I don't know much about horses, but this one struck me as rather oddly shaped
Kids playing on the farm
Chris with the stick of walking
First night's camp
That's my tent in the foreground, and Chris loafing around in his tent behind mine
The two German guys (left) take a break with the Canadian. We often found ourselves far ahead of the rest of our group and had to wait for everyone to catch up.
Reaching the top of the 1st pass, at some 15,000 feet, was slow going. The lack of oxygen from climbing to such an altitude so quickly meant that you could only take a couple of steps, then stop to catch your breath, a couple more, stop, and so on.
Chris is ecstatic to finally reach the top of the pass after 8 hours of climbing
As Chris sprawls on the ground to get some rest, the French guy jumps on him and rides him like a cowboy! Needless to say, Chris wasn't the least bit thrilled about this, but he was too tired to fend him off--a hilarious turn of events!
We're at the top!
Resting before moving on
Second night's camp
I take a moment to explore some ruins
Chris is sick
This is one of the most confusing pictures I've ever taken. It looks like it's completely sideways, but it's actually not that far off--the strange shape of the ruins don't help.
I'm geared up and ready to go!
Hiking downhill is harder than one might think, but Chris' style is certainly out of the ordinary!
Do you see the guys at the top of the steps?
Dawn over Machu Picchu at the Sun Gate--Chris filming through the breaking clouds
Llama with a view! The peak behind the Machu Picchu ruins is Huayna Picchu. I climbed its 1,000 feet in 27 minutes (I was trying the beat the Germans' stated time of 28 minutes--nothing like a little friendly competition to get me going!)
View down on the ruins from the top of Huayna Picchu
Yep, that's me goofing off again, with a serious 1,000 foot drop directly behind me
Last look down at the ruins before climbing back down
The town of Aguas Calientes, where we catch a train that will take us back to Cuzco
