Hiking The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
The Sacred Valley – Peru
Day 2 was even better than day 1! It helps to get some sleep and some regular meals after such a long flight. Today we took a tour to the Sacred Valley of the Incas and loved being in the green mountains and valleys that are filled with different Incan ruins.
These little boys were out in the fields catching butterflies so we asked for a picture.
The llama farm was fun and educational!
The ruins of Pisac are high up on a mountain with great views.
These teeter totters were more fun than shopping in the expensive tourist market.
Pretty flowers and pretty girls . . .
We tried to do a jumping picture but we had a hard time jumping all at the same time.
Inca stairs are steep!
I’m not sure this was allowed, but it was fun!
I didn’t write much this time because I have to pack for the Inca trail to Machu Picchu tomorrow!
The Journey and Arrival to Peru
After a very long and tiring journey, we finally arrived in Peru. I honestly haven’t had more than 3 hours of consecutive sleep in over 3 days. I don’t have much energy, so I’ll keep this post short and sweet.
We left Thursday morning from Salt Lake to Houston, Panama, Lima, and finally arrived at our final destination, Cusco. The decent as you can see from the video was truly amazing. We arrived about 7:00AM so the sun was just coming up with the tall mountains in the back ground. We met up with Alana at the airport and came to her apartment to grab a couple hours of sleep. And then it was off to see Cusco. We saw mostly ruins and learned about the rich history of the Inca and Spanish heritage.
Enjoy these photo’s as I’m off to hopefully get a much needed full night of sleep. Oh, and out of the 3 of us, somehow Alana is the one in the bathroom throwing up. We’ll you keep you posted on that…
Bali to History to Beaches
The last half of the two day adventures that started after our four day sick-layover 
What an eyefull! This an ancient temple in Bali out in the middle of the ocean. The ever-spiraling staircases were fascinating!
We were quite taken by these lovely kites that flew just like the sky was the very sea it looks like it belongs on. We actually were greeted by these floating in the sky as landmarks to the temple we had yet to seen. It served as a great north-star to get us to the temple above.
When we arrived home that evening, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was almos dissappointing how much my stomach was happy, and thus a little corner of my psyche lit up in celebration of the famaliarity of the food. What was sad was that my BBQ pulled pork sandwich was good, but in the states I would have been disatified with the spiciness; but it was spiciness I was famaliar with and so my tastebuds had a major party. Not to exaggerate but the little corner in my mind that lit up seemed to take a burden off my shoulders for the time we were there. I had no worries about taking a huge bite of salad without picking through its contents I know, I’m pathetic with my unadventurous staomach.
The next day we stopped at the traditional rice terraces that this area is famous for. We had the priviledge of a firsthand experience with the tools needed for work in that area.
We then headed out to a another temple and an ampitheater set out on the cliffs. The picture below is the beginning of an increible dance the tells an ancient story about the monkeys and the royalty of Bali.
The group of men below provided all of the music for the hour long performance. There were no instruments and they sounded incredible. I filmed plenty of video of it that I’ll show anyone when we get home. Their voice boxes did things that I don’t think mine is capable of, and I’ve grown up singing! It was mesmerizing.
The women facing you in the picture below is the queen that is later kidnapped from her husband, who is the woman in green.
Below is the King of demons that sees the beautiful queen and lures her husband away by charming him with a beautiful gold stag so he can kidnapp her.
The white monkey costume featured below is the monkey King that commands the armies that fight and finally help the king rescue his queen. At the end of the story they lit on fire large piles of something simialr to straw. The monkey king then kicked the piles up and around so sparks and fire flew into the air, and, unfortanetley into the crowd. Of course it was fine, but that certainly wouldn’t fly anywhere in the states! Another wonderful adventure up our sleeves. This dance performance was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip as it was a window into a very talented culture I knew nothing about.
Welcom to Vietnam
Can you believe the collection of powerlines here?! About this time on our trip my immune system finally gave in to the constant exposure to Clay and Alana. Lucky for my stomach, the French are apart of the Vietnamese history, and thust the Italian food was superb!
A beautiful church that was stumbles upon on the way to the post office. Catholocism is more prominent than I was aware of.
