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Today we hiked to the top of a mountain we dubbed Viva el Peru (we didn't know the real name or if it even has one). On the face of the mountain people have written the phrase "Viva el Peru" by clearing away the vegetation and you can see the writing from any point in the city. My friend Brianna, the grad student from Montana, organized the hike for anyone who was interested in going and about ten of us braved the high altitude and lack of oxygen to see a bird's eye view of Cusco. We started out at the university with no idea of exactly where we were going and just walked in the general direction of the mountain. The thirty minute walk to the base of the mountain took us through a very poor neighborhood where stray dogs outnumbered people. I'm not talking just any stray dogs here, I'm talking angry, territorial, speedy stray dogs that chased a few of us when we passed by too closely. Seeing the people and the conditions in which they live never fails to remind me how lucky I am to have been born in such a wealthy country with basic things (like running water and electricity) I take for granted. We reached the base of the mountain and had to cross a VERY sketchy bridge made from halved logs that creaked and swayed as we crossed. To our surprise we found underneath the bridge two enormous cerdos (pigs)- I'm talking 450/500 pound pigs! We all stopped to take pictures and some of the locals who were watching us kept pointing and laughing. My roommate Sydney, who was born and raised in NYC, was absolutely "flabbergasted". She has never seen a grown pig before and couldn't get over it. It was hilarious. Our climb up the mountain took us past several homes of the locals and once again I was reminded how lucky we all are to have been born in a wealthy nation. About halfway through our climb we came across two men and a pregnant woman attempting to carry a huge armoir up the side of a steep ridge to their casa. Seeing them struggle and not make much progress, we asked if we could lend a hand and half of us helped them carry the armoir the last 30 feet or so up to their tiny shack. The people kept thanking us and it made us all feel like we had done our part to help disprove the stereotype of ugly, arrogant, selfish Americans. Along our hike we reached the famous statue of an Inkan warrior/god and stopped to rest and take some very tourist-y photos. The rest of our hike consisted of climbing up the rocky terrain for about thirty seconds then stopping to rest for a couple of minutes. The air is so thin here that about half of us almost fainted from the exertion. When we finally reached the top, we saw the most breathtaking view of the city. Sitting in the tiny temple perched on the highest point of the mountain, we had the same view of the valley that the Spanish conquistadores saw when they discovered Cusco. It gave me goosebumps to think that I was standing on the very mountain that Francisco Pizzaro did in 1533.
I'm picking back up with writing my blog here. We actually did the hike last Saturday but I've been EXTREMELY sick all week and I'm finally finishing what I started a week ago.
Our hike down was much easier on the lungs but harder on the joints. Needless to say I slept very well that night :)
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