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Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Lima!
We are once again in Lima, our 8:am flight from Cusco was once again very smooth and everyone at the airport very helpful. First class again so we got our luggage before anyone else. More then a few dirty looks over that from the other passengers. Cuz trust me it takes a long time to get your luggage at the airport.
We are in the San Isidro area of Lima, the upper class area where the rich and all the embassies line the roads. The fancy Radisson hotel where there is even a pool. It´s hot and muggy and Susan is going to go lay by the pool after she gets in a few work emails. Oh with a cocktail in her hand. First non-colonial hotel we have stayed in so the elevator has kind of thrown me for a loop. What do you mean? I don´t have to walk up any stairs...
We leave for LAX at 1:40am tonight, so a taxi is picking us up 11:pm. So a bit of lunch at one of the cafes around the corner then dinner tonight at one of the recommended Italian places before we rest a bit more before our taxi.
The hustle and bustle of this huge city is a bit overwhelming after the quiet small town of Ollantaytambo. It´s also much more busy since 2 weeks ago because that was the beginning of Easter week and so many of the people left the city to go home or to their country places. We hit morning rush hour traffic so it was a real eye opener to Nat and Susan to see the amount of people and traffic trying to get around on streets not made for the huge numbers of people.
This is my last post of this blog. We will be landing at LAX tomorrow morning and arrive in SFO in the afternoon.
Hope you all have enjoyed reading. Much love
We are in the San Isidro area of Lima, the upper class area where the rich and all the embassies line the roads. The fancy Radisson hotel where there is even a pool. It´s hot and muggy and Susan is going to go lay by the pool after she gets in a few work emails. Oh with a cocktail in her hand. First non-colonial hotel we have stayed in so the elevator has kind of thrown me for a loop. What do you mean? I don´t have to walk up any stairs...
We leave for LAX at 1:40am tonight, so a taxi is picking us up 11:pm. So a bit of lunch at one of the cafes around the corner then dinner tonight at one of the recommended Italian places before we rest a bit more before our taxi.
The hustle and bustle of this huge city is a bit overwhelming after the quiet small town of Ollantaytambo. It´s also much more busy since 2 weeks ago because that was the beginning of Easter week and so many of the people left the city to go home or to their country places. We hit morning rush hour traffic so it was a real eye opener to Nat and Susan to see the amount of people and traffic trying to get around on streets not made for the huge numbers of people.
This is my last post of this blog. We will be landing at LAX tomorrow morning and arrive in SFO in the afternoon.
Hope you all have enjoyed reading. Much love
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Travel day
Today was the day we had to leave Ollantaytambo. First Susan asked if we could stay two more weeks. I think she likes traveling. So we got up. Mom and I packed up our bags last night after dinner. Decided that we needed to figure how we were going to fit all the new stuff in. Well we figure it out then went to bed. Got up early so we could take our time and low and behold the sun was shining. What a gorgeous day we woke up too. We did our morning routine then I went to pay the bill for our stay. I paid, came back to the room and figured out they only charged me for one room, not both. I looked at Mom and said I would be right back. Well I wasn´t, Susan came by at one point and I told her to go get Nat and Mom and get some breakfast. Why, because I was having the darnedest time getting them to let me pay more. Yup the receptionist did not understand at all or couldn´t figure out what she had done wrong. I really wanted to pay them more... really, finally after a half hour and several discussion with a couple people the regular receptionist came up and was like OH you want to pay for the other room. Finally got that done and off to breakfast.
We got to sit in the garden for about an hour and feed the llamas while we waited for our driver. Nat and I took lots of photos of the different beautiful flowers and I got some wonderful photos of a hummingbird having it´s way with multiple buds. Then off to Cusco with the driver who had taken us to this lovely town. If any of you ever want a small quiet gorgeous relaxing time then you go to Ollantaytambo and stay a few days.
The sky continued to be blue and the sun warmed us all as we gasped at the high peaks that have been hidden most of our stay. Glaciers and snowbanks all along the top jagged tops of peaks that reached up into the sky far above our 13,000 feet.
Back to our hotel in Cusco where the doorman once again gently helped Mom into the place and we were warmly welcomed back and given two rooms since our quad room was occupied by people who did not get out due to the general strike on Monday. I guess the airlines are still working people into flights since most flights are full due to tourism.
Oh and since I was figuring everything out I figured out that somewhere yesterday after noon or this morning while I was dealing with trying to pay for our rooms that I lost my ATM card. So I spent the next half hour calling my bank and getting it blocked as well as canceled and a new one sent to my home. Thankfully no one had used it since I had yesterday morning. But I had to go back to the room and say the magic words. ¨Mom can I borrow some money¨. Yeah she gave me some. Well she let me keep ahold of her ATM card which I have been very careful of since. Trust me this a first for me. I have never lost a card. I am getting tired and this is how I can tell. It takes a lot to negotiate travel for 4 people and figure money out and do all of it in rusty spanish. But luckily we are leaving tomorrow for Lima then heading out late tomorrow night for home.
