Can you trust the internet? A 200% rhetorical question. Those who once did have either died, gone bankrupt, or never developed intellectually since kindergarten. Or could it be otherwise? Unfortunately, even seasoned, life-hardened travelers still fall for internet scams. Here’s a tale about how I recently got fooled by convincingly pretty picturesfound on said internet…

If you search the net for the most fascinating and beautiful scenic spots of Peru, the name Vinicunca is bound to pop up. These are the so-called Rainbow Mountains, which are shown like this (photo from the just-referenced Wikipedia) ->

Of course, seeing that – we all agreed that we just had to go! So off we popped…

Yes, bad weather and lack of sunlight could be blamed, but where were the colors? Here’s what we actually saw! ->

Something doesn’t quite add up between what the internet says and what we observed ourselves. Maybe we just visited at the wrong time? Let’s investigate: can you trust the internet?…

Read on…

Day zero: preview.

And so, after several days of acclimatization (in the middle of our LatAm-2025 trip), the day had finally come to begin our trek up the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I’d dreamed of walking this ancient path since 2011 when I first visited the place…

The Inca Trail (note the singular, but it’s actually made up of three overlapping trails) was just one of a great many like it that formed a dense path network covering the entire territory of the Inca Empire. The distance from the northernmost to the southernmost path is estimated at 6000 km (!!!). The internet suggests that a total of 30,000–40,000km of such trails have been discovered, while local guides – like ours, Vicente – have their own perspective: they claim that recent excavations have uncovered even more routes, bringing the total length of the Incan transportation network to 78,000km (for comparison, the total length of all railroad tracks in Russia (by far the largest country in the world) is 120,000+ km)!

Most of the trails were paved. Here’s what they look like today:

Some roads were actively used even after the empire’s fall. Later, they were used by vehicles, which led to the near-complete destruction of the stonework in lowland areas. However, in the mountains, although some damage has occurred (with restoration efforts on tourist trails), Vicente told us that around 70% of the stonework is original. Literally built for eternity!

These paths were primarily pedestrian. The Incas never invented the wheel (just like the rest of the indigenous American civilizations), and local llamas and alpacas were not suited for such terrains. The maximum load a llama can carry is 15kg, and it can walk no more than 10km per day on flat ground with such a weight on its back. Therefore, everything here was carried by the Incans themselves. The steps along these paths can be quite steep in places. Watch your step!…

Read on…

I hope I haven’t overwhelmed you with the details of our January trip through Latin America – especially since it’s only just the beginning ). But there’s just so much color, so many unusual things, and so much acclimatization needs doing. You need to walk, adapt, and get used to breathing more actively – for there’s not much oxygen up here. Sometimes, during the day, you breathe more rapidly and deeply because your body demands it. But at night, during sleep, your “cruise control” kicks in, and you start breathing in your usual lowland rhythm. As a result, your body starts to suffocate, your brain doesn’t get enough oxygen (this is still while asleep), and you start having nightmares like you’re trapped or being crushed – suffocating to death. You wake up actually gasping for air!

So, what to do? Simple! Sit up and take deep breaths. Breathe deeply for three to five minutes, and then go back to sleep. Main thing: it’s all about gradually acclimatizing to the mountain heights – taking it slow. Which is just what we did…

The next stop for yet more acclimatization plus sightseeing was Ollantaytambo – another ancient Inca city…

This city was significant for the Inca Empire – both as a military fortress and as an economically important site (food storage), and it also played a role in religious practices.

Read on: Ollantaytambo: more ancient Inca ruins, plus an Epiphany carnival – LatAm style.

After continuing our pre-Machu-Picchu acclimatization – first in Cusco then Pisac – next on our LatAm-2025 trip was… a bit more acclimatization – heading down the valley of the Urubamba River…

// By the way, the waters of this river feed into the basin of the great (or could it be even the greatest river on our planet) Amazon. Who knew?!… //

Today was to be one of those people/street-life/local customs/general-daily-life-watching days – like we recently had on our China-2024 trip in Songzhou. Just observing how a day passes here for the locals away from the tourist magnets…

And that includes observing what they eat – and that includes… black corn!

