7CBROWN

7CBROWN

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Mountains, Bikes, Yoga….We might be here a while!

DSC01607 Well after 3 solid months on the road, We have decided to slow down a bit and absorb some of the most beautiful mountain regions and culture this world has to offer.

We are in Cusco Peru and loving it. This place is full of endless possibilities. From Manchu Picchu to hundreds of Inca ruins. Mountains, hills, rivers,lakes, trails.  From mountain biking to yoga and everything in between. And that is just what we are going to do here for the next month of our trip. Paul just bought a mountain bike and I start a yoga teacher training course this next week. so needless to stay We kinda like it here.

DSC01664 I think this might be our home for the next couple of months. It has everything we need to live comfortably. Bed, parking for the motorcycles, WIFI, Hot water (most of the time),Kitchen and a beautiful view of the city and some mountains. and LOTS of colors:)

DSC01667 We have not ditched the motorcycles completely…How else would we get our mountain bikes up the mountain?

DSC01692 Johnny and Jenna, who are river guides in Stanley just happened to be here in Cusco this week. They rented a motorcycle and we cruised around the Sacred Valley. Had an awesome time and it is so good to see friendly faces. Thanks guys!

DSC01686 These are some really cool ruins I visited the other day with our friends Johnny and Jenna.

Moray was perhaps an Inca agricultural experiment station. As with many other Inca sites, it also has a sophisticated irrigation system. Their depth and orientation with respect to wind and sun creates a temperature difference of as much as  59 °F between the top and bottom. This large temperature difference was possibly used by the Inca to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops.(thank you wikipedia)

Friday, April 15, 2011

Nasca Lines & Inca Ruins of Peru

P1020248 We visited the famous Nasca Lines. Nobody Knows for sure why or how these lines were made. They are lines is the middle of the desert that form pictures of animals like Monkeys, Spiders and birds. Trees and people (that resemble aliens?????)  The Pictures they form are huge and most of them you have to see from an airplane or an elevated view. The Lines have been there for hundreds of years and since they are in some of the driest deserts in the world rain is not a problem.

Some believe the lines were put there by there by the ancient Nasca People for Ceremonial purposes. Others believe that they were a form of irrigation While some believe, the only way they could have gotten there and because you can only see them from the air, that aliens had to have drawn them with their laser beams!?!?!?!?!? You decided.

P1020260 It is hard to make out what these are in the photos but it gives you an example of the size and length of the lines and the desert they are formed in.

P1020255 So far we have not wanted to spend the 200 dollars it cost to go see Machu Picchu.  However there are so so many different ruin all around the Cusco area.  The Valley right over a pass from Cusco is called the “Sacred Valley”.  Ruins are everywhere and lots of them are free of charge and since we have motorcycles we have access and the freedom to check all of them out. Most of these are not full of tourist so they have a more peaceful feeling.

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The Incas were hard working people and they knew how to build functioning farms in high elevations and food storage for storing produce and food all year long. Amazing structures made of huge boulders that seem to just fit together perfectly like a puzzle.                                                                                P1020625 Riding the ruins. Cause we do what we want.

P1020591 Here we have some Peruvian mountain bikers.  This day was presidential election day and all the villagers dress up in there best clothes to come out and vote.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Peru has Major Diversity in its Landscape:)

P1020389 In these photos we are heading from Nezca( which is on the coast) towards Cusco( where you depart for Machu Picchu ruins).. This road is 650kms of awesome awesome riding. We went from sea level to 13000 ft. in 55 miles. Today we rode above 14000 ft. for over 100 miles.Topped off at 14,982ft. CraZy stuff.P1020380

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                                                                                P1020337 This is where we camped for the night at the elevation of 13000 ft.. simply amazing stuff. The stove barely worked at this elevation, but we managed a nice dinner and coffee in the morning..  oh yeah we woke up to a nice frost layer on our bikes.  The bike’s did run at this elevation. However they were a little sluggish. P1020326

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This photo is on our way up off of the coast.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Canyon del Pato

P1020161 This canyon rises from the coast up into the alpine through 40 something tunnels on dirt roads. This was so much fun.  As you can see it followed the river the whole way. very very beautiful. Peru is amazing.

 

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P1020127 Our lunch break could not have been in a prettier place.

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P1020180 P1020151 On the way up the road we stopped by this coal mine.  These workers were BLACK- BLACK  from the coal.  And they worked all day like this without any kind of face mask. Not even a cloth over there face. Kind of crazy!!

 

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