peru
arequipa
September 20, 2013
I am sitting on my twin bed in bright sunny Arequipa, Peru. We arrived in Lima late last night, waited for about an hour for Kenny and Anton to get through immigration, and then the four of us crammed into a $315 crappy Ramada Inn hotel room. But it was about 50 feet across the street from the airport terminal so it was extremely convenient for an early flight. As we were flying into Arequipa, it looked like we were flying into some Middle Eastern country. Very brown, dry, with no greenery at all. The homes even looked like Morocco. But the terrain was unbelievable! Not a piece of flat land anywhere, just huge gorges and snow-capped volcanic mountains. Two drivers from the hotel met us. Because neither driver spoke English, I rode with 9-year-old Anton so that he could translate. Robin rode with Kenny, who is now somewhat fluent in Spanish. The ride in was through crowded streets, horns honking, and taxis and busses all converging into narrow lanes. The smell of exhaust and pollution was overpowering. Then we finally reached our hotel - Los Tambos, in the middle of the old section near the Plaza de Arms Square.
I am sitting on my twin bed in bright sunny Arequipa, Peru. We arrived in Lima late last night, waited for about an hour for Kenny and Anton to get through immigration, and then the four of us crammed into a $315 crappy Ramada Inn hotel room. But it was about 50 feet across the street from the airport terminal so it was extremely convenient for an early flight. As we were flying into Arequipa, it looked like we were flying into some Middle Eastern country. Very brown, dry, with no greenery at all. The homes even looked like Morocco. But the terrain was unbelievable! Not a piece of flat land anywhere, just huge gorges and snow-capped volcanic mountains. Two drivers from the hotel met us. Because neither driver spoke English, I rode with 9-year-old Anton so that he could translate. Robin rode with Kenny, who is now somewhat fluent in Spanish. The ride in was through crowded streets, horns honking, and taxis and busses all converging into narrow lanes. The smell of exhaust and pollution was overpowering. Then we finally reached our hotel - Los Tambos, in the middle of the old section near the Plaza de Arms Square.
We were hungry, so we walked to a very fun restaurant named Hatunpa. It only had five tables, and the menu consists of piling some type of food on top of a bed of potatoes. (Supposedly there are more than 4000 types of potatoes in Peru). Robin and I are squeamish about the meats, so we had ratatouille on top of our plate of sliced potatoes. Kenny had spicy ricotta relleno peppers and Anton had beef stroganoff on top of his. What made the lunch fun was the interaction with the owner, who also waited on us. The table had placemats with flags of various countries, and how each country says the word "potato". The owner told Anton if he could identify the country of 48 of the 64 flags, he'd buy all our drinks. Well, Anton knew the flags of 37 countries (amazing!) and so only his drink was free.
In the late afternoon we went to a nearby museum to learn about Juanita, the Ice Maiden. She was a perfectly preserved mummy that they found at the top of the volcano Ampato at nearly 21 thousand feet in 1995. She was encased in ice, and the only reason they found her was because a nearby volcano was spewing 400-degree ash one mile into the air, melting her from her icy tomb. She was a 12-year-old virginal sacrifice for the Incan gods. The mummy was actually very preserved with skin and fingernails and teeth.
We ended the evening at a crepe place eating...pizza! Followed by a pecan tart covered in practically a half gallon of ice cream! Crazy Americans... in Peru and eating pizza and pecan tarts (the pecans were probably imported from Georgia). A great day, but we are all quite tired. Thank You for my wonderful life!
We ended the evening at a crepe place eating...pizza! Followed by a pecan tart covered in practically a half gallon of ice cream! Crazy Americans... in Peru and eating pizza and pecan tarts (the pecans were probably imported from Georgia). A great day, but we are all quite tired. Thank You for my wonderful life!
September 21, 2013
Another amazing day under the turquoise Peruvian mile-high skies. We weren't sure what we were going to do to keep Anton entertained, because he wants to do something really exciting like zipline. Up first was the Monastery of Santa Catalina, a monastery of nuns built in 1579. There are approximately 20 nuns currently living in the northern corner of the complex; the rest of the monastery is open to the public. I thought it would be this small place where Anton would be complaining about it being "boring".
