Lake Titicaca

Another stunning natural scene I saw during my Globus tour of Peru was Lake Titicaca. The lake is unique in that it is the highest navigable body of water in the world. It's located at 12,500 feet! The lake is over 50 miles long and, I believe over 30 miles wide at its widest point. It's over 900 feet deep at its deepest point. The lake is shared by Peru and Bolivia. While visiting the lake, my tour group got to visit 2 different indians groups that live on it. I'll tell more about them in later blog entries.

Nazca Plain Drawings

One of the most fascinating mysteries of Peru are the famous Nazca plain drawings. The drawings can only be fully seen from up in the air. Some of the drawings stretch for miles. While there are a number of trapezoids (shown above) and lines, there are also drawings of a hummingbird (shown above), spider, monkey, dog, whale and an owl/space man as well as others. The drawings were hacked out of the parched soil and because the area gets very little rain, they've endured for centuries. The last accepted theory that I heard as why the drawings were made was that they were appeals or offerings to the mountain gods. The ancient Nazcans believed it was the mountain gods that provided the needed water that they used to grow their crops. All the water in the region came from the mountains.

These pictures were taken in an airplane I flew on out of Pisac, Peru. The plane flew to the Nazca Plain and descended to 1,800 feet. The aircrew would bank left then right so passengers on both sides of the airplane could get pictures of the various drawings. Due to the tight banking, the airplane ride could be one exciting ride. Still, it was well worth it as it was really something to see these famous mysterious drawings. This was part of my Legacy of the Incas Globus tour which I did in January 2011.

Lima Cathedral

This is a picture of the national cathedral in Lima, Peru. The cathedral was built during colonial times. One particularly noteworthy item about the cathedral is this is where Francisco Pizarro is buried. Pizarro is the man who conquered the Incas and brought down the Incan empire. He did it even though he was horribly outnumbered. He would become richer than he could ever imagine and was made a marquis by the Spanish king. He founded the city of Lima, the city of kings on January 18, 1535. He was assassinated on June 26, 1541.

Sacsayhuaman

One of the first examples of Incan engineering I got to see in Peru was the remains of the Inca fortress Sacsayhuaman. The fortress was located above the city of Cuzco which was the capital of the Incan empire. The fortress is famous for some of the MASSIVE stones that were built within its walls. Some of the stones weigh over 100 tons. As you can see, the stones were expertly carved and placed to where they interlock perfectly. Keep in mind, the Inca did this with stone chisels. The precision they achieved is incredible. The site of the fortress sadly is but a shade of what it would've looked like in Inca times. After the Spaniards conquered the fortress, they used it as a quarry for stone used in buildings in Cuzco so a LOT of the fortress was torn down over the years. Still, what remains of the great fortress can still impress visitors and give an idea of some of the incredible things the Inca did during their all too brief period of empire.

Machu Picchu

Above is a picture I took of the famous lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. I took the picture as I was coming down from a hike to the Sun Gate. The Sun Gate was one of the primary ways the Incas entered the city of Machu Picchu. The gate is located 990 feet about the city and has stunning views of the city and the valley below. Our local guide Rudy asked how many intrepid souls wanted to try the hike up to the gate. I was 1 of 8 crazies who decided to do it. It was one heck of a hike. It took us at least 2 hours and, I was never so glad to see the top as when I FINALLY reached it. The thinner air really kicked my butt. Still, it was neat doing the hike and, it gave me another memorable adventure on this incredible tour I took of Peru in January.

Bosley

Yesterday, I got to visit the Washington D.C. Bosley office for the first time. For those who don't know, Bosley deals with hair restoration. What is that you ask. Hair restoration deals with restoring hair on men who are going bald for various reasons. There are different ways you can deal with balding. There are hair transplants which is the most expensive method. As far as I know, this can cost between $3,000 and $4,000. The reason for that is because you have to transplant a lot of hair to make a noticeable difference in the balding area. 5 or 6 strands of hair isn't going to make much of an impact. Another method is using Rogaine cream. Rogaine can cause new hair growth however, it isn't 100% effective in all men and, it requires to apply it to the area where you want the new hair twice a day. Yet another method is laser comb. Like Rogaine, it isn't 100% effective and, you have to use the comb every other day for at least 10 but no more than 20 minutes. I have 1 of these myself but because of the hassle of using it, I use it off and on. One advantage of the comb is it is a 1 time cost. You pay the $500 plus for it and, that's all you pay. If you take Rogaine, you have to keep getting new cans of it and correspondingly keep shelling out the bucks.

Back to Bosley. Before using Bosley, I used Medical Hair Restoration who I really liked. Sadly, Bosley bought them out. In order to get my Propecia prescription (it requires one) renewed, I needed to see one of their doctors. The doctor I met at Bosley was Dr. Peter Morse. He turned out to be a very nice, informed and helpful doctor. I found out from him how things work with name brand medications and generic with the Food and Drug Administration. By this, I mean he told me what kind of variance you can have with name brand vice generic. In the case of Propecia, if must not go over a 5% variance. If it's a generic of Propecia, it can vary as much as 15%! Obviously, that means you may not be getting the required dose. Worse still, with foreign generics, there isn't any way you can find out just how much of the actual drug you're getting if any at all. I confess I was wondering about that with the Fincom-1 (Indian Propecia generic) I've been taking. You don't want to find out the hard way i.e. your hair starts falling out. Because of our chat, I will be taking more of the name brand Propecia though I wish Merck sold the stuff for less. It isn't a cheap drug.

I was advised I was eligible for hair transplants but, I don't care to spend that much money right now. I did decide to get their hair treatment package. The package includes vitamins which are supposed to be particulary good for your hair, shampoo and conditioner that helps remove DHT (the male hormone that causes baldness) and Rogaine cream. I'm curious to see what if any difference taking these will make. We'll see. I'll post future observations on here after I've given them some time to work.

Overall, the Washington D.C. Bosley practice seemed very knowledgeable and professional. They have very nice offices in Chevy Chase, Maryland with a parking lot right next to their office. I stayed at the Bosley practice for over an hour and, it cost me $3 to park there. I think that charge covered 1 to 3 hours though I'm not 100% certain on that. Getting to their offices can be a bit of a pain as driving through Washington D.C. is never fun. Cheers all!