¨They have killed a sheep for you!¨

We finished our four day hike yesterday and went back to Cusco, land of showers, toilets and temperatures above freezing. All hail Cusco!

Our hike was absolutely amazing. We hike the Lares trail, a trail that winds through mountains past tons of tiny Andean villages and ends with a trip to Machu Picchu. There were lots of things that made the hike an incredible experience. We were just traipsing through the Andes--it was so serene, and we had incredible views of snow-capped glaciers and long, uninterrupted stretches of tundra and mountains. Sometimes we would round the corner and see a gorgeous, icy blue glacial lake just stretched out in front of us. We got so used to just seeing llamas, alpacas, donkeys, wild horses, sheep and stray dogs chilling in the wilderness that by the second day we thought nothing of it. It´s a major tourist trail, so as we trekked, children would come running from all the tiny villages that dot the Andes to stare at us. Seriously, they are engineering some sort of uber-cute race high up in the Andes, and when it finally reaches American we will be doomed. We will be completely powerless against them, and all our domestic babies and our puppies and kittens will go ignored. Our guide Felix had told us to buy lots of little toys and candies for the kids, so we were prepared, but we weren´t prepared for their ability to quickly hide the gifts we gave them in the sleeves of their ponchos, thus provoking intense and violent arguments among them concerning who was double-dipping in the gullible tourist pool.

But it wasn´t all children and llamas. The trail was actually incredibly difficult--probably the most physically challenging thing I´ve ever done in my life. I´m a fast hiker and a good camper, but I was completely unprepared to hike at that altitude, and camp in the cold temperatures we experienced. I don´t think I got more than an hour of sleep each night because it was so cold I would just shake uncontrollably in my sleeping bag all night. I was wearing everything I owned, and my sleeping bag was great, but all for naught. The trail itself was also really challenging. I was afraid there would be a lot of steep climbs and hoisting myself up rocks. The terrain wasn´t like that, but the altitude was such a problem for me that the steepness of the passes left me completely breathless very often. We had to stop practically every ten minutes because we were sucking wind. Not what I´m used to.

The absolute, bar none highlight of our trip had to be the hair cutting ceremony. On the third day, the trail led us very close to our cook Ricardo^s house. As we were passing it at about 10 am our guide, Felix, took us into the enclosure of Ricardo^s house where his yard was and told us they all had a surprise for us. Today was Ricardo^s son´s hair-cutting ceremony (sort of an Andean baptism) and we were all invited! Then Felix turned to us and said ¨This is a very special honor and a very special day. They have killed a sheep for you!¨And sure enough, we looked down into the yard and there was a freshly butchered sheep which two women were in the middle stages of cleaning. I think all of us experienced a moment of total bewilderment (and anxiety) as we watched them shovel the organs out of the sheep, wrap the meat in newspapers, put it into hot coals along with a huge load of potatoes and then bury it in dirt and hay for an hour. But when an Andean villager invites you into his home and kills a sheep for you? You put aside your squeamishness, sit down, and wait for lunch, because it´s awesome.

So we all sat down in his yard to await our feast. For about an hour we drank a local drink prepared for the hair cutting ceremony, and each drank out of one beer (apparently a custom, although i think it was just their way of loosening us up) until the actual ceremony. In the ceremony we each cut off some of the child Gydo´s hair and gave him some cash, making us each apparently honorary godparents. People, I have an Andean godchild! Then the sheep was brought out. They started us out easy with some potatoes, which were pretty tasty. Then they ripped all the sheep meat off the bone and served it to us and I have to tell you, freshly killed sheep cooked in paper underground? Kind of great! We all ate some, someone went on a beer run, and then...Andean dance party. That´s right. They put on music and got us all to get up and dance with them. It was awesome. By the way, it was only about noon at this point. Then we all decided to visit a local school where we were MOBBED by children and gave away the remainder of our presents. By then we were all tipsy and late, so we actually had to be driven in a station wagon to the next point of departure on our hike.

Dan is bugging me to go to dinner, so Machu Picchu will have to wait until tomorrow, but here´s a preview: breathtaking.

By the way, I´m hoping to load some photos tomorrow so you can all finally see the wonderful things I´ve seen, and hopefully get some shots of me shaking it in the Andes.