Another amazing day under the turquoise Peruvian mile-high skies. We weren't sure what we were going to do to keep Anton entertained, because he wants to do something really exciting like zipline. Up first was the Monastery of Santa Catalina, a monastery of nuns built in 1579. There are approximately 20 nuns currently living in the northern corner of the complex; the rest of the monastery is open to the public. I thought it would be this small place where Anton would be complaining about it being "boring".
It was anything but! First of all, it was huge! We spent over three hours inside and really could have spent more. It had beautiful cerulean blue clay walls contrasting with umber orange clay walls. It was certainly a photographers dream! Open doorways onto vividly colored courtyards with beautiful and exotic plants. So many angles. Many beautiful wooden doors. Scary religious statues with piercing eyes. Kenny, Robin and I all took over 200 pictures each. I was SO glad we decided to go!
While at the monastery, Anton ended up meeting a group of Peruvian school kids and playing with them for a while. We took multiple group photos with the kids. The girls go crazy over Anton's blue eyes...one girl asked if he had a girlfriend. She was 12; he is only nine years old. It is, without a doubt, the most amazing monastery I've even been in!
We had lunch at a crepe place, called "Crepesimo". We thought we ate dinner there last night, but I couldn't read without my glasses. It actually said "Carpaccio". (I was wondering why there were only two crepes on the menu!) So Robin and I each had a crepe. It was made of ground quinoa, and they probably had fifty different concoctions for fillings. We sat outside in a courtyard; the temperature is a perfect 70 degrees.
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We went shopping afterwards for t-shirts. There were some funny ones...a picture of 2 llamas mating in ten different positions, with the title called "Llamasutra". The vendors follow you around to try to get you to buy, but it's nothing like the high-pressured sales techniques we had to endure in Morocco!
Afterwards we just went for a long walk up into the nicer part of Arequipa. The hard part about walking is that you have about a three-foot wide sidewalk with throngs of people and cars driving within inches of you. Most of the cars are these really small taxis that look like old Yugos. The other vehicles are dusty busses that are bursting at the seams with people, and garbage trucks that play extremely loud new-age music over a loudspeaker. Not a lot of personal cars; most people can't afford them. We saw a funeral procession that was like a parade, complete with trumpets and drums. We had espresso and coconut truffles at a coffee shop, and the headed back on our narrow sidewalk.
Afterwards we just went for a long walk up into the nicer part of Arequipa. The hard part about walking is that you have about a three-foot wide sidewalk with throngs of people and cars driving within inches of you. Most of the cars are these really small taxis that look like old Yugos. The other vehicles are dusty busses that are bursting at the seams with people, and garbage trucks that play extremely loud new-age music over a loudspeaker. Not a lot of personal cars; most people can't afford them. We saw a funeral procession that was like a parade, complete with trumpets and drums. We had espresso and coconut truffles at a coffee shop, and the headed back on our narrow sidewalk.
Narrow sidewalks
I was actually taking a picture of something across the street when a very crowded bus went by and got this little boy instead.
Funeral procession or religious holiday? Not quite sure.
Dinner was at a restaurant called Los Lenos. For...pizza again, because Anton hated his last night. Fortunately this one was excellent, even though we had to stand out front to wait for them to open. We are now back at the hotel to go to bed because we have a driver picking us up at 4 am. We are off to see the condors at Colca Canyon, a gorge that is deeper than the Grand Canyon. The condors are only around at sunrise, and it will take us four to five hours to get there.
Thank You for my wonderful life!
Thank You for my wonderful life!
September 22, 2013
A very LONG day. We had a wakeup call at 3:30 am and our private Colca Canyon tour left at 4 am. You have to go that early if you want to see the condors at their usual time between 9-10 am. It was just the four of us, but we had a 14 passenger Mercedes shuttle bus arranged for us by the hotel. As we were driving through the outskirts of Arequipa in the complete darkness, we saw people everywhere. We thought they were possibly going to work, but it turns out they were still out partying from Saturday night!
