Around The World Gaby and Gu 2006-2007

The Sacred Valley, sacred because only there could be an exceptional quality of corn be produced

On the way to the valley there are many impressive lookouts worth a great picture !

Two bulls and a cross is the symbol of a family living in the house.

First stop, the Awana Kancha Project or how to preserve and breed Lamas and Alpacas and make handicrafts the way the Incas used to make it

Isn't this Alpaca Suri cute ?!

Another Alpaca Suri in the background and a black Alpaca Huacayo in the foreground

We could feed them and they would just go crazy :O)

The cutest is the Vicuña, unfortunately getting rarer and rarer...

Lots of Alpacas Huacayos wishing to be fed as soon and fast as possible :O)

This is how those animals show their affection to each other

A newly born (only 3 weeks) with an already very developed instinct for food :O)

The process of dying the Alpaca and Lama's wool generates beautiful and vivid colours!

Old style weaving !

Spinning the thread is also part of the process

This is Peru ! Just like what we found in SE Asia, sweet and innocent people outside of the big cities

The Ruins of Pisaq with its terraces used for agriculture and their elaborate draining system

Pisaq is quite a big complex including houses, a cemetery and a religious center

We could hear him play the flute from far away and also long after we passed him, it gave the visit an enchanting feeling

In those holes lie(d) the momies of average people. Higher ranked people could choose where to be buried and have a nicer tomb.

FaxMan, Maud, vous etes toujours aussi beau !

Through this door, the official entrance to Pisaq and our way to the religious centre in a more protected area

Inca style wall leaning inwards, in this case used to avoid mudslides. Just amazing !

A narrow but beautiful way...

...giving us a breathtaking view over part of the Sacred Valley !

Our way is full of surprises like this small tunnel we just came out from

A tower for protection and monitoring of part of the area. Hard not to see an enemy from there

Past this gate is the last part before the religious centre. Allez les jeunes, on continue !

In some aspects, we liked Pisaq better than Machu Picchu. Look at this view !

Potita, mi Amor !

FaxMan, j'adore cette photo ! Un grand moment de meditation sur un fond d'exception !

There we are at the Religious Centre ! Can you notice the perfect construction of the rocks. This was reserved for holy places like religious ones. Machu Picchu is built the same way

Antonio, our guide, a touch of humour and lots of very interesting stories / explanations !

A view over the religious centre - Intiwatana -

In this picture, you can appreciate a different and less refined architecture showing a temple dedicated to the God of the tribe conquered by the Incas. This was a tactic to avoid rebelion and keep harmony in the empire. Very clever indeed :O)

Baby, the FaxMan Mathers and Maud...it's really cool to be there. The highlight of our day

Faites pas semblant de marcher ! :O)

Beautiful cactuses are not uncommon in Peru

Maud and Antonio talking about how good Fax and I we look in the next picture :O)

Yes, in this picture :O)

"Cholitas" photographed in secret...

We are done with the ruins, we are now heading to the Pisaq Market

Baby loves her "choclo" (corn) with cheese

A very typical "cholita" selling her "choclo" !

There's a very broad variety of corn in Peru. Some of which is used to make "Chicha", a kind of corn wine

Fortunately, we arrived later than 1h00pm so there were almost no tourists around.

Toujours aussi beaux ! Alors ? Ca negocie dur !?!

Gabita elaborating a tactic to bargain the best possible price...the Eye of the Tiger :O)

After the market...it's almost 2h00pm and we are starving. This will be our lovely restaurant. The Tunupa in Urubamba!

The FaxMan Mathers in front of the Urubamba river right after our lunch in the restaurant's garden

And now the same picture with us !

This is only one of the many beautiful flowers we could find in the restaurant's garden

Our next destination, Ollaytaytambo, the last Inca fortress before Machu Picchu

A view over the upper part of the fortress

Over there are the houses were all the goods and food were stored

Antonio is explaining us the way the stones were carried from the mountain on the other side of the Urubamba valley to this side for the construction of the fortress...

The religious area could never be finished due to the spanish invasion :O(

Hey Fax ! That was a really cool day !!