// Actually, it’s purple – maíz morado. Heard of it before? I hadn’t. And I didn’t get to try it, which I regret. //

We were told that Peru grows hundreds of different types of both corn and potatoes. And after walking around the local market, I can confirm this to be true. The path to the market goes through Pisac, whose Inca ruins we’d checked out the day before. But on this day we checked out not the ruins but the modern-day, lived-in part of the ancient city. So, let’s take a walk down its alleys and squares! Let’s see how the average Peruvian lives…

Read on…

Our LatAm-2025 trip continues!…

So far, we’ve checked out the mysteriously intriguing Nazca Lines, strolled around both Lima and Cusco, and fed llamas and alpacas at the Manos de la Comunidad farm.

As to the coming few days, our main goal was to hike the Inca Trail and reach Machu Picchu, but first, we’d spend another day acclimatizing – this time not in Cusco but near it, visiting a couple more ancient Inca towns: Pisac and Ollantaytambo. We’d take a bus there, then afterward we’d be on-foot all the way up to Machu Picchu. Something like this:

So, first – the ruins of the ancient Inca fortress city of Pisac. The scale isn’t the most impressive, but we did need to acclimatize – so better here than kicking our heels in Cusco for another day. All righty; let’s go!…

Read on…

Farewell Cusco, and our journey through Latin America continued to drift away from the former capital of the Inca Empire toward the other ancient cities of this civilization, its trails, and ultimately – to the famous mountaintop structures of Machu Picchu. Along the way, we stopped off at interesting places to observe, snap, and learn something new. First up: the Manos de la Comunidad farm (literally, the “Hands of the Community”), here on the map. Here, in enclosures, live llamas, alpacas, and other animals. At first glance, these distant relatives of the camel charm with their cuteness and sociability:

But what lovely little faces! They’re somewhat dopey and dozy – but still very cute…

Time for walkies!…

Straight away – a couple of surprises…

It turned out that besides the mentioned llamas and alpacas, there are also vicuñas here in South America, about which I previously knew nothing. They’re quite similar to llamas and alpacas – only noticeably smaller in size. Also, within each species, there are many subspecies that differ significantly from each other. I didn’t know! It’s not clear how useful this information will be for me or you, but still…

Here they are – all a bit different ->

And there are also guanacos! However, they seem to be like llamas. They all vary in size, color, and fur. Some are more smooth…

…Others are positively shaggy-dreaddy! They smell, of course, but they’re still cute :)

So, how do they… taste?! Their meat has a special, specific flavor – you won’t confuse it with anything else. But to be honest, it didn’t impress me. It was served in small restaurants, and I tried different dishes – but wasn’t keen on any.

Upon entering, you’re immediately invited to feed the animals and take photos:

We duly oblige…

Behind this mighty warrior and metal mesh, some particularly rare and expensive llamas-alpacas graze, protected from tourists:

And next, in a large aviary, pair of condors – what a big bird! ->

The male actively displayed his prowess and superiority over the spectators, turning in different directions:

A scale model of Machu Picchu ->

Folk art:

And since the llamas-alpacas are all about wool, local craftspeople weave souvenirs:

For a small amount of money (~5-10 soles), you can take a photo with the weavers. Why not? ->

And this is just… food! Guinea pigs (here they are called cuy) make rather popular dishes here! The meat is soft and pleasant to taste. It felt a bit weird as we were eating one of these very guinea pigs… but (once again!), why not?

In the souvenir shop, the tapestries amazed me – not bad! If I’d needed to hang something on a wall back home, I’d have chosen something here ->

More cuteness ->

And that was that; a Peruvian alpaca-lama farm – done. Time to be moving on…

The best photos from our journey through Latin America are here.

So, the Nazca Lines have been thoroughly examined and documented and snapped. All bueno.