A very LONG day. We had a wakeup call at 3:30 am and our private Colca Canyon tour left at 4 am. You have to go that early if you want to see the condors at their usual time between 9-10 am. It was just the four of us, but we had a 14 passenger Mercedes shuttle bus arranged for us by the hotel. As we were driving through the outskirts of Arequipa in the complete darkness, we saw people everywhere. We thought they were possibly going to work, but it turns out they were still out partying from Saturday night!
How do I even begin to explain the road we traveled? Immediately after leaving the city we started ascending, ending up behind one double tandem, 18-wheeler after another. None of them could go any faster than 15 mph trying to go uphill. So we had to pass all of them. Problem was...the road was extremely curvy and the other 18-wheelers were coming DOWN the hill. So that was pretty harrowing. Luckily it was completely dark, so that we couldn't see the 100 intermittent crosses along the guard rails (or NO guardrail) where multitudes of people had plunged to their deaths. The pavement (if you can call it that, it had been washed out so many times) was pretty potholed, and so it was loud and bumpy. After about an hour and a half, all the large trucks turned towards Puno, so we managed to lose them. But then we had about three hours of gravel road. Extremely dusty gravel. Every so often we would have to drive around large boulders in the road. Our guide explained to us that they were from the earthquake from a few weeks ago. Apparently they have tremors or earthquakes almost EVERY day!
Plus it was freezing! At the top of the pass, we were at 16,108 feet. We got out into the freezing cold to take a picture. I felt very dizzy. Kenny said that all of us probably have never been at that high of an altitude ever before. He said that even when you parachute at only 12,500 feet, you have to have oxygen. Just walking to take the picture was an effort! That, thankfully, was our highest point. Only the volcanoes are higher. (Peru has over 400 volcanoes, with 108 of them being in the Arequipa area). But like every stop that is a tourist stop, there were women trying to sell items. These women, however, were dressed a lot warmer than the others!
We then had "breakfast" at the small town of Chivay. You can't really call it breakfast though, it was just triangle bread and jam. I did have some coca tea though, and it DID really help with the altitude sickness.
We then had "breakfast" at the small town of Chivay. You can't really call it breakfast though, it was just triangle bread and jam. I did have some coca tea though, and it DID really help with the altitude sickness.
But the Colca Canyon was amazing! You can't even begin to fathom both the height and depth. It's deeper than the Grand Canyon. There were quite a few people there, all just waiting for the condor show. Sometimes they appear, sometimes they don't. After about an hour we saw two of them. I was aiming my camera at the sky snapping away. You can't see the camera screen, because the sun is so bright. (We all keep getting sunburned). In the end, I had about 12 pictures of beautiful blue sky, but thankfully I also did get the condors. Even though it took five hours to get there, it was well worth the effort.
No photo can capture both the height and the depth of Colca Canyon.
However, by the time we got back to that same 16,000 foot lookout area (you have to take the same road back), I felt absolutely awful. It was a combination of the altitude, the lack of sleep, and the drivers had their windows open (we could not) and so the whole back of the shuttle was filled with dust. I felt like I couldn't breathe and my head was going to explode. In spite of not feeling well, I was very happy we stopped at a local ranching community for a llama and alpaca awards show. Everyone was out in their best outfits, and I got a great shot of the first and second place winners.
First and second place winners!
cusco
September 23, 2013
Not a whole lot to report today. It was mostly a travel day. We had to fly from Arequipa to Juliaca to Cusco. We didn't get off the plane at Juliaca, which is near lake Titticaca. I noticed while sitting on the runway that I felt dizzy again and that I had the beginnings of a stabbing headache. Well... Juliaca is at 12,549 feet. As soon as we were flying again and the oxygen was flowing, I felt better. Now that we are in Cusco, I notice that I am fine just sitting, but even a little exertion makes me dizzy. Cusco is at 11,200 feet. Thankfully Machu Picchu is just under 8000 feet, so I should be fine on the hike. I think that when it comes to altitude, about 9000 feet is my limit.
