Travel: November 2004 Archives
This week's topic is "prosperity." I know the word tends to be used in an economic sense, but I prefer the official definition: the condition of being successful or thriving.
This is a photo of Cari and me (I'm on the left) as the sun went down on our second evening on the Inca Trail. Those four days were the happiest in recent memory. My friends will say it's because of our cute trail guide, and while it's true that he made life fun...there was something more. Sitting at my desk at work staring at sims often makes me feel useless. Hiking that trail, seeing those mountains, and exploring those ruins made me feel like I was doing something, like I was thriving. I felt more alive, and I felt like I could make a difference. And then I realized how lucky I was to be able to be there at all.
It sounds corny, but it's true.
Another view of the Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman.
(For more information, see the photo and entry.)
This week's topic is "pattern" and I immediately thought of Peru.
The Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman sit on a hill overlooking the city of Cusco. When I visited the area two months ago, I was impressed first by the size of the rocks; the largest stones visible in this shot are 12-15 feet tall. (I've also posted a photo of the site.)
More impressive, however, is the careful engineering and construction that must have gone into building this site hundreds of years ago. Each of the huge stones fit together perfectly using no mortar, a distinguishing and fascinating trait of Incan construction.
The puma was a sacred animal to the Incas, and though it's not immediately apparent in this photo, from above, these walls form a zig-zag shape hypothesized to mimic a puma's teeth. "Cusco" means "navel of the Earth." Sacsayhuaman in the hills above was the head to match Cusco's navel.
(And yes, the pronunciation of Sacsayhuaman sounds a lot like "sexy woman.")
I haven't taken many new photos lately, but since the site is still in its infancy, I have a virtual treasure trove of past images in the queue!
In September 2002, I spent a week road-tripping across Scotland with two friends. We flew to the UK via Chicago, and I shot this out the airplane window as we took off at sunset. The quick layover at O'Hare was the only time I'd been in Chicago.
A friend at Northwestern and two years later, and I can thankfully say that I've now seen more than the airport.
This week's prompt is "Radiant." I had a few other shots I was thinking of, but then I remembered this one and it was just perfect. This is the Cristo Blanco (or, as we called it, "the Big Jesus") overlooking the city of Cusco, Peru.
On our first afternoon in Cusco during our great Peruvian vacation, Emily and I were the only ones to brave a huge, steep staircase (no small feat when you've just flown from sea level to 11,000 feet) and then a half mile up the road to pay this guy a visit.
He's about 30 feet tall and it almost looks like he's parting the clouds himself.