We spent the next couple hours repacking and redistributing our pacels and clothes and whatnots so we could all get our suitcases closed. Then off down to the plaza along the narrow streets in and out of shops for some last minute shopping. We had a list of to buy items and to do items. Today is the 800th year that the Franciscans have been in Cusco. We ran into all the boys and girls schools parading around the plaza with bands, monks, nuns and teachers. All dressed in their school uniforms with flags and banners and being a bit bored and a bit proud.
Had our early dinner at Jacks, good food and fun talk and the doggie on the corner who kept coming in to get a piece of bread. Then back to the hotel to finish up and write this blog.
We got to get up at 5:am to dress, have some breakfast and head off to the airport. We have a 8:am flight but here you have to show up 2 hours before or they can´t guarantee you will get on your flight.
You all have a good evening.
We got to sit in the garden for about an hour and feed the llamas while we waited for our driver. Nat and I took lots of photos of the different beautiful flowers and I got some wonderful photos of a hummingbird having it´s way with multiple buds. Then off to Cusco with the driver who had taken us to this lovely town. If any of you ever want a small quiet gorgeous relaxing time then you go to Ollantaytambo and stay a few days.
The sky continued to be blue and the sun warmed us all as we gasped at the high peaks that have been hidden most of our stay. Glaciers and snowbanks all along the top jagged tops of peaks that reached up into the sky far above our 13,000 feet.
Back to our hotel in Cusco where the doorman once again gently helped Mom into the place and we were warmly welcomed back and given two rooms since our quad room was occupied by people who did not get out due to the general strike on Monday. I guess the airlines are still working people into flights since most flights are full due to tourism.
Oh and since I was figuring everything out I figured out that somewhere yesterday after noon or this morning while I was dealing with trying to pay for our rooms that I lost my ATM card. So I spent the next half hour calling my bank and getting it blocked as well as canceled and a new one sent to my home. Thankfully no one had used it since I had yesterday morning. But I had to go back to the room and say the magic words. ¨Mom can I borrow some money¨. Yeah she gave me some. Well she let me keep ahold of her ATM card which I have been very careful of since. Trust me this a first for me. I have never lost a card. I am getting tired and this is how I can tell. It takes a lot to negotiate travel for 4 people and figure money out and do all of it in rusty spanish. But luckily we are leaving tomorrow for Lima then heading out late tomorrow night for home.
We spent the next couple hours repacking and redistributing our pacels and clothes and whatnots so we could all get our suitcases closed. Then off down to the plaza along the narrow streets in and out of shops for some last minute shopping. We had a list of to buy items and to do items. Today is the 800th year that the Franciscans have been in Cusco. We ran into all the boys and girls schools parading around the plaza with bands, monks, nuns and teachers. All dressed in their school uniforms with flags and banners and being a bit bored and a bit proud.
Had our early dinner at Jacks, good food and fun talk and the doggie on the corner who kept coming in to get a piece of bread. Then back to the hotel to finish up and write this blog.
We got to get up at 5:am to dress, have some breakfast and head off to the airport. We have a 8:am flight but here you have to show up 2 hours before or they can´t guarantee you will get on your flight.
You all have a good evening.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Word for Tuesday = Shopping
I kept telling them to just wait for our market day to buy. I know Susan didn´t trust me totally. We had bought a few things during the last week and half but I just kept telling them to wait. And they waited. So I hired a driver and van to take us Tuesday, which is market day in the Sacred Valley, to Pisac then work our way back if we needed too.
Well we didn´t need to stop anywhere else then Pisac. The drive was beautiful, from one end of the Valley to the other. About 2 hours. It took us a bit longer due to all the trees and big boulders in the road due to the general strike the day before. The road was still blocked here and there and the driver had to slow down and dodge around the piles. Kinda fun and very different. Can you imagine people dragging huge tree roots and boulders out in the middle of main roads and closing down traffic for a day... then just leaving it there.
Pisac´s Tuesday market is smaller then their Sunday market, but Tuesday has a quarter of the tourist gringos going for a bargain. So it´s much more fun and you can enjoy the other parts of the local market that is wrapped around all the stalls for goods that tourist are mainly interested in. So my Spanish may be rusty and fitful, but my calculator and my love of bargaining makes for one of the best times around. Mom, Nat and Susan I think were a bit stunned if not in awe of my just standing there and going calculator to calculator with the women running their stalls. It´s all fun and you have to enjoy the part you are suppose to play as well as love the expressions, the sighs, the conversations about how cheap I am really getting it already, oh and it´s already a special price just for me. I could barely finish up one transaction at one stall before I was being called down the narrow street to another stall to start another one. I got in some bargaining for myself along the way too.
We spent hours there... and Susan admitted she was totally satisfied and could leave. So we wandered back to our driver and van and drove slowly up the valley back towards Ollantaytambo... stopping along the way to look at Urubamba. Slow quiet afternoon then a our big evening adventure was getting Mom up into a moto taxi. It´s really a tuk tuk like in Thailand. A motorcycle with a covered bench and floor board attached to it for passengers and other goodies. They are used around the towns here. So I ordered two and we took Mom up to dinner along the river. Dinner was Peruvian with international twists and very good. Then the young guys who owned the moto´s were waiting for us to take us down the road back to our hotel. Oh and by the way... to get Mom up in the moto you just go find a nice big square rock and plunk it down on the cobblestone and there... Up and in. Why didn´t I figure out about the rock earlier.. huh!
