Author: randy

At the highest point it was over 16,000ft with a little snow.

This has been a salt mine since long before the Inca empire. A small salt water stream that comes out of the mountain supplies all of the water for the mine. There are around 110 families that own this and each has about 10 pools to harvest salt from.

This is a very interesting agricultural site. Each Terrance has a different temperature for growing different crops. They vary by 1.5 degrees between each level. The steps are built into the walls as not to use ground meant for crops. The foundation in the middle was storage for the crops.

Raqchi was a temple along the Qapaq Nan ( the Inca trail ). The Qapaq Nan goes from Columbia south through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, glances Chili and into Argentina. This temple is different because of the heights of the free standing structures.

As I said I would love to spend a few days in this area of Peru.

This was one of my favorite stops. Small village with a fantastic fortress above it. Felt like it was off the beaten path even though it was just off the highway. I would like to return to this area for some more exploring.

Lake Titikaka is the biggest high elevation fresh water lake in the world. The lake is split down the middle and shared by Peru and Bolivia. Not far off the shoreline is the village of Suma Utita. It consists of over 100 small islands made of reeds. Very interesting.

This monastery is in the middle of town and is a historical landmark. The first born girl of the very rich would honor the family by entering. Unlike most they could bring money and servants with them. For the time they lived very well. It was not what you would picture for they enjoyed music, literature and laughter.

We spent the night in Chivay and the next morning headed out to Colca canyon to see if we could find some condors flying around. When we first arrived there were over 20 flying directly overhead. Way cool and the area is very beautiful. Just a couple of days earlier they had a pretty good earthquake that damaged the church in Mara. That town had been leveled a few years ago and is in the middle of rebuilding.