I spotted this picture and Clay and I decided we had to send it to some of our neighbors that live in the ward down in Provo that we were in when we were house sitting for Clay’s aunt and uncle. I bet you can’t guess who are neighbor was? Yep, Greg Olsen. We saw many pictures of Christ and depictions of the last supper as well. This one is a little closer to home, eh?
Here we are at what used to be known as the Independence Palace, and is now known as the Reunification hall. In the picture is a Vietnamese tank that stormed the palace’s lawn and kicked the USA out at the end of the Vietnam war.
After touring through this building’s beautiful interior, we walked to the Vietnam War Museum. Below is a famous picture taken by a National Geographic photographer and featured in a photo exhibit that was part of the museum.
The following three pictures of quotes are meant for you to read. It should give you an idea of the horror and sadness we felt when we left the museum. This is my first time hearing and seeing the other side of the story. Of course we know that each party that tells their version of what happened in Vietnam is always going to be biased, but we know that there is always much more truth than we are ready to hear. This trip as a whole has changed the way I look at war.
The following picture was the last picture we took before we left. I didn’t really feel like smiling and neither did Clay. Rather I tried to convey some of the emotion I had felt. It was a relief to leave the musuem, but something I don’t regret.
The Cu Chi Tunnels
The Cu Chi Tunnels are a set of tunnels that were constructed in a village in Vietnam as a master plan of guerilla warfare. At the beginning of the tour the guide explained that the Cu Chi people lived in these tunnels for over two generations of their people. He proudly described their constant victory over the Americans. These people lived in these tunnels, and set trap after trap for unsuspecting American soldiers. The US bombed the area over and over again and could not figure out why there were still soldiers dying. It was interesting, and at the end Alana leaned over to me and asked if I felt a little conspicuos 
After the day before we tried to keep a smile on our face. I just chuckled.
This is a trap.
And this is a trap in action.
They let us climb through the tunnels as much as we wanted. They were a smaller than the Winder Dairy tunnels for sure.
Here is a better idea of their size.
The following day we took a trip on the Mekong Delta.
My dad Sanderson hates, hates, hates snakes. This little guy was quite friendly and he was free to hold!! Of course we tipped.
What a float this was! We were on our way to Cambodia after this!
More LATER!!
Monkeying Around in Bali – Indonesia
Welcome to Clay and I’s first adventure south of the equator!! Unfortunately you can get just as sick south of the equator as you do north with the common cold/flu. Yuck! As a result, the first four or so days in Bali were spent lounging around our beautiful accomodations and watching blackmarket DVD’s from the local stores. Since Clay thinks DVD’s are entirely too expensive in the states, and thus forbids me to buy them, he decided to let me loose here. A compromise of sorts. I won’t tell you how many DVD’s we bought, but we did watch Twilight. Amidst the sick days Alana and Clay were both reading the Twilight series. Its been a constant part of our trip to spot vampires, and discuss the happenings of Stephanie Meyer’s big hit series.
Finally when Clay and Alana were feeling better, within the margin of when I started exhibiting symptoms, we went exploring in the monkey park. I have never seen monkeys outside of the Zoo, and they were always behind the cheezy plexi-glass walls. This was part of the trip that I was really looking forward too!!
The sign in the park mentioned that the monkeys do bite, and that they are unpredictable!!
We read the signs after these two pictures were taken They couldn’t keep their hands off Clay even after he was rid of the bananas. I’m convinced this is because there is some innate likeness between Clay and the monkeys with their curiosity and constant playfulness!
Of course, we can all relate to these primates in some way as the picture below suggests. I am not referring to the monkey in the background of which I am grateful that the sleeping monkey is blocking his little activities .
Of course, there are other habits that are not quite so easy to relate to, if at all for the most civilized of us! (take note of someof the pinching and pulling between the two far left monkeys)
We did discover that there is an element of wildness that we experienced up close and personal here. After Alana pulled a few tails and Clay became the popular new climbing post, I came to the conclusion that things are a little less stringent here than in the United States. Luckily none of us got bit
To the Cities and Beyond: A more futuristic Southeast Asia than I expected!
