To the Mountains

We felt our first earthquake here in Peru Saturday morning just after 7.  They have quite a few of them around the country but we hadn't ever felt one.  This one just wiggled the furniture and doors and made all the dogs bark.  According to the internet, it registered as a 4.3 and occurred about 50 miles north of us.  We haven't heard of any damage done.

Another event this week that we didn't get a picture of was Curt's talk in Sacrament Meeting.  He talked about Home Teaching and how it is our responsibility and privilege to care for one another.  He did a great job.

As senior missionaries, we are allowed a few "perks"that the younger missionaries don't get.  One such perk is being able to get permission and leave our mission area.  We got that permission and so Sunday night we jumped on a bus and headed to Cusco.  We met up with Mike and Diane Meyers, their daughter Leslie and her husband Justin.  What a wonderful experience!

We jumped on the bus Sunday night for what ended up being a 17 hour (instead of 15 hour) bus ride.  One poor girl in our compartment ended up being sick most of the trip.  The smells and sounds almost made the rest of he compartment sick too!  Then, our bus started overheating so we'd have  to pull over frequently to let it cool down for awhile. But, the trip was well worth it once we got there!

Curt and I hiked down to take a look at the salt mines in the Sacred Valley.

A woman opened her family home so we could see a bit of the Quechuan daily life.  The guinea pigs (cuy) are a delicacy.  We still haven't tried eating them yet.

                                                       

This was the view from our hotel balcony at Agua Caliente before we headed up for a day at Machu Picchu.

Curt in front of an Incan statue and water fountain in the central part of Agua Caliente.

During the tour, our guide snapped a picture for us.  There is so much to see, you want to look at least 3 directions at any one time. 

Good friends made the trip that much better! 

Curt in front of the Sacred Rock.  They had discovered a woman's tomb here.

About an hour hike from Machu Picchu, we reached the Sun Gate.  This picture doesn't begin to capture how beautiful it was up there as we overlooked Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu.

We bought bug spray but .... Curt got bit anyway.  (Did he put the bug spray on?!?)

A rock came off the side of the mountain and busted a window in the bus just in front of where Curt sat.  After they pulled over and got it all taped up, we were on our way again. We left Machu Picchu at noon, we rode a bus, a train, a taxi and then we had to run and we barely caught our last bus (luckily our guide was there asking them to wait) we arrived in Nasca 21 hours later.   

  Here we were waiting with the Sisters for a family history appointment - they were a no show but we did enjoy visiting with these beautiful gals.

And what did E' Peterson do this week?  Why, after only a few weeks in the mission he went to Lima and had his first surgery! They removed an ingrown toe nail - one of the joys of missionary work! He's recovered well and back to work!