So today we woke up at 4:am so we could get the 5:30am train to Machu Picchu. Was a slightly cold a bit misty morning... Onto the train after going and finding the metal stairs myself and having one of the train guys help me lug it back so Mom could get up into the train. So off we go.... sun comes up.. well it does but the clouds are thick... then it starts to pour, buckets, buckets and the sky opens up the water and last Wednesday was nothing compared to this folks. When the train stops in the station it´s raining so hard that I don´t even notice that we have not stopped at the train station until I get off. I was getting off before the 3 of them because I was going to run up and get the tickets for the ruins and the bus tickets as they helped Mom out of the station. Nope, not now, so I stand there in the pouring rain, waiting to get back on the train so I can help them with Mom since it´s a 3 foot drop onto the rail tracks right in the middle of town. We get Mom off with some work, but we get her off and she´s not broken... Down into the puddles and the pouring rain then up onto the sidewalk right in front of hostel that I decide we are going into to get Mom into her poncho and us out of the rain while I figure out where we were exactly since we were not at the train station. The lady running the hostel let us come in and she sold us 3 more ponchos. I took off and told them to stay while I got soaked and got all the tickets needed. Actually it turns out we were right where the buses took off so it was great. And with Mom once again we just go to the front of the line and get the front seats on the bus.
Up, up, up we go...wondering if we are going to be watered down the side of the mountain. As we climb higher the rain starts to slow down and the drops are not so big. By the time we get out it´s just misting up at top. Off comes the ponchos, one by one, then up the steps filled with people on tours, up over the smal incline then down the many steps to the opening of the ruins... All the rain has stopped and we are in the big fluffy clouds, every where .... right in the middle of them with the ruins hidden, yet peaking out here and there, then disappearing. Mom and Nat decide to sit under the covering of the thatched roof of one of the building so Susan and I head off for an hour on our own. We start to climb, higher and higher, up and up, past the terraces, up and around then up again to the guard house. Then we keep climbing... all the time the clouds and sun play their dance of teasing us.... The ruins appear then disappear... you see mountains surrounding us then it becomes white...only white. A rainbow here in the valley looking down to the river then bobs in and out of the mist between you and it many thousands of feet below.
Then the sun comes out for good and the whole vista appears. And you just stop in awe. Because on 3 sides you are surrounded by shear cliffs that drop down to roaring rivers. Susan and I giggle like kids and run around up and down the ruins, taking photos and laughing and loving the beauty. How can you be unhappy up here among such gorgeous nature and human made beauty.
Then it´s time to head down. To go back among the stairs we have negotiated... 3 times before and we run into our guide from last week who smiles so big when he sees Mom once again. I feel sorry for his group today. I bet the first person to complain got info about Mom and how much she climbed around last week. And here she was again!
Down to the town and train station where I helped Susan finish off her purchasing in the market. Then some sandwiches and sodas with potato chips for a meal. Mom and Nat ate their left overs from last nights dinner up at the ruins while Susan and I were running around.
Then it started to rain again. HA! Perfect timing cuz it was time to get on the vistadome and come back.
Nat and Mom are napping, Susan is doing some business email, I came up to mail postcards at the never opened postoffice here.. and guess what. It wasn´t open. Plus I had to recomfirm our flights over the phone. So now it´s done and I will head back to the garden to sit and have a beer and enjoy the rest of this gorgeous afternoon on our vacation! Tomorrow morning back to Cusco, the day and night in Cusco then the plane early on Friday to Lima. But for now sunshine and a beer.
Well we didn´t need to stop anywhere else then Pisac. The drive was beautiful, from one end of the Valley to the other. About 2 hours. It took us a bit longer due to all the trees and big boulders in the road due to the general strike the day before. The road was still blocked here and there and the driver had to slow down and dodge around the piles. Kinda fun and very different. Can you imagine people dragging huge tree roots and boulders out in the middle of main roads and closing down traffic for a day... then just leaving it there.
Pisac´s Tuesday market is smaller then their Sunday market, but Tuesday has a quarter of the tourist gringos going for a bargain. So it´s much more fun and you can enjoy the other parts of the local market that is wrapped around all the stalls for goods that tourist are mainly interested in. So my Spanish may be rusty and fitful, but my calculator and my love of bargaining makes for one of the best times around. Mom, Nat and Susan I think were a bit stunned if not in awe of my just standing there and going calculator to calculator with the women running their stalls. It´s all fun and you have to enjoy the part you are suppose to play as well as love the expressions, the sighs, the conversations about how cheap I am really getting it already, oh and it´s already a special price just for me. I could barely finish up one transaction at one stall before I was being called down the narrow street to another stall to start another one. I got in some bargaining for myself along the way too.
We spent hours there... and Susan admitted she was totally satisfied and could leave. So we wandered back to our driver and van and drove slowly up the valley back towards Ollantaytambo... stopping along the way to look at Urubamba. Slow quiet afternoon then a our big evening adventure was getting Mom up into a moto taxi. It´s really a tuk tuk like in Thailand. A motorcycle with a covered bench and floor board attached to it for passengers and other goodies. They are used around the towns here. So I ordered two and we took Mom up to dinner along the river. Dinner was Peruvian with international twists and very good. Then the young guys who owned the moto´s were waiting for us to take us down the road back to our hotel. Oh and by the way... to get Mom up in the moto you just go find a nice big square rock and plunk it down on the cobblestone and there... Up and in. Why didn´t I figure out about the rock earlier.. huh!
