Chachapoyas

Aerial view of Chachapoyas, a nice Andean town. Right now I'm sitting in a little internet cafe just next to that church steeple there.


Approach to Kuelap. It's a pre-Inkan fortress way, way up on a peak overlooking the Chachapoyan region. Very high. Very beautiful.

La Laguna de los Condores

This is an image of the lake that I tried to find Indiana Jones-style on a three day hike. The muddy trail just kind of peters out as you get close. I climbed a couple of nearby hills to see if I could spot it, but I couldn´t. Oh well, wasn´t meant to be.

There is a Pre-Incan mausoleum site here, built into the side of the cliff over the lake. They found a lot of mummies there about 10 years ago and it was a big deal. Here's an abstract that had me excited about it: http://www.archaeology.org/9803/abstracts/andes.html

Miguel

This pretty much sums up Miguel, who I stayed with in Trujillo the final week. He's wearing my hat.

We made it to the top!

Mountain

We went over the pass in the little notch just to the right of this peak.

Mountain flowers

Camp cook

Happy hiker

Huaraz

Blanket scarf.


Burros.


Beginning of the Santa Cruz Trek.


Huaraz in the early morning.


Hi, Greta!

Cape and Skirt

Last Saturday.

Central plaza in Trujillo.


Que romantico.


Julio.


Futbol a la playa. Apparently, I am good "for a gringo."


Handstands in the crosswalk.

Con los Niños

Probably up to some mischief.


Kaern and Greta.


Me with the group, a house of cards (thanks Jefunira Camp!), and some sort of Michaelangelo "Creation of Man" hand motions going on here.

Chan Chan means "Sun Sun"

Greta and I visited the nearby archaelogical site of Chan Chan the other day. It´s just outside the city limits of Trujillo. We thought it was an old Incan ruin, but apparently it is an old Chimu ruin. Got it. The Incans actually invaded and conquered the Chimu civilization in 1470 AD. Archaelogists believe that Chan Chan represents the largest prehispanic mudb-brick settlement in all the Americas. Take that, Pueblo Indians! Anyways, it was pretty interesting, and here are some pictures:


Remnants of the walls in the administrative center of Chan Chan. Our guide informed us that the mesh pattern was meant to represent fishing nets.


The city had over 160 resevoirs, like this one, which helped the Chimu resist the Incan invasion for 10 years even after the Incas had cut off the water supply from the mountains.


Either a meeting place or a treasurey. Nobody knows for sure...dun dun DUH!


Standing around in front of the storerooms, where tribute and taxes from all over the Chimu empire was hoarded away. There was room for a lot of lima beans and llama fur.

Around home

We miss home, so we´re making Kraft mac and cheese. It's a really small kitchen.


Greta and Miguel playing cards. Miguel´s our new neighborhood friend.


I´m so excited about the Kraft that I can´t even hold the camera still.

Some photos from Peru

The local surfboats at Huanchaco Beach--about 15 minutes from Trujillo. We hang out here on the weekends.


There was a big middle school-esque birthday party for some of the niños we´re working with. Greta got asked to dance numerous times by this one boy.


Big sunglasses. Ceviche. Local Beer. Beach. Mmmm...


Greta with her 10-year-old boyfriend.

Angkor Wat: The Tourist Photos

Tourist A


Tourist B


The history major at work.


A bas-relief of some soldier guys. These were gorgeous, large-scale, and everywhere at Angkor. Glorification of the military transcends the centuries.


One Angkorian god-king built a temple with over 250 of these "buddha images" that apparently looked very similar to himself.

A tilty boat we saw

Fishermen...or pirates? Aaarrgh! (For Bob)

Southern Thailand

Greta's Glamour Shot.


Phi Phi harbor.


We're not coming home!

Early morning boat rides

We got from Siem Reap to Battambang and then Cambodia to Vietnam by boat.


Boating.


The General Store in the Floating Village.


Water-taxis.


Getting around.


Waitin' for the boat.

Update

We've both recovered from malaria or dengue fever or whatever it was and we're excited because we now have a plan about how to get out of Vietnam and into Southern Thailand for a few days of (more) rest and recovery. Gratuitous shots of white sand and blue water coming soon...