What's on your Thursday Menu?

The biggest mystery of all is what happened to them? Why did they leave? The Spaniards never found Machu Picchu, that's why it's intact, so why did the Incas leave?
I didn't know this but Incas didn't have a written language so most of the stuff we know is guess work. They had a very intricate knots on the rope as a way of communication in between locations, that obv captured DH's imagination. He wants to retire and work on solving the knot language, he says it's math.

When a person retires, it is important for them to have something to work on that they are passionate about. Imagine solving the knot language and then finding clues to solve the secrets about Machu Picchu. When I certified as an information security specialist part of the preparation was studying secret codes uses by governments. I learned different methods of deciphering coded messages and was tested on that for certification.

I believe ancient peoples had the same brain capacity that modern humans. They wanted to leave their history behind and there are clues if someone is able to find and interpret them. Math is involved, as well as logic and just luck and intuition. It would be a fascinating retirement project.

Love the pics! No drama llamas?

LOL, no. But our guide did tell us they do spit for real if you get too close to them.
Intersting fact: Machu Picchu is at 8,000 feet elevation. So the government brought those lamas there to keep the vegetation under control. Lamas can live at those altitudes but not higher.
Alpacas, on the other hand, can be at the higher elevations. You'll see the pics from rainbow mountain (17,000 feet) and Alpacas live there naturally.

Did you know when Alpacas spit, the spit numbs their lips so for a few minutes after spitting, their lower lip just hangs down showing their bottom jaw. Useless trivia picked up from our road trip around the US.

Alpacas spit too?

So said the owners of the Alpaca ranch we stayed on in Iowa!

Here's a scene from a show I liked, "Raising Hope." It's got a spitting alpaca.

https://youtu.be/YlV-XH8X6Fw?si=RuCsxTQzOqeW9oni

Whoa! Those are awesome pictures! So so great!

is there such a thing as mountain phobia? Those photos are beautiful, but at the same time, they make me nervous. I'm sure I'd slip and go tumbling down one of those mountains!!

EDITED to add: yes! There is! Orophobia!! https://phobia.fandom.com/wiki/Orophobia