This is a quick video from Ollantaytambo, specifically where Charlie climbs up to examine the saw marks...
http://youtu.be/sWTgqUIP5DY

Here's a quick video from our climb up Huayna Picchu with some views of Machu Picchu down below...
http://youtu.be/dYCSPXWL_MQ

This is a quick little YouTube video of our visit to the 12-sided stone in the streets of Cusco!

http://youtu.be/h91kh0Mz1J8

We are back from our amazing trip.  Our power and Wi-fi access were far from ideal the last 1.5 weeks of the trip, especially while on Rapa Nui ("Easter Island").  As such, we have about 1/2 a terabyte of video and photos to work our way through.  Once we've processed and edited, we will begin loading the footage...stay tuned!

Chadd is striking a mean pose while sitting in an "observation chair" 

Here, Chuck is sitting in the same chair trying to get an idea of how large a person would have sat here...

Here are some even bigger "observation chairs'.  These supposedly were used by the King & Queen (or equivalent). 

Here are the giants we came to see at Ollantaytambo.  We'll leave it at that for now...

 Chuck and Chadd standing in a corner of the 1st floor of the giant Sacsayhuaman "compound".  Absolutely amazing to see the size of the blocks and precision of the joining as well as the sheer volume of stones here...

Sacsayhuaman from a distance

Chuck and Chadd in front of Sacsayhuaman

Chuck and Chadd at the top of Huayna Picchu, looking down on Machu Picchu, at about 9am on Thursday.  Wow, what a view and we can definitely check one off the Bucket-List!

Ok, this was just plain awesome!  After checking in to our hotel in Cusco, and 

relaxing for a minute, we got a 2nd wind (literally and figuratively since many people were struggling and using the oxygen tank downstairs in the lobby of the hotel) and decided to go out and walk back to the alleyway with the GINORMOUS megalithic polygonal rocks that are perfectly shaped and fitted and beyond comprehension in size.  We've been watching shows and reading about these stones for so long that it was a complete surprise to find ourselves in the alleyway, at night, in front of these stones and with NOBODY else around...they were simply amazing.  Here's Chuck with his new alpaca hat and new favorite drink, Inka Cola.  It basically has the same properties of Coca Cola but it smells and tastes like Bazooka-Joe bubble gum.  

Here's Mr. Chadd, showing off his spiffy red Alpaca hat and Inka Cola too!  Check out these granite monoliths.  Oh yeah, we forgot to mention that these are granite stones!  The rocks are fitted with perfect symmetry, using no mortar and yet they have no gaps between them.  There are complicated angles and cuts, along with additional little "kinks" that are built-in to interlock the blocks even further and prevent movement during an earthquake.  Unbelievable architecture and engineering! 

We just got in to our hotel at Lake Titicaca.  Wow, what a difference!  This is what I was hoping for in terms of accommodations from the beginning, but alas, some areas in Peru are just not very "popular" and thus you can't expect luxury hotel service.  Getting back to it, we are right on the lake,  so the views tomorrow should be amazing.  This is the highest navigable body of water in the world, and can be considered the largest lake in the world by sheer volume; we expect to be very impressed.

The Wi-Fi in this hotel keeps cutting out, so videos are an impossibility.   We'll try to load some pics of our recent activities (child skeleton of a "non-human" skull today; climbing Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu yesterday, and climbing and inspecting Ollantaytambo the day before) to keep this current.  Videos and other pics will be forthcoming once we have a workable internet solution...

Quick update because we have REALLY sketchy wi-fi at the Hostel (yes, a hostel...we are thrilled about it).  We climbed Huayna Picchu the "hike of death" today.  It was quite challenging and we'll write more as we post videos and pictures in the coming days.  We then came down the mountain and into Machu Picchu and had some food before climbing up to the Sun Gate and then back down into Machu Picchu.

It was a tremendous experience and checked one off the Bucket List.  Tomorrow we drive on to Puno, an 8 hour bus ride which will tax us physically and mentally!  Hopefully we'll have a good connection soon to load photos and videos.

