Lake Titicaca

Uros

The last two weeks we were in Peru school was canceled because of the swine flu so Tyler and I had the opportunity to travel to Lake Titicaca with the other volunteers. Our first stop was visiting Uros, a group of floating islands on the lake.The Peruvians built these floating islands out of totara reeds which grow in the lake. The people moved out to these islands to escape the conquistadors in the 16 and 17 hundreds and people are still living there today.Now when I say these islands were built out of reeds, I mean everything. The island itself, the houses, the beds, the boats and even their awesome watch towers. It was incredible. This man showed us what the islands look like underneath the water. Totara reed mixed with mud and more totara reeds on top.Inside one of the housesKitchenThe awesome watch towers. The edge of the island. Careful; don't fall off!The core of their diet? You guessed it...fish.
Keeping ourselves entertained on the 2 1/2 hour boat ride.Look Jack I'm flying!No comment
Isla Taquile
After Uros we took a boat 2 1/2 hours to Isla Taquila. If I had to describe this place in one word it would be: breathtaking. It was absolutely gorgeous! If it wasn't a remote island inhabited by an ancient people with a tribal government I would want to live there. We thought the island inhabitants were in costume for the Dia de Independencia but we found out this is the native dress they wear everyday. Western society hasn't impacted these natives as of yet and they still follow the ancient way of living.

Motorcycle Tour

We found out that you can rent motorcycles in Cusco for only $25 a day so naturally all of the boys wanted to go. I rode on the back of Tyler's moto and we had the best time! The Sacred Valley is absolutely breathtaking; our moto tour of the Sacred Valley is the most fun we've had down here next to Machu Picchu.Our first stop was a beautiful lake not too far off the main road.From there we visted an Incan agricultural sight called Moray.

Finally we visted the Salt Mines.

We also saw some breathtaking sights along the way.

Last Day in Salcantay

Our last day in Salcantay we worked our butts off and laid cement. There was a group of doctors that came down to Peru to perform some surgeries and while they were doing so their wives and kids came up to Salcantay with us to help us pour cement. Everyone was really awesome and hardworking and we got a lot done.We have laid cement several times and are pretty much professionals by now. First you have to shovel the truck full of rocks and dirt which you then dump into a pile on the ground.Next you break the cement bags in half and pour half a bag into the cement mixer......with a bucket full of water......and several shovel fulls of dirt.When the cement is ready to go you pour it into wheel barrows......dump the wheel barrows into the squares......rake it......and then Roberto makes it look beautiful.We definitely had a great day but then we had to say good bye to the truck......and Roberto.At the end of the day we were a bit dirty......but we got to hold a baby lambie!

Locked Out

So our bathroom in Cusco does this cool thing where the door locks itself if you look at it the wrong way. Tyler failed to mention this to me and I locked us out of the bathroom. Fortunately our bathroom is joined to another by a window so we had a ray of hope. We have been locked out several rooms in Salcantay the past couple weeks and I'm always the one who has to climb through the window so I asked Ty if he'd climb through the window this time.

He gave it a great effort.......but it didn't go so well. So close!

I had to show him how it's done.

Success

Horseback Riding!

On Saturday Tyler and I went horseback riding through the Andes for 3 hours. We visited some Incan ruins and saw some beautiful sights. It was a blast and only $20...gotta love South America!El Templo de la Luna (Temple of the Moon)This is a human sacrificial altar found in the Temple of the Moon. Tyler and I tried to get some cool pics on the altar but a tour guide got mad at us because apparently this rock upon which the Incans would murder humans is sacred...go figure. This smiling picture will have to suffice.

These photos were taken at La Cueva de los Monos (Monkey Cave). We didn't find any cool caves, or monkeys but we did find out that the Incan's used to have big screen TV's......and that they were huge! This is the king's throne, he was a bit bigger than Ty.The queen's throne was more my size but still rather large!On the way back we rode through an awesome Eucalyptus forest (yes there are eucalyptus trees everywhere in Cusco, no koalas though...too cold) and had a beautiful view of Sacsaywaman.We sure had fun!

Our Really Clean Living Quarters

So South America isn't the cleanest place I've ever been. As a matter of fact it's one of the dirtiest. Our room was pretty filthy when we got here and it's even filthier now, we thought we'd post a couple of pictures to make you all jealous.ToiletSinkMirrorDust-bunnies under our bed