Supper Bloom of 2024

I'm not pretending to be a of desert wildflower lover. However, since it was supposed to be a camping trip, the whole thing became more enticing!

The plan was to leave on Saturday, drive to Anza Borrego, camp in the desert overnight, then go see the wildflowers on Sunday -- how perfect!! More importantly, this was supposed to be my FIRST camping trip in life -- sleeping in the desert under the stars -- how exciting!!!

Friday afternoon, we received weather alerts about strong winds in the desert, gusting 30mph... Saturday morning, checked the weather again, still with strong wind advisory!! We had to cancel the camping trip at the last minute -- even after everything was perfectly packed (Picture 1 = camping foods).

Sunday morning, we decided to drive to Anza Borrego -- we must see the wildflowers!! It rained on and off the whole way, winds were strong, flowers were blowing violently... But still, we captured a few pictures of the super bloom of 2024.

Anza Borrego State Park, CA

March 24, 2024 

 

Our Lunch

Our Lunch on the massive salt flat in Bolivia.

Salar de Uyuni, amid the Andes in southwest Bolivia, is the world’s largest salt flat. It’s the legacy of a prehistoric lake that went dry, leaving behind a desert-like, nearly 11,000-sq.-km. landscape of bright-white salt, rock formations and cacti-studded islands. Its otherworldly expanse can be observed from central Incahuasi Island.

We hiked all the way up to the top of the Incahuasi Island.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

February 3, 2024

 

Salar de Uyuni

Salar de Uyuni of Bolivia is often dubbed the “Mirror of the Sky.” 

It is so boundless and bright white that Neil Armstrong is said to have mistaken it for an enormous glacier seen from space. 

Dotted with volcanic isles and home to curious wildlife, the huge salt flats boast otherworldly landscape and a mesmerizing experience. A total area of 10,582 square kilometers makes it the world's largest salt flat. During the raining seasons (January-February), the thin layer of water transforms the flats into a dazzling reflection of the sky. On top of that, it also contains 50-70 percent of the world's known lithium reserves.

Uyuni, Bolivia

February 2024

 

Welcome to La Paz

With an altitude of 11,975 feet, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world.

Have you ever seen a city so intertwined with mountains and canyons? Welcome to La Paz!!

The city is nestled in a canyon created by the Choqueyapu River and is surrounded by towering mountains, including the snow-capped Illimani peak.

Witches' Market (Mercado de las Brujas) is an unique market in La Paz selling traditional medicines, ritual artifacts, and items used in Andean spiritual practices. It offers a fascinating glimpse into Bolivia's indigenous beliefs.

La Paz, Bolivia

February 1, 2024

 

Raqchi Temple of Wiracocha

The Piquillacta Archaeological Site is one of the most famous and best preserved pre-Inca sites of the ancient cities that existed in the Peruvian territory, which left many ancient human settlements in Peru; each with specific knowledge and technologies, which then contributed to the establishment of the largest empire in the Western Hemisphere, the Inca Empire.

The most important structure of the Piquillacta archaeological site is the Raqchi Temple of Wiracocha (1438-1532), a huge rectangular two-story structure that measures 92 meters long by 25.5 wide. The structure is composed of a central adobe wall between 18 and 20 meters high, with an andesite stone base. It has windows and doors, it is flanked on both sides by a row of 11 circular columns with the lower part in stone and the upper part in mud. Before its destruction by the Spaniards, the temple had what is believed, the largest ceiling in the Inca Empire, having its cusp in the central wall that extends over the columns and about 25 meters (82 feet) beyond each side. The great proportions of the temple, and its prominence on the site explain why the entire complex is also referred to as the Raqchi Temple of Wiracocha.

Most of the Inca structures are enclosed by large pyramidal walls, however in Raqchi archaeological site there is a court with eight rectangular buildings surrounded by a large courtyard that was probably a tambo, a lodging house for travelers.

Cuzco, Peru

January30, 2024

 

 

Pisac's Mysterious Ruin

Anything can possibly go wrong went wrong on this trip...

Being blocked from accessing Machu Picchu, our tour guide decided to take us to this incredible site - Pisac's Mysterious Ruin. 

We drove all the way up there. Looking down to the Sacred Valley through the soft green terraces was incredible (Picture 1). However, hiking up to the ruin complex presented a challenge to our local tour guide. So, he literally didn't take us up there (Picture2, the upper right corner on the hill). Because the ruin wasn't on our original itinerary, I didn't know much about it until after we got home. The more I read about it, the more I realized how regrettable it was to not push the guide to take us up there!

Oh well, again, life is the art of imperfection!! 

Cuzco, Peru

January 29, 2024 

Regarding Pisac's mysterious ruin, historian Victor W. von Hagen once pronounced: “Nowhere in all the empire of the Incas is there finer masonry, nor is there elsewhere, even at Machu Picchu, a plan so bold.”

The chief puzzle surrounding Pisac is just what exactly it’s supposed to be.

The problem is partially the site’s architectural diversity.  Barracks, fortifications, civilian residences, temples, aqueducts, agricultural precincts: no other Inca ruin, including Machu Picchu, encompasses such a broad array of infrastructure.

Some scholars, focusing on the complex’s sweeping agricultural terraces, argue that Pisac is a kind of royal Hacienda or estate built by the Inca Pachacutec in the mid-1400s.  According to this theory, the visionary emperor erected a rural villa to commemorate his defeat of the Cuyos, a rival Andean group who resisted Inca rule.  Pisac’s terraces thus would have provided corn, potatoes, and peppers for yet another imperial country home, Machu Picchu.

It’s a case of too little information, clearly. Regarding Pisac’s function, the historical record is conspicuously silent. None of the chroniclers from the Spanish Conquest mentions it, no recorded battles took place there, no swashbuckling Yalies looking for lost cities broadcast its existence to the world.

What Pisac does have is aesthetics, and in spades. Comprising over four square kilometers of agricultural terraces dotted with clusters of striking edifices, it’s five times the size of Machu Picchu, with some of the most heart-stopping views in Peru. 

 

Salineras de Maras

The Salineras de Maras, in the Cuzco Region of Peru at an altitude of 10,560 ft., is made up of ~4,500 natural salt wells near the town of Maras. Each of the wells has a dimension of 5 square meters. 

The salt wells are fed by a hypersaline underground spring that originated 110 million years ago during the formation of the Andes Mountains. The ancient legacy of the Maras Salineras stretches across millennia. Emerging from the peaks of Qaqawiñay mountain, briny waters surge forth, embracing the sun's potent rays that, upon evaporation, give rise to the distinctive natural salt wells synonymous with Maras.

 

The little person diligently taking photos under the hot summer sun was me 😊

Cuzco, Peru
January 29, 2024