THIS POST IS ABOUT MOUNTAIN CLIMBING

(I just ate matasquita for lunch. It's good, but it's not the main idea of this post, which is why this is in parenthesis. Really, I just want to remember the name.)

Okay, now I get to tell you about Ollantaytambo! But actually, before that, we went to an animal reserve. There were lots of alpacas and llamas and birds and mountain lions and some other animals there. This place helps these animals when they are hurt and then releases them back into the wild, and it tries to educate people about the animals as well. There was a big fenced in area with condors! These specific animals cannot survive in the wild, so the people at this refuge use them to teach people more about condors. We actually got to go in their habitat and take pictures with them. These are really big birds. When they fly, they are like little airplanes. I'm serious.

They're not exactly pretty. But that's okay, because they are big and cool!

Okay, now on to Ollantaytambo! We drove through the Sacred Valley, which is home of many Incan ruins, including Ollantaytambo. The Sacred Valley is also perhaps one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen in my life. We drove through some really amazingly beautiful places, and some very small towns. As we drove through in our toury bus, I tried to imagine what life would be like in these towns. The reality there must be so very different from what my reality is in Arequipa or the States.

Ollantaytambo was a pre-Incan fortress. Eventually, the Incans defeated this fortress and turned it into a religious center. They didn't need to use it as a fortress because it was in the middle of their own territory. And, what does Ollantaytambo mean? Well, the best general of the Incan army was named Ollantay. And, he was in love with daughter of the Inca (that is, the King). But, this was forbidden. So, instead of killing his best general, the Inca ordered his daughter and Ollantay to get married and go to Ollantaytambo.

The Spanish eventually found Ollantaytambo and destroyed some of it. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. It's bad because... well, I think that's obvious. But it's a good thing because while the Spanish took their time damaging Ollantaytambo, the people of Machu Picchu had time to desert Machu Picchu, and because of this, the Spanish never found Machu Picchu and destroyed it.

Please just look at this. This picture was taken in the Sacred Valley. It is a beautiful place. Oh man. Look at the clouds and the mountains!!! Ahhh!!!

We're a pretty cool group of people.

I post this picture because there are some really cool people in it!! Here, we've got Scott in the back. And then, starting on the left, we have Sarah, Emily, Lauren, Sydney, Fuller, Emily, and Don DeGraff. Don is the director of the Off-Campus Programs at Calvin, and he came to visit us in Arequipa and joined us on our Cusco trip! It was great to have him with us in Arequipa and Cusco! I am so thankful for all these people!!!!!!

Okay, this is part of Ollantaytambo. This is actually a pretty small part of it. It's actually in the shape of a llama!!  But you can't tell from this picture. This is the llama's... flank, I think.

Oh man, this was crazy!!! Okay, so this is part of the structure that was built by the Incans. We know this because the style is different. Look at the next picture. See how the rocks in that picture are all different shapes and have some kind of mortar between them? That is the pre-Incan part of the structure. The Incan part is more like this picture, like the construction that we saw the day before at Qoricancha. But anyway, see those things sticking out of the rocks? What do you think they are for? Decoration? Back scratchers maybe? Close, but no. This is part of the Incan calendar. Every year on the 23rd of September, the way the sun hits these thingies, the shadow of each thingy reaches to another thingy. It's super cool!!! Now, the Incan's didn't develop this calendar. Their empire only lasted about 130 years, so that's only 130 September 23rds to discover this. No, they just perfected the calendar that pre-Incan cultures had thousands of years to develop. But still.... you should be impressed by this!! This is crazy!! I am trying to imagine the angle measurements that had to take place to make this happen... and it's mind blowing!!!

Okay, this is part of Ollantaytambo. It's built into the side of a mountain. The pre-Incans used rocks from the same mountain to build it. Then, like I said, the Incans defeated this fortress and added to it. But, they didn't use rocks from this mountain. Instead, in order to show their strength, they used rocks from the NEXT mountain. Think about that. How did they do that? How did they get the rocks (because the Incans used BIG ROCKS) from one mountain to another? This is what we learned: On the OTHER mountain, the Incans got the rocks and formed them in to perfect shapes. How did they do that? They used even stronger rocks to cut the rocks. They had this one kind of rock that was really really strong, and that's what they used to cut their rocks. Once they got the rock to look the way they wanted it too (their rocks are on the faces and very large), they moved the rocks to Ollantaytambo. Moving one rock took about 200 men, and they made ramps out of pebbles and pushed the rock down one mountain and up the next one to get it to where it was supposed to be. If you're not impressed with that, I don't know what's wrong with you. 