Not a whole lot to report today. It was mostly a travel day. We had to fly from Arequipa to Juliaca to Cusco. We didn't get off the plane at Juliaca, which is near lake Titticaca. I noticed while sitting on the runway that I felt dizzy again and that I had the beginnings of a stabbing headache. Well... Juliaca is at 12,549 feet. As soon as we were flying again and the oxygen was flowing, I felt better. Now that we are in Cusco, I notice that I am fine just sitting, but even a little exertion makes me dizzy. Cusco is at 11,200 feet. Thankfully Machu Picchu is just under 8000 feet, so I should be fine on the hike. I think that when it comes to altitude, about 9000 feet is my limit.
I was upgraded to a suite because of my platinum status at the JW Marriott. This is a category 6 hotel...and it is just gorgeous! The entranceway, the lobby, and the suite are all first class. The suite even has two bathrooms, and the main bathroom is practically the size of our last hotel room. The next two hotels that we are staying at will be more like hostels, so we better enjoy it while we can!
Indoor/outdoor lobby of the JW Marriott. Gorgeous!
Cusco is much more refined and touristy compared to Arequipa. Of course, it is a major worldwide tourist destination so I'm sure the Peruvian government makes sure they spend a lot more money here. The plaza square is picturesque and beautifully landscaped. The restaurants are top notch. We had our best meal thus far today at Incanto. We did a city bus tour that was a bit of an overview of Cusco. We sat on the open upper deck, and got even more sunburned than we already are. We went up to the ruins of Saqsaywaman (pronounced "sexy woman" which sounded very funny on the tour). Now we can see the places we want to go back to spend more time.
The main square in Cusco.
Pronounced like "Sexy Woman".
September 24, 2013
I feel a thousand times better today. Kenny said that when he was in the military the rule of thumb was that it takes five full days to acclimatize to the altitude. Well, today is the fifth day. I'm sure it helps that we are staying practically at the Taj Mahal and getting a great night's rest!
Speaking of the accommodations, we started out with the most fantastic breakfast. It is free for platinum members; otherwise it was $50 breakfast. They must have had 30 different types of breads alone. They had salmon, chicken, quiche, mushrooms, waffles, pancakes, several potatoes, bacon, and maybe 20 types of cheeses. Plus PEELED fruit, which we have been very careful to eat. It was an excellent meal. However, it is so hard to walk out of the door of the hotel and see such poverty. :(
I feel a thousand times better today. Kenny said that when he was in the military the rule of thumb was that it takes five full days to acclimatize to the altitude. Well, today is the fifth day. I'm sure it helps that we are staying practically at the Taj Mahal and getting a great night's rest!
Speaking of the accommodations, we started out with the most fantastic breakfast. It is free for platinum members; otherwise it was $50 breakfast. They must have had 30 different types of breads alone. They had salmon, chicken, quiche, mushrooms, waffles, pancakes, several potatoes, bacon, and maybe 20 types of cheeses. Plus PEELED fruit, which we have been very careful to eat. It was an excellent meal. However, it is so hard to walk out of the door of the hotel and see such poverty. :(
Immediately after breakfast, we walked to the San Pedro market where the locals shop. Oh, how it stinks! The entrance had all the meats - giant donkey legs, pig heads, chicken and many other unidentifiable hanging bloody carcasses. Since the market is somewhat enclosed, the stench of dead animal was overpowering. It was slightly better when we moved to the fruit aisle. There are so many fruits that look nothing like what we are used to. In the very long potato aisle, there were dozens of different potatoes. I was yelled at by an old woman for taking a picture. Then we reached the stinky fish aisle. There were so many mounds of colorful mush. After about 30 minutes, I needed to get out into the "fresh" no-air air. (I say "fresh" because there are garbage smells, car exhaust and sewer smells all over, but at least it is better than the market!)