There is no shield keeping us apart here from a Petronas Charm
This romantic picture (despite my Little Samurai ponytail) is the introduction to the great city of Kuala Lumpur. It was here that I caught the travel bug permanently. Here we come from one of my favorite beach towns:
A place I will come back to: Ko Phi Phi Island
To this: Kuala Lumpur: Ok, so this day it was raining and thus it kept all the pollution in. Quite futuristic don't you think?
I tried to be positive until I saw our room, a cement cell with bunk-beds and a single. Not so bad if I hadn’t just come from a bedroom with a queen size bed with sheets and a comforter (hard to come by), and a single for Alana, with two balconies and a fairly decent private bathroom. I comforted myself with the thought that there was air-con and that without a private bathroom our room floor wouldn’t get wet. Right, well the air-con turns on at 5:30 pm and goes off at 9 am, a minor detail that our host forgot to mention, and our floor was cement, so it didn’t matter if it got wet. Plus, it was much more expensive then the last room I told you about. This was a bit of culture shock going from one island to a major city, my first time leaving the beach life this trip. However, the second I laid eyes on these towers, I felt that adrenaline pumping emotion of when you first see something that you have looked at in pictures your whole life, thinking that its just as magestic on a movie screen so you don’t need to travel to see it, and knowing that you are wrong. I can’t tell you how awesome it is to have your eyes opened to a feeling that you’ve never felt in quite such magnitude because you simply just have lived without it. It is indescribably different to see something with your own eyes; and this is why I say I am now officially infected with the travel bug.
So the feeling is exactly opposite of our expressions. Where would the towers be without us holding up the linking bridge?
Of course Alana is always here to add a little bit of charm to our trip:
This is Alana, with here tursty wand. You can see the beginning spark of the Petronus Charm (Thanks Harry Potter) at the end of her raised wand.
"Expecto Patronum!!!" A close up of the magic.
The next day we went to the fourth highest building in the world, the telecommunications tower (the picture of K.L. city at the beggining was taken from atop this tower).
Now you see it.....
....Now you don't. Yes, this is the window I am in front of in the pic above, only 10 minutes before. . It was raining, and we were approximately 540 meters up.
Kuala Lumpur's Telecommunication's Tower: We were up in the rounded glass windows part.
Alas, we were off to another big city, a city I specifically remember learning about in 6th grade. It was at this time that the U.S. citizen, I believe, was caned, and I remember learning about how it was forbidden to chew gum in Singapore. Never had I imagined that in my future I would be dazzled by this very clean, and historically fascinating city.
One of my first looks. I think this is part of little India
Singapore has such a variety of architecture. In 20 minutes you can have navigated from Little India, to the Colonial district, to an Islamic masque, to……The city was just endless in its colors and mesmerizing architecture.
For some of you, I bet you never thought you'd see a building like this in South East Asia. I sure didn't.
We just happened to pass by this one. Yes, I took this picture in Singapore.
Can you believe the colors! Not just highrises with glass windows here.
Singapore was a fishing city that boomed when a British man by the name of Sir Thomas Raffles came and capitalized on its geographical location. Its a city/country that, after the Suez Canal was built, was a perfect trading post for hundreds of countries spanning the world.
Small colorful fisherman buildings line the shore. Little did they know that their backdrop would be this booming metropolis.
Helping the laborers out, Alana looks exquisite against the river's city.
Once again Alana is fraternizing with the laborers.
The above pictures of sculptures were actually taken before and after we went to an exhibit in one of Singapore’s museums, “From East to West”. It featured much of Singapore’s history, from the Chinese and British influence, to the rich Islamic culture that is there now. It was fascinating!
This was one of my favorites. It took us, well Clay and I, 3 hours to get through. Alana is a little more experienced at this museum thing, and was done in an hour.
I finally pierced my ears! For those of you who don’t know the schpill, I told Clay when I first started “dating” him that I wouldn’t pierce my ears until I stopped liking him. This was a sure proof way to send a “not-so-fun” message for a fickle highschool girl. Clearly that is not the message I am sending now Clay only liked the idea because it was in some random shop among the hundreds in the market in Chinatown. What a story, eh!?
Our last, and most exciting adventure for me, was a day trip to the equivalent of Disneyland in Singapore, Sentosa Island….