So today we woke up at 4:am so we could get the 5:30am train to Machu Picchu. Was a slightly cold a bit misty morning... Onto the train after going and finding the metal stairs myself and having one of the train guys help me lug it back so Mom could get up into the train. So off we go.... sun comes up.. well it does but the clouds are thick... then it starts to pour, buckets, buckets and the sky opens up the water and last Wednesday was nothing compared to this folks. When the train stops in the station it´s raining so hard that I don´t even notice that we have not stopped at the train station until I get off. I was getting off before the 3 of them because I was going to run up and get the tickets for the ruins and the bus tickets as they helped Mom out of the station. Nope, not now, so I stand there in the pouring rain, waiting to get back on the train so I can help them with Mom since it´s a 3 foot drop onto the rail tracks right in the middle of town. We get Mom off with some work, but we get her off and she´s not broken... Down into the puddles and the pouring rain then up onto the sidewalk right in front of hostel that I decide we are going into to get Mom into her poncho and us out of the rain while I figure out where we were exactly since we were not at the train station. The lady running the hostel let us come in and she sold us 3 more ponchos. I took off and told them to stay while I got soaked and got all the tickets needed. Actually it turns out we were right where the buses took off so it was great. And with Mom once again we just go to the front of the line and get the front seats on the bus.
Up, up, up we go...wondering if we are going to be watered down the side of the mountain. As we climb higher the rain starts to slow down and the drops are not so big. By the time we get out it´s just misting up at top. Off comes the ponchos, one by one, then up the steps filled with people on tours, up over the smal incline then down the many steps to the opening of the ruins... All the rain has stopped and we are in the big fluffy clouds, every where .... right in the middle of them with the ruins hidden, yet peaking out here and there, then disappearing. Mom and Nat decide to sit under the covering of the thatched roof of one of the building so Susan and I head off for an hour on our own. We start to climb, higher and higher, up and up, past the terraces, up and around then up again to the guard house. Then we keep climbing... all the time the clouds and sun play their dance of teasing us.... The ruins appear then disappear... you see mountains surrounding us then it becomes white...only white. A rainbow here in the valley looking down to the river then bobs in and out of the mist between you and it many thousands of feet below.
Then the sun comes out for good and the whole vista appears. And you just stop in awe. Because on 3 sides you are surrounded by shear cliffs that drop down to roaring rivers. Susan and I giggle like kids and run around up and down the ruins, taking photos and laughing and loving the beauty. How can you be unhappy up here among such gorgeous nature and human made beauty.
Then it´s time to head down. To go back among the stairs we have negotiated... 3 times before and we run into our guide from last week who smiles so big when he sees Mom once again. I feel sorry for his group today. I bet the first person to complain got info about Mom and how much she climbed around last week. And here she was again!
Down to the town and train station where I helped Susan finish off her purchasing in the market. Then some sandwiches and sodas with potato chips for a meal. Mom and Nat ate their left overs from last nights dinner up at the ruins while Susan and I were running around.
Then it started to rain again. HA! Perfect timing cuz it was time to get on the vistadome and come back.
Nat and Mom are napping, Susan is doing some business email, I came up to mail postcards at the never opened postoffice here.. and guess what. It wasn´t open. Plus I had to recomfirm our flights over the phone. So now it´s done and I will head back to the garden to sit and have a beer and enjoy the rest of this gorgeous afternoon on our vacation! Tomorrow morning back to Cusco, the day and night in Cusco then the plane early on Friday to Lima. But for now sunshine and a beer.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Okay folks I know it´s Monday
Friday night we took it easy. But all the processions went right by our hotel until late into the night. Every half hour or so the drums and music and then Mary and Jesus carried on the shoulders of people as they walked all over the city to celebrate the day of the 12 dishes, that´s Good Friday here.
Saturday we loaded Mom into a taxi and drove over to ¨the wrong side of town¨ to the central market. No tourist there at all. Totally different city of only locals shopping and hanging out. Mom and us wandered through the market for an hour going up and down the aisles looking at everything. Amazing colors in the aisles, each dedicated to a paticular product. Chicken, yup all plucked and hanging by their neck, pig, fish... flowers, fruit, veggies, beans, corn... on and on to the food stalls... then Mom had her shoes shined by the boys outside the market. They were so sweet with her. We were surrounded by about 8 boys all just chatting Mom up. And her shoes look great!
Sunday was travel day. Once again a very nice man came and picked us up to drive us up over the mountains and down into the sacred valley. We got out at one point to take photos at the cliff overhanging the edge of the plateau we were just about to come down over.
When we got to our beautiful hotel compound in Ollyantaytambo it was half raining and half sunshine. The flowers were full of hummingbirds. The gardens are amazing. I seem to be using that word a lot. The beauty of the natural world around us is simply stunning and you have to be a pretty self absorbed person to not stop and just stand in awe. The shear sides of the mountains surround us. You look up one way and there are Inca ruins half way up those mountains, you look the other way and you can see the terraces that run almost all the way up the other side.