There is some kind of religious festival going on today. Every few hours there is a parade with the Virgin Mary or some other saint being carried on a throne with a band playing behind it. There has also been the popping sounds of fireworks going off several times today, including waking me up at 7 am.
We spent the next several hours just exploring Cusco.
Uhhh... not sure that's going to hold.
We had planned to do the chocolate museum tour at the Choco Museo when we met up with Kenny and Anton. But they didn't want to do it, so we all just spent a fortune in chocolate instead. Kenny had been up since 2:30 and ate breakfast at his hotel at 4 am, so he was hungry. (All the hotels have really early breakfasts because the Machu Picchu tours start really early). So we went to the sister restaurant of Incanto (lunch yesterday) called Greens Organic Cafe. Excellent!! Robin and I split vegetable tempuras and a goat cheese, caramelized onion sandwich. We saved room for desert, which was an apple-infused mango ravioli topped with a passion fruit purée. Our lunches have been the most expensive meals so far...about $35 for Robin and I.
Chocolate deodorant? Are you supposed to use it or eat it?
Robin and I went exploring in a neighborhood that was listed in TripAdvisor as "interesting". The name of the neighborhood was called San Blas. While Robin was buying a bracelet for 5 soles (about $1.75 US) and the street vendor was trying to find change for our $20 by going door-to-door in the shops, I was watching this shaman working on the beautiful well-dressed black woman. Some of his instruments included various skulls of animals, as well as their horns.
We are somewhat over being hounded in the street to buy things and looking at the 578th same exact souvenir shop. We even paid a whopping $5 US dollars to have my picture taken with a llama who had the same hair as me. The woman would NOT accept $3. She said it was not enough.
So we spent several hours in our paradise hotel, which is something that Robin and I rarely do.
So we spent several hours in our paradise hotel, which is something that Robin and I rarely do.
Tough businesswoman.. $5 for a picture!
For dinner, we went for pizza again, always cheap and makes a nine-year-old very happy. The day ended on both a high and low note: the high note was that when we got back to the room...a caramel birthday cake was waiting for Robin in the room. They must have noted her birthday on her passport when we checked in. The Marriott has certainly been outstanding!
The low point was that the woman at the money exchange ripped us off of $30. I gave her a hundred; she wouldn't take a ten because of a small tear and then gave me change for $60. She insisted I only gave her $60, and no matter how much I argued, she wouldn't budge. So I guess I'll just have to take the bad with the good. Thank You for my wonderful life!
The low point was that the woman at the money exchange ripped us off of $30. I gave her a hundred; she wouldn't take a ten because of a small tear and then gave me change for $60. She insisted I only gave her $60, and no matter how much I argued, she wouldn't budge. So I guess I'll just have to take the bad with the good. Thank You for my wonderful life!
machu picchu and aguas calientes
September 25, 2013
I'm almost too exhausted to type, and it's only 5 pm. Robin got me up at 2:55 this morning because she misread her iPhone. The guide picked us up at 4 am. We drove almost two hours to catch our train at Ollantaytambo. The train was much nicer than expected. It went along the Urubamba river, - an unnavigable aqua blue-green class five white water rafting river. It rushes down from the mountains and eventually is used for hydroelectric energy down the way. The train stopped in the middle of the jungle at kilometer marker 104 to drop us off. I had expected others to get off too, but we were the only ones. As the train pulled away and we stood on the edge of the tracks in the middle of the jungle, I looked up to see some surprised faces wondering "what the hell are those people doing?" A minute later we found the entrance to the Inca Trail where our guide, Hernan, was waiting. Thus started our seven-mile hike (mostly UP) the mountain. In some ways, it was grueling and torture. The ascension for me was very slow at times, not because of the thinner air (I think I am mostly acclimatized now) but because of getting overheated and then feeling the MS-related dizziness. So there were many resting points, and catching up to the guide and Kenny and Anton. Robin stayed with me, partially because it was also hard for her, but mostly because Anton jabbered on and on. We have loved his company; he is one of the funniest kids ever. (The “Yo’Mama jokes had now turned into “Yo’Llama” jokes). But sometimes you just want to hear the silence of the mountains. The energy field of the mountains and jungle completely overshadowed whatever difficulties I had in the hike. "Amazing, awesome, and incredible" are words that don't do it justice. We hiked for the first three hours up, until we reached the fairly large ruins of Winaywaynu. We stopped there and had lunch. Even though the lunch consisted of a white bun with cheese and avocado, it was of the best lunches of my entire life. There were no other people around. Just a few friendly llamas, the birds and us. Plus the deafening silence. It was absolutely magical!