PS--this hostel is so poorly built that it sounds like someone is right above our heads jumping up and down on the only 2x4 between us!

Arrived in Cusco

Chuck and Chadd arrived in Cusco today, altitude approximately 10,000 feet.  Today was a "get acclimated to the weather" day.  Nevertheless, we saw some amazing sites in Cusco already.  We had to be out of the hotel at 6am and so only slept about 4 hours--we were both very tired.  However, with the amount of coca that they give around here in the form of leaves or candy or tea, C&C were just fine at altitude and made a day of it.

While the rest of the tour rested up a bit, we went out on the town, as we seem to do.  We were searching for a local travel agent of sorts since our tickets were for Machu Picchu alone and we both want to climb Huayna Picchu.  Anyway, we were walking down a pathway when we came across some bodegas selling a little bit of everything.  At that, Chadd motioned to an alleyway and, when we looked, there they were--the polygonal megaliths that look like a Giant's Jigsaw Puzzle or something;  absolutely remarkable to see with your own eyes and touch with your own hands.

We walked through there and then headed back to the hotel to meet up with the group as Brien Foerster would be doing a 3 hour guided tour of Cusco, including the Coricancha (Qorikancha) and a local Cusco museum with elongated skulls.  The Coricancha took everything to another level.  The engineering that went into building this is phenomenal.  There are blocks up to 6 feet thick and cut perfectly all the way through.  They are interlocked and designed to be "earthquake proof".  We then headed to the museum to see the elongated skulls.  Some were similar in anatomical structure to the ones we saw in Paracas and that are around the world, unfortunately, sometimes in private hands.

After the museum we were starving as we really hadn't eaten all day.  We were looking for Paddy's Pub, the highest altitude 100% Irish Owned Pub (spoiler alert: we weren't overwhelmed at all!).  Anyway, we ended up eating at a nearby irish pub--wasn't bad, and then headed to the hotel where we decided to just stay in.  However, after we realized that these formations and structures we've been reading about for so long were just blocks from our hotel, we just had to go out again.  We have photos (big trouble loading at this hotel right now so videos and photos will come as soon as we can get good internet) of us out tonight on these streets/alleyways, having them pretty much to ourselves; it was an experience neither of us ever thought would be possible (figured they would be secured and difficult or impossible to access).

All in all, a great first day here in Cusco.  We will travel tomorrow to see Tambo Machay, Puca Puccara, Amaru Machay, the Temple of the Monkeys, and one of our most desired sights to see: Sacsayhuaman.  This will be another altitude hike so hopefully we'll adjust; don't think we'll have a problem.  In addition to coca, they have oxygen available in the lobbies of the hotel and various places to deal with the altitude...but still makes ya wonder what that 1000 foot climb up to Huayna Picchu will feel like!

Elongated Skulls

Here's a cool sweep around some of the skulls that were in the case still.  We saw a bunch
that are not seen by "outsiders" and aren't shown to TV programs and the like.  Too many people arrange for these items to leave their country of origin and without proper examination.  100s have been lost and or sold to private collectors and so it was an even greater honor to be allowed to see these.

Elongated Skulls 360

In this video, Chuck is wearing the Go Pro head mount camera in order

to portray a "point of view" perspective.  You'll see a few levels of differentiation here

between "normal" human skulls, intentionally cranially deformed human skulls, and

elongated skulls which differ from the other "human" skulls in marked ways.  It is very easy to discern

the differences, especially when holding it and not just reading about it on the internet, 

or regurgitating what someone read in a book that was likely written by somebody who isn't doing what we are doing and experiencing it the way we are experiencing it.  That is the reason we are wearing these cameras, not because we want to "re-live" it for ourselves, but rather because we want to share this, with anyone and everyone who is interested, so that more people will open their minds and and start asking questions and asking more when the answers don't make sense. We just want to encourage people to read about this stuff and go to these places and see these things for themselves.   

