A Day In The Clouds

There’s something about waking up among the clouds. You look out of your tent and see the clouds spread out around you in big puffs of cotton. It’s mystical. And when you spend the day in the clouds, there is a feeling of sublime anticipation. The day is never quite the same, as minute to […]

The Day Things Got Personal

The last 500 feet up were brutal, which is saying a lot because the entire ascent to Warmiwanusca, or Dead Woman’s Pass, was grueling to the extreme. As we reached the summit, the air grew thinner, the oxygen sparer, and our footsteps heavier. We worked our lungs to their maximum capacity, our hearts pounded violently, […]

Butterblogger Goes Glamping

In one sense, the hike to the Machu Picchu began long ago, but last night it all came to a head. We had a limited allowance of weight for the porters to carry, at 5 kg, or 11 lbs. The rest would have to be carried by us. Despite all of my preparations, I was […]

In Which The Spirits of the Mountains Move Me

We are sitting at 11,000 feet above sea level, and lush green mountains tower around us on all sides. They are touching the sky, and their shoulders are enrobed with clouds like incense that has an aroma beyond the limits of detection of the human olfactory system. The shaman sits in front of us telling […]

In Which We Don’t Mind Some Traffic

We have been gawking at adorables alpacas ever since we arrived in Cusco, and today we got to feed some at an alpaca petting zoo. The sign explains that all of the members of the camel family originated in North America and migrated out from there, including the dromedary. There is one family member still […]

In The Center of the Belly Button

Once through the basics, our guides started off by telling us we are all saying Cusco wrong. The correct word, Cosco, is actually an old Incan word in the Quechuan language, meaning umbilicus. This reflects that Cosco was the center of the Incan empire and was viewed as the center of the world. So here […]