I'm almost too exhausted to type, and it's only 5 pm. Robin got me up at 2:55 this morning because she misread her iPhone. The guide picked us up at 4 am. We drove almost two hours to catch our train at Ollantaytambo. The train was much nicer than expected. It went along the Urubamba river, - an unnavigable aqua blue-green class five white water rafting river. It rushes down from the mountains and eventually is used for hydroelectric energy down the way. The train stopped in the middle of the jungle at kilometer marker 104 to drop us off. I had expected others to get off too, but we were the only ones. As the train pulled away and we stood on the edge of the tracks in the middle of the jungle, I looked up to see some surprised faces wondering "what the hell are those people doing?" A minute later we found the entrance to the Inca Trail where our guide, Hernan, was waiting. Thus started our seven-mile hike (mostly UP) the mountain. In some ways, it was grueling and torture. The ascension for me was very slow at times, not because of the thinner air (I think I am mostly acclimatized now) but because of getting overheated and then feeling the MS-related dizziness. So there were many resting points, and catching up to the guide and Kenny and Anton. Robin stayed with me, partially because it was also hard for her, but mostly because Anton jabbered on and on. We have loved his company; he is one of the funniest kids ever. (The “Yo’Mama jokes had now turned into “Yo’Llama” jokes). But sometimes you just want to hear the silence of the mountains. The energy field of the mountains and jungle completely overshadowed whatever difficulties I had in the hike. "Amazing, awesome, and incredible" are words that don't do it justice. We hiked for the first three hours up, until we reached the fairly large ruins of Winaywaynu. We stopped there and had lunch. Even though the lunch consisted of a white bun with cheese and avocado, it was of the best lunches of my entire life. There were no other people around. Just a few friendly llamas, the birds and us. Plus the deafening silence. It was absolutely magical!
I can tell that this is my brother's "don't ask me to pose for another damn picture" face.
Last chance for bathrooms!
The trains keep getting smaller.
I think I may have liked the ruins of Winaywayna better than Machu Picchu.
After lunch we finally reached the first bathroom in over three hours at one of the base camps for the five-day hikers. I think I would have rather braved the woods and the poisonous snakes rather than that disgusting hole in the ground. You gag just standing outside the door. I can't imagine anything more torturous than doing one of the five-day hikes if those are the bathrooms and camping accommodations. But I guess I've always known that I wasn't really a 'camping' sort-of person!
After Winaywaynu, we started to encounter more and more people. The last half hour up to the Sun Gate was almost vertical. But when we got to the very top and went through the Incan walls of the Sun Gate and saw the entire valley and Machu Picchu below us, tears actually sprung to my eyes. It was like crossing the Sahara and then seeing paradise off in the distance. As we sat there taking it all in, a tour guide was leading a human rope of five young people with their eyes closed to our side of the wall. They had been hiking for five days, and when they opened their eyes the look on their faces was of shock and amazement. (I can’t imagine what it would feel like to finally arrive after five days, our seven hours certainly was enough!) So we stayed in that area for a while just sitting there with the breath-taking scenery.
OMG! Are we ever going to get there!
The Sun Gate
Since we aren't actually going into Machu Picchu today, we eventually made our way down to the entrance (another hour) to catch the bus to Aguas Calientes. We had to wait in line behind about a hundred people, but thankfully it didn't take long. After winding our way down a narrow road to the town, I was surprised that the town was actually much better than I had expected.
