Well, I’m not sure why I started this post with a picture of the grocery store…but here’s a picture of a grocery store! This was in Lima on the morning we were to leave for Cuzco. 
A picture from the flight in to Cuzco — look at those beautiful ridge lines! We would soon become all too familiar with them… 
On the ground and driving down from the Airport’s 11,000+ foot elevation into the Sacred Valley (which is around 8-9K ft).
You can see how beautiful it is and why they call it sacred! Below is a group shot which kind of looks fake but it was really that beautiful.
Here’s us with some of the local ladies posing for pictures next to their alpacas. 
I don’t remember what this guy was, but he had a really funny mustache and Erika thought I needed a picture.
We went on a quad bike tour of the valley….perhaps not the most “peaceful” of trips but it was a lot of fun! If you look closely you can see we’ve kicked up quite the dust storm. No one got left behind though so that all worked out.
Below you can see our accommodations for the night…it got down in the 60s but that didn’t stop us from getting into that hot tub. Also there was a commercial being made at this resort and I’m fairly certain we are in it…
Now we begin our ascent up Hatun Luychu, a 14.5K+ peak in Peru. This is Lake Piuray, already up near 12K feet!
We had to make several stops along the way…because the air was really starting to get thin.
Beautiful panoramic of the region.
We had some walking sticks to help out with the terrain. It’s not bad here, but later it gets pretty steep!
This was at or near the peak – taller than any place in the continental US!
Above and below would make wonderful postcards…the way the clouds were set amongst the mountains was just breath taking…that and the lack of oxygen literally taking your breath away made for a slow descent.
Here we are descending into Huchuy Cuzco, an ancient Inca village overlooking the valley. This was built after the main city below (it means “Little Cuzco”) and was probably a summer home for an Inca emperor. The city dates back to about 1400 AD.
Above – you can see the steep part kicking in! We have to walk all the way down to the clearing you can just make out over the bushes. Quite a trek. Luckily (below) we were met by a car to take us back once we got down 😀
The next day we were up and at ’em for the train to Machu Picchu!
Thanks for reading!