Rather I’ll end with a Merry Christmas to all, a little early. Hey, in Singapore there is no Thanksgiving to break up the Holidays!
Cupcakes!!
Rather than being a woman tempted by an apple, I am more tempted by Christmas Candy!
Goodnight to all, and to all a good night!
Paradise above and below the water: The Next Days
The beginning of paradise under the water
Hello everyone,
We’ve finally got some pictures! We have been hopping from paradise beach to paradise beach and I have finally accomplished a lifetime goal, officially inspired by my lovely sister Monae Guercio: I am PADI scuba dive certified.
Clay and I were going to get certified before we left and Alana told us we were crazy to not try and do it somewhere PADI certified in Thailand. Granted there are some scary dive shops, but Clay and I were very impressed with Buddah Veiw on Koh Tao Island.
The bay is called Buddah View because there is a huge rock edifice on the edge of the bay (shown on the mid-right of the picture) that looks like a massive sitting Buddah.
We spent the first day in their private pool, and the reamaining certification took place under the sparkling turquiose waters of several different bays in Koh Tao, Thailand
First day in the water
We have an incredible DVD of a whale shark that was close enough for Clay to reach out and touch it, in fact so close that he had to move out of its way The whale shark continued to play with the divers, sometimes coming at you with its mouth wide open, or chasing you when you went to swim away. It was about 7 1/2 meters long (roughly 26 feet), and we were informed that people pay thousands of dollars to swim with these magnificent but playful creatures. The instructors raved about how in all of their years of diving (some had 20 years) they had yet to see a whale shark more than three times, and never one this large. Another adventure on the record, eh?
Playing with the sharks, er... whalesharks. This one is just a baby, and not nearly as big as what we saw.
The rest of our week on Koh Tao (which means Island of the Turtles), was spent exploring, overexerting ourselves, and making a new friend.
We swam from where we are sitting, across this straight (dodging everything from canoes to yachts) to arrive at these twin tree covered islands/rocks you see in the distance. People even stopped to take pictures from their boat decks of us in the water. There is a white sandy beach connecting them, with fabulous snorkeling. I shouldn't admit that I was certainly the most overexerted since I was still recovering from traveler's diarreah and body aches, and that Clay literally towed me half the way. Alana mentioned as we stumbled, exhausted onto the beach, that we now truly could relate to those poor shiprwrecked souls who praise God when their feet touch land.
This is our friend affectionately termed Oreo, or Double-stuffed (Alana and I can’t stop buying packages of Oreos). We had the pleasure of entertaining him two nights in a row.
So it was that the island hopping began, and embarked on a journey that opened my eyes to what paradise can actually include.
Paradise is more than just a place.
The next day after Koh Tao, we headed to Railay Beach, a small island that, despite our 24 hour journey, was my first taste of that wonderland of rich greens on jagged cliffs surrounded by the gentle fading of emerald to deep azure blue waters.
An adventure is never an adventure without your handsome prince.
This is the opposite side of the beach in the picture above. People were caving in the rocks behind us.
The water was so warm that day that it almost didn’t relieve my grumpiness born from being extremely hot. As many know, I truly feel I have an elevated body temperature that is certainly condusive to snowshoeing and snow camping, but not to long hours in the sun fully clothed. However, almost is the key word since we swam and explored for the next several hours, and ended the oceanfront adventure by watching a spectacular sunset and lightening and thunderstorm show. We had front row seats while floating in the ocean for the sunset and to watch the storm. We were mesmerized by the thunder booming off the very close surrounding cliff walls and the jagged bolts of lightening on the otherwise dark horizon. We plotted the next day’s spot for sandcastles, and then went to a BBQ on the beach.
Front-row seats for the sunset and a little practice for tomorrow's sandcastles. Do you recognize these famous sand-depicted Utah sites?
The next day we built the most elaborate sandcastles that people stopped and took pictures of.
