Today I present a directors cut of our photo from Peru. The pictures below go through out travels through Cusco, the Urubamba Valley (also known as the Sacred Valley), our hiking the Inca trail, visiting Machu Picchu, and our stay in Aguas Calientes.
January 25, 2011
January 8, 2011
Inca Trail & Machu Picchu
Keeping this short as Amy and I are packing right now to head to Lima later today. The Inca Trail was amazing. The altitude presented some challenges as at times we were rising 3k feet in a day, but we worked through it. 
Amy Nathan and the Andes
Machu Picchu is an amazing achievement of the Incas. When you look around you cannot fathom the amount of man hours that went in to building this city, not to mention how they did it with primitive tools. Below is a picture of Amy and I at Intupunku, the Gateway of the Sun. Behind us and to the left is Matchu Picchu. Arriving at the Gateway signifies the completing of the Inca trail as you are now in Machu Picchu.
Amy and Nathan at Intupunku
December 31, 2010
Cuy is Delicious
For our 5th anniversary yesterday, Amy and I went to the Inca Grill for dinner where I had the Peruvian delicacy of Cuy. Cuy is what we in the U.S. would call a Guinea pig. I will quote a fellow traveler and blogger to sum up my feeling on eating Guinea pig “If God didn’t want us to eat you He wouldn’t have made you out of meat.” (http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/blog-339755.html). The Inca Grill in the Plaza de Armas did a wonderful job of preparing and plating this dish. As you can see while you can see the outlines of a Guinea pig, it is far from the way many place serve it which is grill/fry it and through it on a plate.
Cuy from Inca Grill
The Cuy was delicious. It tastes like a mix between pork and chicken. It had a nice thin layer of sauce over it, which I can only explain as a Teriyaki like meat sauce. The meat was a dark meet, and was very juicy.
The Inca Grill served this with a small pot of warm water (with a lime slice), and an extra cloth napkin advising that I eat the Cuy with my hands. I was delighted as the idea of using a knife and fork to cut around bones was not very appealing. Primarily because it would be difficult to get all of the meat off. I told Amy prior to this that whether the Cuy was good or disgusting, I was going to clean my plate.
Nathan eating Cuy at Inca Grill
Thankfully I loved the Cuy. Eating with my hands was great as there are a lot of bones in the meat, and using your hands allowed you to dig around and fine them more effectively. And as I mentioned to Amy, I cleaned most every last piece of meat from my plate. How could I not with this delicious pork/chicken tasting meat?
Clean plate of Cuy with a bone pile
Overall I would definitely order Cuy again. I am curious to see how other restaurants prepare it. Since the Inca Grill is in the Plaza de Armas the restaurants tend to make their food international friendly, as in people from outside Peru will enjoy their food. Although I am not sure if I will have Cuy again while we are hear as it is quite an expensive dish to Peruvian standards. This Cuy was twice the price of Amy’s pasta dish. And of course I want to try many other dishes such as Alpacha, and possibly dolphin.
December 29, 2010
Cusco, Itinerary Review
Once we arrived at Casa Andina (hotel), our tour facilitator Alberto ran Amy and I through the itinerary for the trip. Since there is no one else part of our group, we will get to decide our pick-up times and when we want to go see the sites in Cusco. Amy and I are stoked!
Alberto and Amy Reviewing Itinerary