It's Fuller and Scott and I!

And here's our friend, Jesús! I think that this is where he was explaining to us that the Incans were not done with construction at Ollantaytambo when the Spanish came. You can't see in this picture,  but there were marks on this rock that indicated that it still needed to be cut. It wasn't done yet--it is forever unfinished.

It was such a pretty pretty place!!!

Okay, another crazy thing. See the face there? The Incans carved it into the side of a nearby mountain.  And every  June 21. the sun shines on that face and makes it all bright, and sends a reflection onto the eye of the llama that is formed by Ollantaytambo. Once again, the mathematics involved in that is... impressive. June 21 was a very important day for the Incans because in Peru it is the shorted day of the year. The sun is the farthest away that day, so they held festivals to pray that the sun would come back.

After Ollantaytambo, we got on a train to go to the town of Aguas Calientes, which is at the foot of Machu Picchu. The train ride was about an hour and a half long, and we played chess and go fish, sang some songs, and in general were excited to get to Machu Picchu!! When we got there, it was dark. We checked into a hotel and went to sleep pretty much right away because we had to get up early in the morning to CLIMB HUAYNA PICCHU!!! At this point, we were all quite bursting with excitement.

We woke up the next morning and looked outside, and it was amazing!!! We couldn't see Machu Picchu, but it was like a rain forest all over! And mountains!!! Oh my - it was amazing!!! After a very energetic breakfast, we got in a bus and drove to Machu Picchu. And the bus ride up the mountain... was incredible. We went past clouds, and seriously, it was like a rain forest!!!!! I have never ever seen anything like this ever and it was so amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Eventually we got to b Machu Picchu, and most of us were signed up to climb Huayna Picchu. Only 400 people can climb Huayna Picchu a day. It is a mountain behind Machu Picchu, and it was used by the Incans as a retreat for the priests. There is an Incan trail that goes all the way up the summit. We followed this trail all the way, and it is really really steep. It also started raining relatively hard as we were hiking, but the rain felt great and the view was absolutely amazing!!!

I took this picture as we were driving in the bus. LOOK! THOSE ARE CLOUDS!!!

AHHH! Just look at that!!

And this... This is Machu Picchu! It is so amazing. I can't even really put into words how awesome this was. And the mountain behind Machu Picchu? The big pointy steep one? Yeah, we climbed that. 

 

I took this picture as we were walking towards the trail head.

And here are some of my friends starting the climb! It was pretty steep!

It was amazing to be able to see these rain forest covered mountains. I really can't explain how awesome it was.  

For the most part, this is what the trail was like. 

It was really steep!

Hey! It's me and Amy!

This part was really steep, and each step was REALLY narrow! (Yeah, those things on the right... those are steps.)

WE MADE IT TO THE TOP!!! And it was super cloudy and awesome!!!

On the very tippy top of the moutain, Don broke out the twizzlers and we had a little picnic.

This is me. On the top of Huayna Picchu.

We all made it up!!! Here we are on the top!! 

And here I am with Amy and Sydney and fuller, my climbing buddies!!

It was amazing. We just sat on the top of the mountain for about an hour, just appreciating the amazingness of it. Eventually, we headed back down, a few people at a time. I hiked with Sydney and Fuller, and as we were hiking down the mountain, we met a group from Colombia and Argentina and talked to them all the way down the mountain, which was really fun!!

And when we got down, we had a tour of Machu Picchu, but I'll tell you about the next time.

God, I am so in awe of what You have made!! HOW DID YOU DO THAT??? Really, God, it's amazing! You didn't have to make things so pretty, but You did! And being in the mountains makes me feel so tiny and it makes me see how enormously large You are. Oh, God, You created those mountains and clouds and rain and trees... so I know that You can handle my little problems.