But I certainly wish I could say the same about the accommodations! We went from the Taj Mahal to a boardinghouse. A very loud boardinghouse, with our "window" overlooking the lobby with a shitty TV blaring CNN. We were very disappointed in the hotel, especially since our tour was costly and we had been originally so happy with the tour operator and our guide, Hernan, was fabulous. But in looking at TripAdvisor, it turns out that the majority of the hotels are overpriced and crappy, and so is the food.
Shortly after checking into the hotel, my stomach started to cramp up. Oh oh, I knew what was coming. Pure liquid. Thank God I brought some Cipro! I took one after dinner and certainly hope this is something that doesn't last long!
September 26, 2013
We left at 6 am to go to MP. We had hard rolls for breakfast at our crappy hotel, but surprisingly we all slept extremely well. I think after the five hours sleep and 7 mile hike of the day before, we were all just too exhausted to be wakened with every noise. (I'm sure the earplugs and extremely loud white noise coming from my iPad that was five inches away from my head helped.)
I'm still having stomach cramping but no diarrhea so far this morning. I am sitting here writing on one of the quiet terraces at one of the most beautiful and holy settings in the world. The others are climbing Huaynu Picchu, which is very steep and narrow at times. After yesterday and having potential diarrhea, there is no way I was going to go! As I was just sitting here, I heard this small strange noise behind me. A llama was walking my way! I videotaped part of him coming this way, but as he got closer I started to pick up my things to get away from him. Do they attack, or are they peaceful? But instead he just continued on his merry way down the stairs and around the people.
We left at 6 am to go to MP. We had hard rolls for breakfast at our crappy hotel, but surprisingly we all slept extremely well. I think after the five hours sleep and 7 mile hike of the day before, we were all just too exhausted to be wakened with every noise. (I'm sure the earplugs and extremely loud white noise coming from my iPad that was five inches away from my head helped.)
I'm still having stomach cramping but no diarrhea so far this morning. I am sitting here writing on one of the quiet terraces at one of the most beautiful and holy settings in the world. The others are climbing Huaynu Picchu, which is very steep and narrow at times. After yesterday and having potential diarrhea, there is no way I was going to go! As I was just sitting here, I heard this small strange noise behind me. A llama was walking my way! I videotaped part of him coming this way, but as he got closer I started to pick up my things to get away from him. Do they attack, or are they peaceful? But instead he just continued on his merry way down the stairs and around the people.
Speaking of people, we're being told that there are virtually no people here today. Apparently the trains are on strike in Cusco, and they can't get here. Does that mean that we can’t get back? Also, there was a 7.0 earthquake in Arequipa yesterday. So we seem to be managing to avoid some of the pitfalls of traveling internationally. (Although I have had both altitude sickness and traveler’s diarrhea!) But just sitting here in MP is absolutely amazing. I wonder about the Incas who lived here. They only lived in this unbelievably correct engineering marvel for only 90 years. They had a system of terraces and water canals that were better than most European cities. But then, they completely disappeared. MP was rediscovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American looking for some lost city (not this one). He didn't really "discover" it, since there were Peruvian farmers already living here. But it was completely unknown to the outside world.
I have moved to a new spot since I am getting very sunburned. It's extremely hard to find a shady AND quiet spot anywhere. This is not a quiet place. (I can't imagine it on a day when the people can actually get here!) From where I am sitting I can see three tour groups of about ten people speaking three different languages. People are also climbing the thousands of steps, all breathing very hard. This is not an easy travel place, especially for older people. Any of the areas I would want to sit are all roped off. So if I had dreamed of coming to Machu Picchu to have quiet meditation time, dream again!
I finally could see where Robin, Kenny and Anton were climbing to the top of Huaynu Picchu.
This was the most I could zoom in on my camera trying to see them.
I've inserted Robin's photos from the climb up Huaynu Picchu.
This was near the top of the climb.