El Piloto, Oasis in the Desert

Chuck and Chadd were on a bus for miles and miles and miles,  seeing nothing but empty desert, for miles, and miles, and miles! Then, out of nowhere, and before we reach Paracas (by far!), we see a sign that advertises  "New Paracas"and then this incredible restaurant called "El Piloto". The food and  service were  remendous, which brings us to something: {EVERYONE in Peru has a job, or something they actually DO for $.  We have yet to see a street beggar, rather, we  will oftentimes be sitting at a meal, as we were today, and we'll hear the beginning of a song  being played on a Charango (a Peruvian miniature guitar).  Then, this voice will begin singing  this song and it really doesn't matter that only 2 of us (Charlie and Brien Foerster's companion, Irene) speak Spanish and thus understand what is being said.  If this child ever made it to American Idol or the Voice or any one of those shows, he would win, hands down! To be able to walk up to complete strangers and bust out in a cappella, and be this good, it was amazing.  He had (or evidenced) no fear and then offered to sell his CD to us (if we so chose and they don't pressure), for 5 soles ($2 US  ollars).  Chadd gave him a $10 US Dollar and when Charlie explained to the boy that it was a tip, he was  bsolutely elated and really showed his appreciation in his face and in wishing us  a fun and safe time in his  ountry. } There are 2-3 attendants to each gas pump at the station too, it's crazy, but great service.  In New  aracas they are building like mad and anticipating a booming tourist culture.  We'll have to see, but the REAL treasures, those that we are looking for and forward to seeing with our own eyes and holding with our own  hands, are in "OLD" Paracas!

Sitting in traffic

We pretty much did this for about 10 - 12 hours that day.

The bus we are in is brutally slow and our drivers are 

horrendous! These guys see-saw back and forth with the 

wheel so we are constantly swaying to and fro and missing other buses

and semis by inches, not feet! Then we can't pass anyone, or nearly

go head-on into an oncoming bus whenever we try to! (I am finding 

this humorous, even as I type, for I know that neither of us is going 

to die or be injured on this trip, we've been through too much already to miss

out on any more, and that's how it's going to be).  Anyway, we actually drove 

off-road in the thing and drove through and over quick-sand, no lie! haha So 

everything is taking much longer than it should, so we have to entertain ourselves.

Here, Chadd is busting some balls...

Nasca plain and Cahuachi

For some reason Chuck extended his finger toward the pilot, apparently

trying to demonstrate our tight confines...

Here's a cool little picture of the Nasca plain from our plane. 

Chadd is standing in front of the hardly known and 

very impressive (for the magnitude of the site) Cahuachi 

Pyramids.  What we saw unearthed was a minute %

of the total compound which is said to be 30 square 

kilometers

Chuck just had to take a pic with Sr. Juan, the current "guardian" of 

Cahuachi, if only to demonstrate the slight size difference between your

average American guy and your average Peruvian man.  

Hopefully the first of many adventure trip pictures with Brien Foerster, 

one of the guys we look up to in the area of ancient civilization work, and a new friend.  

Brien is incredibly humble and has a wealth of knowledge, especially relating to 

ancient cultures and civilizations of South America. 

Here's Chadd, playing archaeologist as we explore Cahuachi. 

It was a painful ride down a dirt road to get to Cahuchi.  This is

not your average "tourist" site.  In fact, we were the only ones

out here, well, us and the archaeological team that is excavating at a 

rapid pace.  At one point, our bus driver was driving very erratically and we 

were told, "our bus driver is worried because he's used to driving the streets

 of Lima and the white spot you see right there is actually quick-sand!"  

Here's Chuck, struggling with the heat and humidity at Cahuachi.

The Cahuachi site is apparently made up primarily or solely of adobe

bricks.  We asked the guardian, Sr. Juan, what these people did for 

entertainment or sport.  He motioned to a central area that looked like a plaza

and described how a word, spoken in that area, would be amplified upward.  

It sounded like he was describing an amphitheater of sorts. As often occurs, 

Chadd had predicted the usage of that area for that purpose before hearing 

what Sr. Juan had to say. 