A complete view over the Ollaytaytambo fortress with Fax and Maud walking towards the exit. It's the end of another long and very interesting day

Back in Cuzco, a picture of all of us, including our great guide Antonio, to remember this special day. Vraiment excellent!

Early in the morning, we are about to start our 4-hour trip to Machu Picchu. Exciting !

We're all awake and happy...

Half an hour later... :O)

The closer we get, the more clouds we find...

Breathtaking view of the citadel !

We abandoned our ladies for a few hours to climb...

...the Wayna Picchu...

Not even started and already thinking about the way back ? :O)

This mountain in front of The Machu and Wayna Picchu will soon disappear from our sight

First break after 20 minutes and we are already suffering

The climb's not really hard but it's so steep !!

Victory ?! Yes, we can see the citadel from above...but we are not quite there yet !

A moment of inspiration !

How did they manage to build things in such a high location ?!

We are almost there !

Literally the last steps !

Another one of those "Pictures for Glory" :O)

The view is amazing...

Going down backwards !? :O)

Terraces used for agriculture

Bye Fax, it was nice meeting you... :O)

We made it ! And we are proud of it :O)

Joining our ladies to visit the rest of the citadel !

More terraces and quite a few more tourists than what appears on the pictures !

We wish we were alone in this magic place !

Happy we are to have found a less busy place...

...to take a few shots of ourselves ! FaxMan and Maud, you're the couple !

Think of this place covered by years of growing vegetation...lucky Hiram Bingham found it in 1911

The place we are now probably used to be a house !

And this roof used to be covered with straw...

Typical window with perfect geometry

The FaxMan Mathers likes to be photographed :O)

Waiting for me ?! :O)

The King of Birds...no matter how close we would get to him, he wouldn't move ! Thanks for being such a nice subject :O)

Faaaax, it's the FaaaxMan Mathers... Maud, Sie sehen sehr gut aus ! Vielen Dank und Gruessli !

There lies the start to the Wayna Picchu, short but intense hike

A Lama ! So cute ! Can we take it home !?!

Spirituality at its best !! :O)

Like that one : Pauv' type :O) with his only friend in life : WILSON the Soccer Ball...hahahaha :O)

Maud is almost taller than the Wayna Picchu !!!!!!!!!!!!

We are a postcard ! :O)

Back to Cuzco...we were tired and...

Very wasted...

definitely wasted...

absolutely wasted...

...totally wasted !!! :O)

Waking up at 4h40 for this flight was not an easy task

Despite that, Jean-Michel and Adeline are ready to rumble !

We are tired but happy !

Amazing views over the andes from our plane...

There we are ! Cuzco, Navel of The World !

Nicolas Hulot and Mike Horn...proud of their achievement :O)

Beautiful Cuzco makes us forget the rush of Lima

Ladies and Gentleman : Our ladies :O)

The San Francisco Church in the Plaza de Armas

It doesn't look like it, but being at 3300 meters above sea level was quite a shock for us :O)

The cute Cuzco tramway...

The Flag of Tahuantinsuyu !

A different perspective of The San Francisco Church

This lady represents very well how sweet people are in Cuzco

Schoolgirls passing by...just like in SE Asia they wave at you or throw a shy hello at you :O)

Baby me and Baby her in the Qoricancha (Temple of the Sun) :O)

Windows at Qoricancha showing perfect perspective and alignment

That's sweet ! (and for only 1 sol could we take the picture...:O)

The Qoricancha from outside. An Inca masterpiece ruined by the conquistadores...

Saqsaywaman a religious compound believed to form the head of a Puma along with Cuzco

Incredible to think we all are there ! We had planned this trip for a long time !

The FaxMan Mathers and Maud Raymund !

The limestones in Saqsaywaman and their rounded corners

Some more here,

FaxMan at work !

What are you guys doing exactly !?! :O)

Some of these walls are cut out of one stone only !! A total mystery.