We have decided to go to Machu Picchu again on Wednesday. Susan and I took over an hour to get the train tickets. So many parts of the transaction, only cash, must have all passports, find out what trains have seats....I had to get to the back of the line at 4 times and start again. We are taking the 5:37am train and returning on the 12:23 train. We will be able to see the sun rise as we make our way up the canyon.
And while we were standing in line we learned that today....There is a general strike in the Andes... No shops, no trains, no buses, no taxis, no internet cafe until now. The strike seemed to end at 4:pm. So many tourist stranded with no way to get where they needed to go. We planned to be here so it´s been a fantastic day for us. Mom walked all the way up the river road to the town square this morning because there was no traffic. We could take our time and wander around. Susan and Natilee and I just climbed to sides of the valley this morning. Up and up and up into the Inca ruins here... One ruin up a trail so steep and narrow that at times we just had to stop and figure out if we could make it. But we did and the views to the other side and down the valley was pure bliss. Then down, down, down, through the town and up the other side all around the ruins. We were the only 3 people there where there are usually hundreds of tourist tramping around. So special and wonderful to spend those couple hours with my sister and niece.
Nat has walked back to the hotel and Susan and I are getting in a few paragraphs before we head back. Tomorrow we are going to hire a driver and go to all the markets and towns along the sacred valley. It´s market day. So Dad I hope your pocket book won´t hurt too bad!
Love to all of you.
Saturday we loaded Mom into a taxi and drove over to ¨the wrong side of town¨ to the central market. No tourist there at all. Totally different city of only locals shopping and hanging out. Mom and us wandered through the market for an hour going up and down the aisles looking at everything. Amazing colors in the aisles, each dedicated to a paticular product. Chicken, yup all plucked and hanging by their neck, pig, fish... flowers, fruit, veggies, beans, corn... on and on to the food stalls... then Mom had her shoes shined by the boys outside the market. They were so sweet with her. We were surrounded by about 8 boys all just chatting Mom up. And her shoes look great!
Sunday was travel day. Once again a very nice man came and picked us up to drive us up over the mountains and down into the sacred valley. We got out at one point to take photos at the cliff overhanging the edge of the plateau we were just about to come down over.
When we got to our beautiful hotel compound in Ollyantaytambo it was half raining and half sunshine. The flowers were full of hummingbirds. The gardens are amazing. I seem to be using that word a lot. The beauty of the natural world around us is simply stunning and you have to be a pretty self absorbed person to not stop and just stand in awe. The shear sides of the mountains surround us. You look up one way and there are Inca ruins half way up those mountains, you look the other way and you can see the terraces that run almost all the way up the other side.
We have decided to go to Machu Picchu again on Wednesday. Susan and I took over an hour to get the train tickets. So many parts of the transaction, only cash, must have all passports, find out what trains have seats....I had to get to the back of the line at 4 times and start again. We are taking the 5:37am train and returning on the 12:23 train. We will be able to see the sun rise as we make our way up the canyon.
And while we were standing in line we learned that today....There is a general strike in the Andes... No shops, no trains, no buses, no taxis, no internet cafe until now. The strike seemed to end at 4:pm. So many tourist stranded with no way to get where they needed to go. We planned to be here so it´s been a fantastic day for us. Mom walked all the way up the river road to the town square this morning because there was no traffic. We could take our time and wander around. Susan and Natilee and I just climbed to sides of the valley this morning. Up and up and up into the Inca ruins here... One ruin up a trail so steep and narrow that at times we just had to stop and figure out if we could make it. But we did and the views to the other side and down the valley was pure bliss. Then down, down, down, through the town and up the other side all around the ruins. We were the only 3 people there where there are usually hundreds of tourist tramping around. So special and wonderful to spend those couple hours with my sister and niece.
Nat has walked back to the hotel and Susan and I are getting in a few paragraphs before we head back. Tomorrow we are going to hire a driver and go to all the markets and towns along the sacred valley. It´s market day. So Dad I hope your pocket book won´t hurt too bad!
Love to all of you.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Thursday Machu Picchu
Today we are just taking it easy. Yesterday we went to Machu Picchu. We got up at 5am to be picked up at the hotel by 6am. So we dressed, ate a bit and headed out. Sergio, the hotel employee and travel agency on the side picked us up to get us to the bus. We took a fantastic bus ride up and out of Cusco, up, up, up, up we went... over the high pass at 13, 123 feet.... Along the high valley filled with fields of corn, coca, squash... the sun so bright with the peaks so high still surrounding us even at 13,000 ft. Then we dropped down to the sacred valley to the road that runs along the raging river.... with the most incredible mountains all around us. Surrounding us with the sun and clouds playing tag along the granite and the earth all around as the valley got narrower... then a wall of Inca ruins, up a cobblestone small road into the tiny Inca village of Ollantaytambo. (We are going there to stay for a few days starting on Sunday) Through a tiny town square filled with market people. Then down to the train station at the end of the road. Literally the end of the road. From here...the only way to where we are going is by train. No road goes all the way to Machu Picchu. We take the tourist train. The local train is only for locals, and foreigners can not take it because it's cheap. And well because it's stuffed full of local people who have to take it. Also tourism supports 98% of the people here. A lot of the improvements in infrastructure is paid by our tourist dollars. The experience is priceless and if it was Europe or the US the tourist train would be a lot more money! So it's a bargain even if we pay more, and the people so helpful to Mom.
