We're Home ... Here are Some Videos from the Trip

With the approach of Thanksgiving later this week, it's appropriate for us to express our gratitude for our many wonderful experiences in the mystical and spiritual world of the high Andes.

There were so many highlights, they're too numerous to share on a blog. But a few video highlights from throughout the trip are below.

Some standouts:

• The people. There was Lynda at the Corazon Cafe in Ollantatambo who lent us her computer to post our blog when ours went on the fritz. Pepe and Yolanda in Arequipa opened their home to us, fed us, made us homemade pisco sours, showed us their city and countryside and let us wash our clothes. Elaria on Amantani island gave us a room, cooked for us and made sure we didn't get lost in the dark on her island.
• The hikes. The best were the climb to to the top of Hyana Picchu (the mountain at Machu Picchu) and the north-to-south trek on Isla del Sol. But there also were spectacular hikes on Amantani and Taquile islands and in the Colcha Canyon. And the urban hikes in La Paz and Lima.
• The landscape. Machu Picchu should be on everyone's to-do list. But there also are many other jawdropping sites in the Sacred Valley, like the Moray agricultural terraces and the Salinas salt mine. And Lake Titicaca is so vast that you can't see the other side at times, but you can see the high Andes rising from the distance. And those peaks were everywhere we looked throughout our trip.
• The big cities of Lima and La Paz. The colonial architecture, the warm people, the great food, and just plain strolling the historical sites, neighborhoods and local markets.

Until next year ...

Machu Picchu: It should be on everyone's to-do list.

These are some local schoolkids in Aguas Caliente having a good time on the main square. Their enthusiasm was contagious.

This is Daniel. He gave us a private audience at the Throne of the Princess at the ruins of Pisac.

This band, at the tiny town of San Pablo, Bolivia, could give The Boss a run for his money. It took no breaks for at least 45 minutes and kept on going in the blazing sun. Bolivian Navy men and traditional women danced in the square.

This is the changing of the guard at the national palace in Lima. Listen to the cathedral bells in the background.

And finally, this was the scene at the cathedral after the changing of the guard.