It's been a hard day going from sea level to 3750m above sea level in a few hours :O)

We made a couple of new friends up there :O)

Tambomachay was a place for resting and a religious one as well where the Inca used to come while travelling and before entering Cuzco

Some ruins of a lookout point to Tambomachay

And now the whole view of the place...

A view of Cuzco after sunset

The Plaza de Armas from above

End of the day, a picture for glory ! :O)

It's so quiet here at night...

"Smoking" :O) some Tequenos, a tasteful appetizer, "Bidochon" style ! :O

We are the thinkers of our time ! :O)

Behind is the cathedral but the best is in front of it :O)

Heading back to the hotel we couldn't help but notice this building and the street along

On the right side, Inca architecture, on the left side, spanish one...the spanish destroyed Inca walls and then tried to copy them seeing that they resisted many earthquakes. As you can hopefully see...the spanish wall is a pale copy of its counterpart...

We definitely look pretty small against this fascinating wall

Our "top models" are trying to blend into the mystic atmosphere of this small square :O)

Ok, now we really are going to bed. It's been a long but intense and interesting day at Cuzco !!!!

This is our first serious day for visiting and discovering. We haven't chosen the purest place in terms of pollution but the centre of Lima is quite an historic place anyway with its old cathedral and church dating back from the time of the spanish conquista. We spent a great day re-discovering its culture and showing it to you guys !!

Yes, FaxMan Mathers and Maud Raymund are in the place for a 2 week visit in the land of the Inca !! (Content de vous revoir les vieilles peaux :O) For now, we have a quiet program for you guys...but only until tuesday...our departure day to Cusco where the Inca civilization will open up its doors to us :O). Trop cool de vous avoir ici!

Our NZ experience ended very well with our Tongariro visit and after a very long trip we are finally in Lima to enjoy a few days of rest in a family atmosphere before the arrival of our friends Fax and Maud next week !! Enjoy with us :O)

The Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand's most popular one-day-hike. Much longer than Mt Ruapehu's climb (17km against 8km) but much easier as well.

A view over Mt Ngauruhoe

Starting our hike !

Beautiful views of lava rocks !

Starting to climb, this is the most and only difficult part of the hike. Nothing compared to Mt Ruapehu :O)

There we are ! As of now, it's going to be pretty flat !

Enjoying the great view ! :O)

Even if this doesn't look like one, we are walking on a huge crater !

Mt Ngauruhoe in the background...a volcano like we've always imagined it...

A view from the crater we are walking on...

...and one more just because it looks impressive :O)

Now for the Lord of The Rings fans... THIS is Mordor !!

And Mt Ngauruhoe was used as Mt Doom in the movie !!

Baby and I in front of the amazing Red Crater. Thanks Stewart for taking the pic' :O)

The Red Crater's vent is the result of an eruption about 150 years ago...beautiful !

The Blue Lake in the distance...

...and the amazing three Emerald Lakes !

The Three of them are still active !

Interersting colours resulting of sulfurs activity

After a well deserved lunch we are starting our descent by walking on another large active crater...

All of this makes us feel like we are literally walking on the moon...

A water stream with Mt Ngauruhoe's beautiful crater in the distance

"The other side", the beginning of the end of the hike (even if we are only half way :O)

Can't help but taking pictures of this amazing crater !! :O)

Baby ready to get down !

This is our last break before arriving...still about 2hours

One more picture and let's go !

Well almost, let me take another picture of Baby in action ! :O)

Beautiful colors which will always remind us of New Zealand !

Really love them :O)

A hot spring owned by the Maori community

We are definitely back on earth :O)

We made it !! 17kms in 8h30 hours and lots of unforgettable landscapes of this amazing place !!

Mt Ruapehu, still an active volcano, in the beautiful Tongariro National Park

The start of our hike at approximately 1500m

Ok, let's go now !!

Such a sunny day for us but not for the rest of the country which is under the clouds

Mt Ruapehu is the largest ski area in New Zealand !

The boss at work :O)

It's a rocky and steep way but every step is more beautiful than the previous

We are walking on ash that is the result of the 1996 eruption of the volcano !!

We're starting to see the top !