The train ride, one side we are escorted to our destination by the Urubamba River, the rapids are roaring. The drops in the river bed you can see from the train and the river just flows.. faster then the train, faster then any river I have ever seen. On the other side, the canyon at times widens out to small fields, but mostly granite walls with a ever increasing tropical flavor of flowers and plants growing on it's side. We are changing climates, from the high andes to the the beginning of the Peruvian Amazon area. Machu Picchu is the gateway in between, high and hidden in the clouds up on top of the mountains. The rain starts to fall and the we arrive at the end of the line to the town that was built around the train station, Aguas Calientes. We were met by a woman who's job was to get us from the station to the bus and get us in the front of the line. Down through the market in the ever increasing rain. Mom and us decided that we were going to have to take twice as long coming back since it was going to be all up hill on a fairly steep ramp. up over the railroad tracks, across the railroad bridge over the river... water, water, water, became the theme of the day. It was not going to be dry day at all.
To the front of the line for the bus and into the bus we got Mom. Susan and I by the end of the day must have picked Mom up and down a hundred times over steps that reached anywhere from small ones to ones up at mid thigh height. I know Mom was worried if she could do this. I know she was frighten of getting up there and not being able to get to the ruins. But we told her if it took us all day we would get her to the main plaza of the ruins and plop her butt down. There was no way we were not going to get her there to see the splendor that awaited us. The ride up the mountain side in the bus, switchbacks, up and up and up... narrow one lane road so when one bus met another one had to back up either up or down. A ballet with Mercedes Benz tourist buses up along the dirt road in the jungle of the Amazon along cliffs that when you looked down the river was just a strip of white and the clouds were coming in the windows. And rain, rain, rain... arriving at the main gate, with thousand of people in cheap colorful ponchos that you can buy from the women...and you better buy one if you are not prepared. Because it's raining, steady, wet, constant. But who cares the ruins are just up the stairs, oh no, stairs, then a quarter mile walk along a cliff then more stairs down then.......
out into the opening of the site. And you stop and you just stare at the beauty before you. Our guide Ruben talking to us quietly about what was before our eyes. The agriculture section, the urban section, the religious section... and the valley so deep right at your feet, you could tumble off and not hit any thing until you came to the river. The llamas, there are 22 of them, wandering around eating the grass. And all the while Ruben is sharing his knowledge of this place, he's been a guide for 21 years. You can't stop being in awe, of the beauty, the stunning simplicity, the buildings that so blend in with the natural beauty. And still surrounded by even higher peaks of mountains. The clouds and rain changing the landscape from second to second. One moment a huge building or moutain so clear the next totally shrouded in clouds. Small streams of water running around your feet and we are all soaked.. to the core but who cares because it's beautiful and Mom is climbing stairs and walking down into small plazas and peaking out over lips of granite cliffs down into the valley so far below. Mom is hanging on for dear life but she is walking and climbing and being pulled up and lowered down and got all the way across the plaza and over all of the most of the lower area... Susan and I can't believe it. We send Natilee off to explore the higher areas that Mom can not climb, because let me tell you the stairs are amazing. Straight up the mountain... And it keeps raining... water, water, water.... We decide to head back towards the front area... Not having any idea how long or what it will take to get Mom back down and back up over a major staircase. But we do, with a bit of sitting and lots of laughter and humor and letting faster people go by. We get back to the bus much faster then we thought we could. Amazing, but as Mom said, she needed to get there fast before she gave out. Down back the dirt road, repeating the ballet. Then down to the train station. Were we ate our food and tried to dry out. Some with with dry clothes we had in our backpacks, but dry was relative... and warm drinks. Then onto the train back along the river in the dark with the river so white besides us. Sergio met us at the train station with a van to drive just the 4 of us back to our hotel in Cusco. We arrived around 10pm. What a magnificent day.
The train ride, one side we are escorted to our destination by the Urubamba River, the rapids are roaring. The drops in the river bed you can see from the train and the river just flows.. faster then the train, faster then any river I have ever seen. On the other side, the canyon at times widens out to small fields, but mostly granite walls with a ever increasing tropical flavor of flowers and plants growing on it's side. We are changing climates, from the high andes to the the beginning of the Peruvian Amazon area. Machu Picchu is the gateway in between, high and hidden in the clouds up on top of the mountains. The rain starts to fall and the we arrive at the end of the line to the town that was built around the train station, Aguas Calientes. We were met by a woman who's job was to get us from the station to the bus and get us in the front of the line. Down through the market in the ever increasing rain. Mom and us decided that we were going to have to take twice as long coming back since it was going to be all up hill on a fairly steep ramp. up over the railroad tracks, across the railroad bridge over the river... water, water, water, became the theme of the day. It was not going to be dry day at all.
