Machu Picchu Trip

Dear Family and Friends,

A few months ago, I had a chance to join my mentor, Dr. Bruce Jackson, on a leadership expedition to Machu Picchu in Peru.  Below are some pictures of the trip. 

Lima, Peru LDS Temple

Lima, taken from my hotel room.

Cuzco, taken from my hotel room. 

The flag of Cuzco.  Our guide emphasized that this has nothing to do with homosexuality, which is much more taboo in Peru than in the U.S.    

Christus Blanca (The White Christ)

Incan Architecture

Incan stonework; no mortar, but still tight as a drum.  Amazing.

My hotel balcony in Cuzco.  

Cuzco

Cuzco

My group.  I am in orange up top.  Dr. Jackson is in blue and red stripes at far right.

The Sacred Valley

Soccer Field in village in the Sacred Valley.

Incan Terraces

Incan Ruins

Incan living-room love-seat.  The t.v. has apparently been pillaged by archaeologists.  : )

Our cooks

A guinea pig we ate (after it was cooked).

A ram we ate (after it was cooked).  They killed this ram the same morning that we ate it for lunch.  

We did some service in a tiny little village.  Part of our work was to distribute gifts to the kids of the school.  I gave them some American candy.  I was very popular among the little darlings for so doing.

One of our campsites.  

Our dining tent.

Juan, our head cook.  

Kids gnawing on the cooked ram.  

A dentist in our group showing a boy (and the other kids) how to floss his teeth.  

Part of our service work involved making these mud bricks, which rural Peruvians use to build their homes.  

At over 15,000 feet.  

At the highest point in our journey (15,500 feet).  Dr. Jackson is in the distance.  

Mt. Veronica: 18,635 feet high

A young man building a wall with the mud bricks (the kind we made for the kids school).  

The dentist showing another group of kids how to brush and floss.  

This picture of me was taken without my knowledge while I was cruising around in Cuzco.  Later that same day, a guy approached me and showed me the picture (with me in it), and asked if I wanted to buy it.  As you can see, I acquiesced.  

The little Peruvian kids were so adorable.  Seeing them all made me extra excited to have our own little one soon.  

My film ran out before I made it to Machu Picchu, so I bought a postcard and scanned it here.  I pet a Llama just like this while I was there (Llamas are the lawnmowers for Machu Picchu--literally).  I don't regret not having any more camera battery because the thing that impressed me the most about Machu Picchu is that pictures DO NOT do it justice.  One has to see it in person to really capture the majesty of it.