Wed & Thur June 19-20th Machu Picchu

We took a bus from Cusco up the Sacred Valley, where we caught the train to Aguas Calientes, the little town at the foot of Mount Machu Picchu.    We arrived at 9:50am, and as soon as we arrived we were whisked off by our guide to tour Machu Picchu.  There were five of us on the tour and it was really great.  The clouds and mists added to the mysterious atmosphere.  We also experienced the occasional rain shower and sun.  The curved building in the last photo is the sun temple.

 

The following day we arose early to go up to Machu Picchu for sun rise, arriving by 6:15 a.m.  High clouds obscured the view of the sunrise but other hand, it was clear during our visit and we had a mystical time.  Machu Picchu is truly a must see site.

We were scheduled to take a 3:30pm train back to the Sacred Valley and then a bus to Cusco, but there was a landslide on the track and no trains could arrive or leave until about 7:30pm.  Of course about 1,000 other passengers were also stranded and unable to return to Cusco as well as about that many on the other end trying to arrive in time for the winter solstice.  As we write this, the trains are moving, we are on our train, and ready to to start the four hour journey back to Cusco, but the train is still sitting in the station and it is 9:10pm.  So we probably won’t be to our hotel until after 1:30am.  We actually got in about 2 am and fell into exhausted sleep.  Up early again and ready to begin the next leg of our trip to the Amazon rainforest.

Tue June 18th Peru’s Sacred Valley

 

Today we headed off on the Sacred Valley Tour.   The Sacred Valley is between Cusco and Machu Picchu and is filled with ancient Inca sites.

The first town we visited was Pisac.  The terraces the Inca’s built for farming are incredible.   The buildings would have all had thatched angled roofing, similar to what you see in the photos.   The thatched roofs would have been supported by the stone walls and secured with ties to protruding stones.   Where replicas have been established, they have to be replaced every 5-10 years.

  

 

The second ancient town was Ollantaytambo.  Here we climbed the terraces shown in the first of the following photos, and yes, we made it all the way to the top!!  Luis, our guide arranged for us to be greeted by a spectacular rainbow when we reached the top. We also saw a lot of the incredible stone work.   Look at the angles in the rocks shown in the next three photos.   We ended the day with a demonstration of how the Peruvian women dye and weave wool into great designs.  It was interesting to note that the red comes from a parasite that lives on prickly pear cactus and when crushed is red pigment.  Other dyes come from plants and minerals.  We got back to Cusco quite late and were tired so were unable to appreciate the ambiance of Paddy’s Pub, the worlds highest Irish pub.  It was crowded and noisy and we had a quick meal and retired to our room to be ready for a very, very early Wednesday.

Mon June 17th Cusco

 

We flew to Cusco today and enroute we had some great views of the Andes Mountains.  We than checked into our hotel.

 

We fairly quickly went on a tour south of town.  Juan, our wonderful tour guide, took us to an amazing catholic church in Andahuaylillas, a tiny town in the middle of nowhwere, which is described as Peru’s Sistine Chapel.  It is decorated with wonderful paintings and art work, and lots of gold leaf and is being restored to its former glory.  Unfortunately we were not able to take pictures.

From there we went to Piquillacta, one of the oldest towns discovered in Peru, dating beck from 200 BC to 400 AD, long before the Incas.   The Community had roads, two  story buildings, and significant presence.  We all called it quits early that night, as the altitude, almost 12,00 feet, was taking a toll on us.

Sun June 16th–Eating our way through Lima

We were met at 8:30am by Rosario, our guide for a morning food tour of Lima.  We started at the popular market, which was filled with exotic fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood.   We tried about 10 different fruits, none of which we have ever had before, and which were all wonderful.  We than moved on to try some roasted corn and chips.   We took a peak at the seafood and meats, including cue, guinea pig.   While they do eat guinea pig, it does not appear to be real popular along the coast, but much more so in the mountains.

Photo’s above show a typical fruit stand, and some of the fruits we tried.

Photo above show a stand with various types of potatoes (the potato was discovered and domesticated in Peru and they have over 4000 varieties), the have something like a 1000 varieties of corn, and of course octopus.

And  no trip would be complete with out a picture of cue.

From the popular market we were taken to a very nice restaurant where one of the Chefs demonstrated cooking three dishes.

He prepared a fish ceviche, a potato dish layered with avocado and chicken salad, and Lomo Saltado, a stir fried tenderloin.   They were wonderful, after the demonstration and lunch on the three items, we were dropped off at the Inka Market, where we did some shopping before our walk home.   We went back to Tanta for dinner, a restaurant near our hotel.

Sat June 15th Lima Peru and Pachacamac

 

We slept well and had a nice breakfast at our hotel.   At about 9:15am we were picked up for a tour to Lima.  Most of the tour was from a minibus, with four people from Maryland, a woman from Australia, the three of us and our guide.   the traffic continues to be incredible.   Lima has a population of almost 9 million people, and yet the only public transportation is one rail line and one new bus route.  There only appears to be one express road.  Thus the traffic is truly amazing, it actually seemed worse than Cairo.

Somehow they have an unauthorized statue of Nancy and I here (photo).   We also saw a ceremony for the upcoming solstice.

 

 

The highlight of our morning tour was the Cathedral.  It had a library that was right out of Harry Potter, and catacombs that contain over 25,000 skeletons.  We could not take pictures inside, so the last two photos were pulled off the web.

 

 

We had a buffet lunch at Dama Juana, which was delicious with a broad variety of food including some wonderful toasted corn, great entrees, and a scrumptious rice pudding with black corn sauce.

After lunch we drove out about 25 miles to Pachacamac, which was a huge temple complex that dates back to 200 AD through the arrival of the Incas in the 1400s, with 18 pyramid structures.  the most significant structure, the "Temple el Sol" was constructed on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean and dedicated to their sun god Inti. The amazing temple is built with stones and adobe blocks.

We then were driven back to the hotel to arrive at 5pm.   At 6pm we went out for dinner, ending up at Tanta, a casual restaurant owned by the internationally known chef Gaston Acurio.  Nancy and I had Lomo Saltado and Ryan had Mediterranean spaghetti.  Lomo Saltado is a Peruvian dish that has Asian influences consisting of strips of sirloin marinated in vinegar, soy sauce and spices, then stir fried with red onions, parsley and tomatoes. It was served with white rice with homemade French fries that look more like potato wedges.

It’s 8:30pm and we are in for the night…  Next update tomorrow.

June 14th Lima Peru!!!!

We had a wonderful time the last three days in Virginia Beach for Katie’s graduation.

 

Today we flew from JFK to Lima Peru, via Panama on COPA Airlines, the official airlines of Panama.  The first airplane was nice and new, but Ryan had to do some airplane maintenance when a bathroom door fell off (watch out Matt, another aviation mechanic in the family).  It would have been a long flight with only one bathroom.  Our seats were the last row of the plane and we were seated with lots of friendly people and kids, the back of the plane is the most fun.

We arrived in Lima a few minutes ahead of the scheduled arrival, but were slow going through immigration.  We were to be met at the airport and the ride eventually showed up just after a nice little nun took pity on our plight and gave Roger a couple of coins for the payphone.  Once on the road the traffic was crazy (at 8:20pm) and so was the driver.   He loved to break hard and often.   It was quite a trip through the teeming streets of Lima, the longest ride ever from airport to hotel.   

Our hotel is nice, and we have three beds!!!

 

  Tomorrow we start with a Lima city tour.