My brother gets the "Father of the Year" award!
The descent.
The other three came down from their hike after about three hours. They all said it was awesome, but Robin said I would have hated it. Mostly because it was over a thousand steps up, and at one point you are crawling through a tunnel. Afterwards, we did a brief tour of Machu Picchu, but had to get back to get to the train station. Because of the strike in Cusco, we heard a rumor that the trains would be transporting the tourists off as soon as possible.
But that was not to be. We spent four hours sitting at our lunch table trying to figure out what to do. We had no hotel and nowhere else to go. Hernan was trying to help us get out of Aguas Calientes and back to Cusco. He went and stood in the long lines at the train station. It turned out that some people were able to get out, but only a very few. Kenny and Anton were able to leave, we were not. So we have to stay another night in Aguas Calientes, and will be missing our flight to Lima tomorrow. Trying to rebook our flight was another ordeal. It was hard to get a phone line out, and many people were also trying to use the phones. First we tried the phone at the front desk of a nearby hotel, but they kept getting me to Spanish-speaking people and I couldn't understand. So we went to an Internet cafe to use the pay phones. Well, it just rang and rang and rang, and the damn cafe said I still had to pay 4 Soles! I have discovered one thing about Peru (as well as any international travel)... some places will really try to rip you off if they can. Finally we walked into a really nice hotel and the woman at the front desk had no problem getting me to an English speaking LAN representative. I was able to change to a new flight without having to pay anything. I'm sure they are used to things like transportation strikes.
September 27, 2013
We had a great night's rest at the Hatun Inti hotel, a far cry from the boardinghouse of last night. It was especially nice to have a room right next to the sound of the rushing river. We did end up at some cheesy show the hotel puts on with the dinner not being much better than the show. Then we had an absolutely delightful time riding on the train sitting opposite an Irish couple from near Chicago. They were finishing up a two-week trip, including a five-day hike on the Inca Trail. She is a photographer, and took amazing photos of a wedding that they had been invited to join in a very rural town on their hike. They were also extremely well traveled, and gave us tips on doing a trip to Vietnam. So the train ride went by fast, and I barely remember looking at the scenery.
We had a great night's rest at the Hatun Inti hotel, a far cry from the boardinghouse of last night. It was especially nice to have a room right next to the sound of the rushing river. We did end up at some cheesy show the hotel puts on with the dinner not being much better than the show. Then we had an absolutely delightful time riding on the train sitting opposite an Irish couple from near Chicago. They were finishing up a two-week trip, including a five-day hike on the Inca Trail. She is a photographer, and took amazing photos of a wedding that they had been invited to join in a very rural town on their hike. They were also extremely well traveled, and gave us tips on doing a trip to Vietnam. So the train ride went by fast, and I barely remember looking at the scenery.
Carlos was at Ollantaytambo to pick us up. Apparently the strikers had used boulders to block the roads yesterday, (Kenny said some had even overturned cars). But they had already been removed for today. I think, however, that it made the roads very crowded, and so we had to pass every turisto bus, motorcycle, and 18-wheeler. Probably at least fifty vehicles. That was quite frightening a few times, as we narrowly got back in our lane while a horn-blaring truck came at us from the other way. I can see why one of the programs at the Task Force is the Road Safety program, because more people die from car crashes in foreign countries than any other reason.
But we got safely back to our paradise-haven, the JW Marriott hotel. This time we were upgraded to a terrace view. It's just one room this time; but much quieter since we are not on the street. Since today is Robin's actual birthday, she gets to pick all the restaurants. So we went back to Greens Organic Cafe for lunch and Incanto for dinner. (If it ain't broke, don't fix it!)
I'm not looking too forward to the nine-hour layover in Lima tomorrow, but am really glad to be going home. Thank You for my fantastic life and another unbelievable trip!
I'm not looking too forward to the nine-hour layover in Lima tomorrow, but am really glad to be going home. Thank You for my fantastic life and another unbelievable trip!
Good-bye Cusco!
Nothing like a nine hour layover...