Ok, now we're talking serious business here ! :O)

A fantastic view over Mt Ngauruhoe, the second of the three volcanos that form Tongariro National Park

Baby is suffering but she's doing a great job !

Beautiful rock formations !

A break as we are getting closer and closer to the top !

The contrast between the ice and the color of the rock is quite beautiful!

The more ice we can see, the closer to the top it means we are ;o)

My baby, always with a smile on her face !

Mt Tanaraki, another volcano, in the distance...

Wow, finally the top ! What an incredible crater we are about to walk on !

Walking on the crater on our way to the active crater lake on the other side. Top of the pictures you can see an emergency shelter we hope not to have to use :O)

Looking over my shoulder, we're almost past the first crater

Mt Ruapehu's top is also a glacier which is our path to the way down...

We are at 2590m above sea level on an active volcano. Unbelievable for us !

We can now see the second crater...

...here we are, the crater lake is beautiful. Unfortunately we can't go too close, since we're a bit short of time.

Stewart, our great guide, is informing us about incoming strong winds. which means we have to start our descent now.

On the way down through the glacier !

Back to 2000m, Baby, Stewart and myself ready for our lunch after a 6-hour walk !

The clouds have almost covered Whakapapa village at the bottom...what a perfect timing ! :O).

Baby ! You did it ! The end was hard but you can be so proud of yourself !

We couldn't hope for a better day than the one we've had ! Thank you Stewart for your patience !! Climbing Mt Ruapehu is for sure one of the highlights of our entire trip !

The Abel Tasman National Park, a beautiful place for seakayaking and hiking. We did both in our tour. A good choice if you are running out of time as we unfortunately did. It allowed to see quite a few things around the national park including cute seals, one of which was showing off trying to keep us off the island to protect its "harem" :O)

The Pancake Rocks are stacked limestone rocks that look like...pancakes. As far as we could read, it´s quite unclear how they formed but they are absolutely impressive. A nice stop on the west coast, since we needed a rest from our trip back to the north of the southern island. Our next destination is the Abel Tasman National Park !

The Franz Josef Glacier is a temperate glacier that extends over 12km and starts at 192m above sea level up to 3000m. I guess we went up to a 1000m in our exploration of this impressive "piece" of ice :O). What is surprising as well is its accessibility : Just park your car, have a 30 minutes walk and there you are enjoying a fantastic view of the glacier !! Highly recommended :O)

Pretty nice and lucky to have been here in Milford Sound, which is supposed to be the wettest place in New Zealand with an average of 6 meters of annual rainfall, on a dry day. We could see seals but unfortunately penguins and dolphins were not in a mood to come out and say hello. Anyway, a beautiful and very calm place for a boat cruise !!

Not only is Deer Park Height, a hill surrounding Queenstown, a beautiful place for Lamas (what are they doing in NZ:O), Deers, Buffalos, Pigs, Donkeys and many more to be fed by people, it is also a location of The Lord of The Rings : The Two Towers. The team spent about 4 weeks in this location and for the very fans you will recognize the rock from which Aragorn, pushed by an Orc, falls down to a river or the Remarkables (mountains) which were used as a background when Rohan refugees escape for a safer fortress (can't remember its name). And these are only a few of the many scenes that were filmed there... :O)

First of all, we didn´t take any of those pictures since we were on the speedboat when they were shot. Second thing is that we are only on four of these pictures, the rest are standard public pictures courtesy of The Shotover Jet Company. And last but not least...this thing ROCKS !!! A must-do for whoever is planning a trip to NZ and Queenstown one day. We liked it so much we did it twice !! (Thanks for the tip Nikki :O)

A month is a short time. That is why we have decided to stay an average of 2 days in each place we'll be visiting in the next days. We are therefore on a tight schedule leaving our beautiful Lake Tekapo to go to Queenstown for a high-adrenaline activity called Shotover Jet. But before that, we had the opportunity to have a look at Lake Pukaki, which blue colour is created by very fine rock particles from the surrounding glaciers. We also stopped at the Omarama Clay Cliffs, which get their sharp spires shape under the influence of rainfall.