The hills are alive with the sound of pan flute
“Where’s. That. Music. Coming. From?” I ask Todd as we pause our up up uphill hike to the ruins over Pisac, Peru. “Do you. See. Anyone?” “Nope.” “Wait. Is that, pan flute? It is. Ugh, pan flute!”
Cebollas y choclo at the Pisac Sunday Market
Some people like to window shop on chic urban streets, imagining themselves rocking an outfit worn by a headless anorexic mannequin. Me, I prefer to un-window shop (hush, you try to figure out an antonym of “window”) out in the…
Salty promises at the Salineras of Maras, Peru
In the late afternoon at the end of a very wet rainy season, the tiered pocitos at the Salineras of Maras, Peru are empty of workers. The frequent cloud bursts have kept the evaporation in check that would otherwise coat…
Cairns for Moray’s Incan engineers
I’ve always liked concentric circles. I don’t really know why. Perhaps it’s a preference I developed during my formative years, spent surrounded by the lingering psychedelic style of the late 1970s. Maybe it’s more about how the shape simultaneously shows…
Chasing Incan kings through small town streets
If the internet is to be believed, Ollantaytambo, Peru is home to a mere 2,000 people. Each day, at least that many tourists hit the cobblestone streets to visit the town’s impressive Incan temple ruins, to set off by trail…
Incan temple ruins – Ollantaytambo, Peru photo essay
“Mama!” the guard says. We follow his pointing finger to see a plump yellow bird sunning herself on a rock wall. Smiling and nodding, we look back to the guard, whose main job seems to be to keep tourists from…
A riot of tiny color – Ollantaytambo, Peru photo essay
It would have been easy to cobble together a salad from the edibles that we brush by while exploring the Incan ruins of Ollantaytambo in Peru’s Sacred Valley. Lush from the late seasonal rains, there are pea-sized Peruvian bush tomatoes,…
If these walls could talk – Machu Picchu photo essay
Before I got to Machu Picchu, Peru, I knew I wanted to keep people out of most of my photos. Including people in travel photos can deliver a sense of scale, time, place, or emotion. But, at a world wonder…
If you don’t like the weather at Machu Picchu, wait 5 minutes
This is not the view that you want to see when visiting Machu Picchu. Not at all.
A little bit of everything – Lima, Peru photo essay
Lima, Peru rewards the observant wanderer. If you walk its streets with only your destination in mind, you may miss out on the moments happening all around you. For all its energy and growth, at times Lima seemed like a…