In this short video clip you should be able to see the "Astronaut"

geoglyph apearing on the dark mountain (maybe not-lol) which is in the bottom left 

quadrant of the screen when you first start the video. In later versions

we will have arrows and such to point out the geoglyphs, but laptop editing

on the bus is not our specialty just yet.  Anyway, the "astronaut" is one of the more

difficult geoglyphs for me to explain because a bird's eye view would presumably be 

necessary to complete it, since you have no perspective from the ground, and it's difficult to 

see how one would accomplish that...

While in Lima, we saw people on the street performing all types of stunts to earn money. 

We rarely just saw someone begging, rather, they were resourceful and found a means to 

earn that money.  This guy was balancing an orange on his head and walking and dancing in the street.

Unfortunately we only caught the tail-end before the light changed. 

Trusty single-engine plane for our fly-over of the Nasca lines.

Here is our trusty single-engine plane for our fly-over of the Nasca lines.
Chadd and Chuck rode with their new friends, Richard and Colin.

40 feet above a couple of the geoglyphs on the Nasca/Nazca plain

This is a video of us at the top of a Mirador which is an observation tower, 40 feet above a couple of the geoglyphs on the Nasca/Nazca plain.  We were quite surprised to see that we could get an appreciation for the shape and structure from such a relatively short vantage point.  This is especially true in light of our plane ride during which these geoglyphs were easy to spot (those in-flight videos will be coming once we have better WiFi!)

Go Pro!

Here we are, testing out our Go Pros before the flight over the Nasca lines and geoglyphs.  Well, actually, we are just making fun of each other and how we look with these video camera strapped to the front of our heads...watch out for the bad language!

Arriving in Peru

Tomorrow we travel by bus to Nazca.  It will be about a 5-7 hour drive.  We will take pics and video on the way and upload anything of interest.  In the interim, here are some pics from today's adventures...

Today we ate lunch at this outdoor mall called Minka.
This place was, in a word, AMAZING! It has over 2000
stores.  They had everything from motorcycles and cars
to raw meats/poultry/chicken.  This photo captures a happy
Chadd eating at Pardo Chicken.  This was, far and away,
the best meal we've had so far.  I asked for avocado in place
of "lettuce and tomato" and this is what I received! I think
it's probably the equivalent of 3 whole avocados and it cost
all of $2.50.

We managed to find a salon to give Chadd a haircut.
Chadd was resolved that "if they F it up, you can
just shave it off".  Chadd was so pleased that he tried
to convince the stylist to move to California.  

Well, sorry that this pic is crooked (I'll address later).
After Chadd's haircut at the Minka, we asked if they knew
of a place to get a back massage (making sure to emphasize
that we want legitimate massages...).  Well, we then
encountered the first of many kiosks that offered "anti-stress"
massages.  Here, we paid the equivalent of $8 US for a 30 min
massage...gotta love it!

Here's Chadd, "assuming the position" for his massage.  Yes,
as you may have surmised, we definitely draw a lot of attention.
Not only are we veritable "giants" here (average dudes look
about 5'8" or so and I haven't seen anyone near 6'3"), but we
are the only ones with beaming smiles taking pics all over the place. 

This is "ingresos", the massage kiosk we went to. 

The "salon" where Chadd got "the best haircut EVER"-lol

I thought this was cool.  Inside of the Minka, they sell seeds
and grains for everything from Maca to Coca...
What a country!

Harina de Coca...

Here is a closer pic of the raw materials you can
get to make whatever your heart desires...

Another look at the bails of raw materials

I had to take this pic because I don't know that I've ever seen
grapes so vibrant in color.  What we learned here is that all produce
here is organic, not because people demand it, but because fertilizers,
pesticides and the like cost money and the farmers can't afford them.
As such, everything here tastes fantastic and looks the way nature
intended.  However, unlike in the States where the "ORGANIC" label
necessarily hikes the price, we were amazed at how inexpensive
everything was...