The beginning of Sandcastles and Thunderstorms
Presenting the Sandcastles: The Rememberance Hall (Alana's Sandcastle); The Crab Concentration Camp (Clay's); and The Ancient Mayan Sacrificial and Entertainment Place (Trista's)
The next day we headed for the sex change capital of Thailand, and the notorious location for the beautiful beach in the movie, “The Beach” (no I do not recommend this film), Phuket! Yes, there are what we call ladyboys everywhere: men, to whatever degree, that look like women. I’ve truly given up on trying to discern whether some Thais are women or are women that used to be men, or are men simply dressed as women.
No these are not women, or weren't born that way.
The next day on glorious Phuket was my first ever swim in the Indian Ocean!
Swimming in the Indian Ocean on Phuket's finest beaches. Yes, that small black dot is my head, really.
The next day Clay and I went diving on Koh Phi Phi (pronounced Ko Pee Pee), and saw our first leapord shark at 20 meters below the surface (60 feet). Check out this video!
The various creatures and corral once again dazzled me with how much there is to see under the sea
Don't touch!
Ursula's fan.
Long, spindly apendages are common for the under-the-sea life.
We found Nemo and Marlin!
There were caves and canyons we swam through, and many other creatures that seem to always take me back to the “Little Mermaid” or “Finding Nemo”.
Over the corral and through the tunnel to Nemo's house we go....
Reminiscnet of Ursela's lipstick.
Dad Sanderson, this is for you, we saw a sea snake whose behavior was not what they described in our schooling, which is usually fleeing within seconds. Here I am, under that water, thinking I’ll just hold really still like they told me, just waiting for the sea snake to stop swimming toward us. Seconds after this thought I watch my instructor high tail it in the other direction. Luckily I had strategically placed the curios Clay in front of me. Our instructor later informed us that he hates snakes, as he shudders.
The sea snake is black and white striped, and is in the center of the picture.
The next day we played on the beach and rented boogie boards.
The next day we went to Ko Phi Phi Island, arriving around 2 pm and leaving on a snorkel/monkey/go to the location of the famous beach in the movie “The Beach”.
The movie is about a hippie town established on the best secret beach ever; with only a dark future in store.
We love you all and am sure Brian would have loved to have joined us at this little restaurant.
We're pretty sure from all the "...porn" titles we see on ships and restaurants that it means place.
The continuing “Next Day” beach series will not be featured until after a little break in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. I think everyone needs a few “Next Days” that always include a beach and sandcastles. Don’t worry I won’t mention the phrase again.
Remember "Entrapment"?
A few quick Photos
We have been having trouble getting our pictures uploaded but we’ve managed to get a few.
Ancient Ruins at Ayataya - City just north of Bangkok
More Ruins of an ancietn Thai City.
Bangkok-Two massages in two days!
Thats right! Only two days in bangkok and already two massages.
We left tuesday at 11:00am from Salt Lake internation, flew to San Fransisco, then Seoul Korea and then on to Bangkok. We arrived at 1:00am Thursday morning and taxied to a little traveler hostel with one community toilet (with no toilet seat) and a room literally no larger than a walk in closet. The bed touched all three walls. I’ve never slept better having been on a flight for 24 hours.
We crossed the time devide so we are now a day earlier than you, making it now friday night for me and friday morning for you.
We spent yesterday recovering from the flight by simply wondering the streets and getting a 1 hour Thai massage. Imagine being folded up into a human pretzil and stepped on. It felt great. Today, Alana had her interview with the school that will certify her with an internation certificate for teaching english and ate lunch at KFC in the heart of down town bangkok. While there, we even ran into the missionaries who gave us the needed info for church on sunday. Then we almost were scammed (Alana saved the day) when a gentleman announced that the grand palace was closed, but that we could take his Tuk Tuk (motorized wagon) and see the other sights. The driver even had handy beautiful laminated pictures all to the places that were conveniently still open. Alana told him we would see them tomorrow, and then we went to the next entrance and made it in just in time. We spent the rest of the day looking at huge golden temples and buddha shrines and now just left another massage parlor after getting a half hour foot massage. I think I will get these daily…
We’re sorry we don’t have any pictures and movies up yet. We have taken tons of pictures but have not been able to upload any pictures to a computer. We’ll have them up soon. Please stay tuned to the blog by RSS feed or by checking back often becuase I plan on staying in touch my blogging and you commenting. Thanks for reading!
Clay & Trista
