

Cusco sits at an elevation of about 11,000 feet.  Our plan was to take it easy the first day or so to adjust to the altitude.  This worked out well.

Formerly the capital of the Inca Empire, Cusco is now ruled by tourists.  It’s still got a lot of charm though.

peru___4

For a Peruvian sol (about three soles to the US dollar) you can take a photo like this:

peru___14

Here’s a view just outside our hotel:

peru___12

My sister and the girls in the Plaza de Armas of Cusco:

peru___3

Always with the shopping:

peru___5

Monasterio

In Cusco we stayed several nights at the Monasterio, a very pleasant place to hang out and adjust to the altitude of Cusco.  You can even get rooms where they pump in oxygen.

It was originally a monastery that was built in 1595.  That’s a 300 year old cedar tree in the central courtyard:

peru___1

The lobby is a nice place to drink coca tea (which supposedly helps with the altitude):

peru___11

The Chapel:

peru___2

CAITH

One of the main reasons my sister wanted to go to Peru was to visit and film CAITH to help raise awareness.

This is the director, formerly a math professor in Italy:

peru___6

peru___7

Sacsayhuamán

Just outside Cusco is Sacsayhuamán (sounds like “sexy woman”), a huge Incan site.

My sister is in the middle:

peru___8

The statue on the left is visible from the Monasterio:

peru___9

To Machu Picchu via Ollayantantambo

We took a taxi to Ollayantantambo…

peru___15

…where we caught a train…

peru___16

View from the train:

peru___17

Another view from the train:

peru___18

Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Village)

The train took us to Machu Picchu Village where we spent the night.

peru___19

peru___20

peru___21

There is also a Plaza de Armas in Machu Picchu Village:

peru___22

Machu Picchu

After a week of traveling it was finally Machu Pichhu day.

Everyone recommended seeing the “Lost City of the Incas” at sunrise, so we got up at 4:15 am, had a quick breakfast, and got in line for one of the first shuttle buses.  Alas it was overcast that morning.  However, we managed to avoid heavy rains by going early.

I took a lot of photos:

peru___46

peru___45

peru___44

peru___43

peru___42

peru___40

peru___39

peru___38

peru___37

This is the Intihuatana stone, arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice:

peru___36

peru___35

peru___34

peru___33

peru___32

peru___31

peru___29

peru___28

peru___27

peru___26

peru___24

peru___23

Hottest Day Ever

A few days ago I was in Peru where it is winter.  The nights were cold, near freezing, and we piled on the blankets.  (I’ll post an entry about the trip soon.)

Now I am back in Vancouver, and today, Wednesday, July 29, 2009, was the hottest day ever recorded in Vancouver at 33.8 C (92.8 F).  That’s crazy hot when you do not have air conditioning.  It’s after 1 am right now and inside my place — with all the windows and doors open — it’s 32 C (90 F).

Helmet Camera (UBC)

Trying out my new helmet camera again.  This time around UBC…

Helmet Camera (Seawall)

I bought a helmet camera, a ContourHD, which arrived yesterday so I took in for a test run around the seawall.

 Page 1 of 2  1  2 »