templo de la luna

On Wednesday, there was a strike.  This means that no one goes to school, and nobody really does anything. This means we didn't have to go to work.  It's such a hard life!  The university students are protesting the raise in bus prices.  It was (I beleive) 50 centimos and now is 70 centimos.  (In US currency, this is the equivalent of 17 cents increased to 25 cents).  

With our newfound time, we decided to go on a little adventure to some nearby ruins.  A dear Peruvian friend of ours, Naddia, offered to take us.  Her little girl, a spunky 8 year old, also came with us along with her husband and their dog.  It was quite a day.

Alex and I with Naddia's daughter.

Naddia, our dear Peruvian friend, who does odd jobs around the city to help support her family. She is so full of love it is hardly believable.  

Marco Antonio, husband of Naddia, who accompanied us on our trip as he is out of work at the moment and had nothing better to do (according to him).

Chilling in a beautifully cut Incan stone.

Alex and I perched atop a giant rock.

Our dear Peruvian friends had a dog that followed us all around for about 4 hours.  Here he is!

Walking through the campesino (farmland), we encounter some startled sheep.

You know about my obsession with dogs.  This picture was too precious to pass up.  These little pups yapped at us for a good 15 minutes in front of their adobe house.

Typical, Jen.  I know.  I stumbled upon this little guy resting his head in the hole in a big red door.  His big sad eyes lured me in.  Just look at them!

The scenery was gorgeous.  We had no idea what to expect, but it literally blew us away.

These ancient ruins in particular were known to be a very "happy" place because there were many of the rocks were shaped to look like monkeys (considered to be very happy animals).  This monkey's head is on the left and the tail is off to the right. 

Some sweet Incan houses.  No big deal.  Ha!

Here I am perched atop the sacrificial altar at Templo de la Luna.  It is inside a cave type of thing and there is a hold just above me through which the moon shines through.  It was so, so awesome.

Marco Antonio, the husband of my Peruvian friend, told me that when he was a child he would hike up here with his friends and find entire skeletons intact and play around in the vestiges of the Inca empire like it was no big deal.