To the front of the line for the bus and into the bus we got Mom. Susan and I by the end of the day must have picked Mom up and down a hundred times over steps that reached anywhere from small ones to ones up at mid thigh height. I know Mom was worried if she could do this. I know she was frighten of getting up there and not being able to get to the ruins. But we told her if it took us all day we would get her to the main plaza of the ruins and plop her butt down. There was no way we were not going to get her there to see the splendor that awaited us. The ride up the mountain side in the bus, switchbacks, up and up and up... narrow one lane road so when one bus met another one had to back up either up or down. A ballet with Mercedes Benz tourist buses up along the dirt road in the jungle of the Amazon along cliffs that when you looked down the river was just a strip of white and the clouds were coming in the windows. And rain, rain, rain... arriving at the main gate, with thousand of people in cheap colorful ponchos that you can buy from the women...and you better buy one if you are not prepared. Because it's raining, steady, wet, constant. But who cares the ruins are just up the stairs, oh no, stairs, then a quarter mile walk along a cliff then more stairs down then.......
out into the opening of the site. And you stop and you just stare at the beauty before you. Our guide Ruben talking to us quietly about what was before our eyes. The agriculture section, the urban section, the religious section... and the valley so deep right at your feet, you could tumble off and not hit any thing until you came to the river. The llamas, there are 22 of them, wandering around eating the grass. And all the while Ruben is sharing his knowledge of this place, he's been a guide for 21 years. You can't stop being in awe, of the beauty, the stunning simplicity, the buildings that so blend in with the natural beauty. And still surrounded by even higher peaks of mountains. The clouds and rain changing the landscape from second to second. One moment a huge building or moutain so clear the next totally shrouded in clouds. Small streams of water running around your feet and we are all soaked.. to the core but who cares because it's beautiful and Mom is climbing stairs and walking down into small plazas and peaking out over lips of granite cliffs down into the valley so far below. Mom is hanging on for dear life but she is walking and climbing and being pulled up and lowered down and got all the way across the plaza and over all of the most of the lower area... Susan and I can't believe it. We send Natilee off to explore the higher areas that Mom can not climb, because let me tell you the stairs are amazing. Straight up the mountain... And it keeps raining... water, water, water.... We decide to head back towards the front area... Not having any idea how long or what it will take to get Mom back down and back up over a major staircase. But we do, with a bit of sitting and lots of laughter and humor and letting faster people go by. We get back to the bus much faster then we thought we could. Amazing, but as Mom said, she needed to get there fast before she gave out. Down back the dirt road, repeating the ballet. Then down to the train station. Were we ate our food and tried to dry out. Some with with dry clothes we had in our backpacks, but dry was relative... and warm drinks. Then onto the train back along the river in the dark with the river so white besides us. Sergio met us at the train station with a van to drive just the 4 of us back to our hotel in Cusco. We arrived around 10pm. What a magnificent day.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Today a day of musuems
For some reason my body woke me up early. So I laid in bed until I heard Nat stirring then took her off for her first experience with foreign ATMs and then exchanging large bills for smaller bills. Took us about an hour and half and 6 exchange counters. For a bit of a treat we then wandered down to the city center market to stroll around. We found chicken butcher street and got to see how our poultry is treated up close and personal.
Susan´s tummy is a bit upset so she stayed in the hotel while Nat, Mom and I went off to the Pre-Columbian musuem which was spectacular. Not a jumble of items, but each selected piece absolutely beautiful. We sat in the small square a bit..then headed off to the Inka Museum. A much larger place in an old colonial building with lots of stairs and ups and downs. So Mom sat out in the courtyard while Nat and I ran upstairs to look at the mummies. We then had a wonderful conversation with one of the weaving women about her weaving and her 93 year old mother and the markets. Then back to the hotel
Quiet afternoon and slow evening. I ran off for a bit to get food supplies for tomorrow. We get up at 5:am to get on a bus then the train then another bus up to Machu Picchu. Everything is taken care for us so we just have to show up.
Susan´s tummy is a bit upset so she stayed in the hotel while Nat, Mom and I went off to the Pre-Columbian musuem which was spectacular. Not a jumble of items, but each selected piece absolutely beautiful. We sat in the small square a bit..then headed off to the Inka Museum. A much larger place in an old colonial building with lots of stairs and ups and downs. So Mom sat out in the courtyard while Nat and I ran upstairs to look at the mummies. We then had a wonderful conversation with one of the weaving women about her weaving and her 93 year old mother and the markets. Then back to the hotel
Quiet afternoon and slow evening. I ran off for a bit to get food supplies for tomorrow. We get up at 5:am to get on a bus then the train then another bus up to Machu Picchu. Everything is taken care for us so we just have to show up.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Tuesday it is all about the churches
Oh and we slept. Between the all the traveling a full night of sleep has not happen since Thursday. So last night we went to bed early and slept in until 9:am. We got up had breakfast and then mom and Susan decided another nap was in order. It´s the altitude folks. Anyway we got out of the hotel and took a cab down to the plaza so Mom could save her walking legs for the Cathedral, Inglesia del Triunfo, Iglesia de Jesus Maria and Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus. All around the Plaza de Armas. The first one being built in 1536 and from there they have all been rebuilt numerous times due to earthquakes. Each one very different. Except for the gold and silver robbed from the Inca´s melted down and slathered all over the church alters. They are truly over the top and unbelievable in their richness. I love that all the last supper paintings main dish is guinea pig. Oh and the mixing of Christianity and Inca religion has a naked women with a very pregnant belly on all the alters. She´s the Mother Earth. In he choir stalls the chairs all have her on the armrests...snicker. After all the churches we did a bit of shopping. Susan has to be dragged out of the silver shops.