And though our LatAm-trip-2025 had only just begun, my brain had already received a powerful dose of contemplative radiation and awe-inspiring impressions – leaving it in a state of immense rapture. It was hard to believe that so much more brain-busting and surprising experiences lay ahead. Where will I store it all?…

After returning to Lima airport after our flight to and back from Nazca, we immediately boarded another, larger plane – a scheduled flight – and headed to Cusco. From here, we’d planned to embark on a four-day trek up the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We spent a day-and-a-half in the city’s outskirts – partly to acclimatize to the high altitudes: we’d be climbing up to 4000 meters above sea-level on the upcoming passes, and later as high as 5000 meters. Without proper acclimatization, this isn’t just very difficult but also dangerous, but the mountainous areas around Cusco are perfect for this very purpose (acclimatization). Plus, there’s plenty to see here; no wonder the city’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

So, here we are in Cusco, capital of the Inca Empire:

Read on…

The UMMC Museum Complex is an absolutely unique and astonishing collection of all kinds of machinery. This includes cars, airplanes, railway transport, and much, much more – both civilian and military, and from antique to modern-day. There’s even a submarine! An incredible place – and I’ve said that many times but never get tired of repeating it. The museum has over 10,000 (!) exhibits, so you won’t be able to see everything in just one visit, so don’t even hope for that. For a thorough and comprehensive tour of the exhibition, set aside two or even three days.

I’d already been here three times, walked around a lot, observed, was amazed – and then shared my photos and impressions. This time, I managed to carve out a couple of hours for a visit (which, of course, is categorically insufficient) – just to rush through and see the latest additions to the collection. Yes, yes, despite the enormous number of exhibits there are already, the museum continues to actively expand with new ones.

First, we head to the “Wings of Victory” exhibition hall, where aircraft and other aviation-related exhibits are mainly displayed. Wow! Another Douglas DC-3 in the collection ->

Aha, they were built in the USSR under license until as late as 1952.

So what else is new in the halls?

Read on…

Peru. So, what’s generally known about this South American country by the average general-knowledge pub-quiz buff? I’d say: the mysteriously extinct Inca civilization/empire, the ancient cities of Cusco and Machu Picchu, the high-altitude Lake Titicaca, and, of course, the mysterious Nazca Lines (also known as the geoglyphs of the Nazca Plateau).

As to the latter, seeing these drawings in the flesh has been a childhood dream of mine ever since I enthusiastically studied the geography of this world through books filled with maps, pictures, and photos of different regions of the planet. Naturally, when planning my trip to Peru, visiting the plateau – flying over it in some kind of aircraft – was one of my top priorities. And now, decades half-a-century (!) later, I’ve finally made it happen! The lines, geometric figures, and depictions of funny-looking folks and animals on the Nazca Plateau – checked off the list!…

Read on…

What is an Auto-Woodpecker, and what does it have to do with AI?…

We live in the age of AI hype. Artificial intelligence is here, there, and everywhere – so promising, slightly mysterious, but undeniably guiding humanity toward a brighter future of technological singularity that’s still somewhat incomprehensible and potentially a black hole.

Some readers might detect sarcasm in this statement – but that would be a mistake. Machine-learning-driven automation (ML), neural networks, and other AI technologies have already taken over many industries. And there’s more to come in the evolution of Homo sapiens. If you’re interested in diving deeper into this topic, check out the history of the various industrial revolutions: first, second, third, and even fourth.

In line with this trend, cybersecurity was perhaps one of the pioneers in adopting new, smart technologies. And what makes me particularly proud of this process is that our company was one of the first in the industry to successfully implement this bright AI-driven future. How else could we possibly handle nearly half a million (!) new malicious programs emerging every single day as of early 2025? No educational system in the world can produce enough experts to keep up with that. The only solution is to create intelligent systems capable of independently and highly accurately neutralizing cyberattacks. Experts are then left with only the most complex cases – and, of course, the challenging task of inventing and continuously improving these systems.

A few days ago, we celebrated a cool anniversary. Twenty years ago was born the prototype of our first AI/ML technology for automatic malware analysis and the creation of “detections” – antivirus updates that protect computers, gadgets, and other devices from new attacks.

The technology was given a name that’s rather odd at first glance – Avtodyatel, which translates as Auto-Woodpecker! But there’s a simple explanation for it: within our team, security analysts were affectionately referred to as woodpeckers – tirelessly pecking away at viruses and processing streams of suspicious files. And then we added the “Auto” to “Woodpecker” for the name of the tech designed to do this job automatically (incidentally, I was a woodpecker myself back then).

Read on…