Ok, had to buy some strawberries and Chadd and I are eating
em now.  This sign tells you that for $1.50 soles (about .60 cents!)
you get 1 kilo or about 1/2 lb of fresh strawberries...unreal!

There were produce stands like these all throughout the Minka.

Here is a closer look.  They have fruits I've never seen (yeah yeah,
those who know me know that's not saying much as I'm not exactly
a fruit connoisseur).  Also, most such stands offered 2-4 different
kinds of avocados alone...

WOW! look at all those bananas!! Seriously, this pic
doesn't even begin to capture how many bananas there were...

This is the start of the "meat/poultry/fish/gawd knows what"
section...

Distant pics of some chickens that have all seen better days.
Nevertheless, soon they will either end up in a Peruvian home or,
perhaps, one of the multitude of KFCs they have here! Seriously,
it's unreal--they have more Chinese Restaurants and KFCs than Irvine
has Starbucks (was gonna say "than Irvine has Camrys but that isn't even
 close to true!)

These are local "taxis".  Chadd tried to convince them to take
us to our hotel.  However, just because we (well Chadd) were willing
to battle crazy drivers (like nothing I've seen outside of Tijuana!) in buses
and semis, these guys riding stretched single-cylinder motorcycles sure weren't!

...and this is what happens when you make a wrong turn in Lima.
The Minka is in a nice region, or at least appears so from
the side we entered.  Then, we decided to exit on a different side
and this is what we encountered. 

...another look of the "wrong turn" region...

...and another

Ok, come on now, this is awesome! This cop may or may not
have a gun but deezam, he's got a light-saber!!!!

We're here!

Good thing we got here a few days early to acclimate and check out the town.  Videos of significance (READ: ancient structures) will begin tomorrow with our trip to Nazca.  In the interim, we'll clown around and post about our experiences in and around Lima...

Our hotel...

Okay, we have to figure out the power thing because the bozo at Samy's Camera in Santa Ana didn't send us away with the right equipment. Funny, as he seemed so cocky, I mean confident, in telling us we were wrong! Alysha was right!!!! AGAIN!!!!

We are loading up the Go pro cams and hitting the town! This place is kind of crazy! The beds in our room are a joke, I actually think they're box springs ONLY! OUCH!!!

Also, as we are learning, things in Peru are a little backwards the hot water is BLUE and the cold water knob is RED (took a minute to realize we had hot water). Also, it sucks when you get out of the shower and your wet feet make muddy foot prints as the floor is so dirty! AWESOME!


Chucks bed had two pillows, mine had one but at least my solo pillow was clean, Chucks had dirty creases on it, awesome! He appears to have possibly caught pink eye or something! YUCK! J/K but he did wake up with one super red, itchy eye! Just saying.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUEEN OF ALL THINGS (Alysha McKeen, my lovely wife)!

More to come shortly!

Of course, Red=cold and Blue=Hot!

Here's Chadd, admiring our AMAZING view.  This hotel's walls are
so thin that while someone takes a shower, it literally
(yes, not figuratively) sounds like a waterfall.  That and
it sounded like we were sleeping in a loading dock
all night.  Oh, and here, soap and shampoo are "extras"
that you need to buy from the front-desk.  Ahhhh man,
gotta love it!

Here are some nice red spots that came free of charge with my pillow!  

Meet Chuck and Chadd

A taste of where we will be traveling

The entire trip.  From Peru to Easter Island!  November 5 thru the 26th!
http://megalithomania.co.uk/peru2012.html

Follow Chuck and Chadd as they travel the World looking for proof of our origin and reason for our existence.  Follow day by day as Charlie "Chuck" May and Chadd McKeen travel to many amazing Peruvian and Chilean ancient sites to see for themselves if clues remain as to proof of our origin and reason for our existence.  Daily blog content, video clips and pics as well as commentary from around the world.  All FREE!  It's the next best thing, so check it out with Chuck and Chadd!  Thank you for following us!