We had another fantastic meal for a late lunch, early dinner. At Incanto, it would compete and win with many of the new Italian restaurants in the world. Amazing food. Oh and a 3rd of the price for a group of 4.
We have decided to do one day to Machu Picchu from Cusco. We are going on Thursday. From 6 in the morning to 9:pm at night. The travel agency which works with the hotel has done all the arranging. I have not spent hours running around trying to figure it out on my own. All of it is taken care of except for our food. I am more then relieved.
Susan and I dropped Nat and Susan off at the hotel and went out in search of a charger for her phone. We had a map with a circle on it on the other side of town. Turns out we had a great time, we found the main market, took my sister through it, wandered around neighborhoods that tourist don´t go found the electronics market.. no luck..they sent us back to a street sis had already looked on earlier... to radio shack. No luck but a fun adventure and Susan really enjoyed the areas. We are going to take the other two back to the market tomorrow probably.
Well that´s todays report. Now a bit of reading and then bed. Oh reading in bed then falling asleep.
We had another fantastic meal for a late lunch, early dinner. At Incanto, it would compete and win with many of the new Italian restaurants in the world. Amazing food. Oh and a 3rd of the price for a group of 4.
We have decided to do one day to Machu Picchu from Cusco. We are going on Thursday. From 6 in the morning to 9:pm at night. The travel agency which works with the hotel has done all the arranging. I have not spent hours running around trying to figure it out on my own. All of it is taken care of except for our food. I am more then relieved.
Susan and I dropped Nat and Susan off at the hotel and went out in search of a charger for her phone. We had a map with a circle on it on the other side of town. Turns out we had a great time, we found the main market, took my sister through it, wandered around neighborhoods that tourist don´t go found the electronics market.. no luck..they sent us back to a street sis had already looked on earlier... to radio shack. No luck but a fun adventure and Susan really enjoyed the areas. We are going to take the other two back to the market tomorrow probably.
Well that´s todays report. Now a bit of reading and then bed. Oh reading in bed then falling asleep.
Monday, April 6, 2009
The procession tonight. The plaza filled with hundreds of thousands of people
Susan and Natilee went down into the crowd while Mom and I sat up on the street right above it. No way were we going to get her down there. They came back up as the crowd grew so they could barely move around. Mom and I were wondering because we were watching thousands of people just streaming by us down the hill to the plaza. Susan got some photos and a video on her phone. I have to figure out how to upload photos for the blog.. be patient folks it will be a couple days.
SEÑOR DE LOS TEMBLORES
Ever since 1650, when the faithful claim that an oil painting of Christ on the Cross held off a devastating earthquake that was rattling the city of Cusco the locals have been rendering homage to the image of Taitacha Temblores, the Lord of the Earthquakes. The celebration is held on Easter Monday against the backdrop of Easter Week in the city of Cuzco. This celebration is of particular interest because it allows onlookers to get a glimpse of the fusion of Andean religions and Christianity.
The Cuzco Cathedral, where the image is kept, is built on the foundations of the ancient temple dedicated to the pagan god Apulla Tikse Wiracocha. The image of the Lord of Earthquakes is borne aloft in a procession through the streets of the city just as the Incas used to parade the mummies of their chieftains, high priests and supreme rulers. In the end, the dominating part of the celebration involves the ñucchu flower (salvia esplendes), used as an offering to the ancient gods Kon and Wiracocha.
The same flower today is used to weave a crown for the Lord of the Earthquakes. This crimson colored flower, whose petals are scattered by the faithful over the venerated image, symbolizes the blood of Christ. The image used today was donated by King Charles V, and despite centuries of smoke from the candles and incense, no one has dared to restore the blackened painting, that has given the Christ a somber aspect and a dark countenance.
SEÑOR DE LOS TEMBLORES
Ever since 1650, when the faithful claim that an oil painting of Christ on the Cross held off a devastating earthquake that was rattling the city of Cusco the locals have been rendering homage to the image of Taitacha Temblores, the Lord of the Earthquakes. The celebration is held on Easter Monday against the backdrop of Easter Week in the city of Cuzco. This celebration is of particular interest because it allows onlookers to get a glimpse of the fusion of Andean religions and Christianity.
The Cuzco Cathedral, where the image is kept, is built on the foundations of the ancient temple dedicated to the pagan god Apulla Tikse Wiracocha. The image of the Lord of Earthquakes is borne aloft in a procession through the streets of the city just as the Incas used to parade the mummies of their chieftains, high priests and supreme rulers. In the end, the dominating part of the celebration involves the ñucchu flower (salvia esplendes), used as an offering to the ancient gods Kon and Wiracocha.
The same flower today is used to weave a crown for the Lord of the Earthquakes. This crimson colored flower, whose petals are scattered by the faithful over the venerated image, symbolizes the blood of Christ. The image used today was donated by King Charles V, and despite centuries of smoke from the candles and incense, no one has dared to restore the blackened painting, that has given the Christ a somber aspect and a dark countenance.
In our room and all settled
We are in our room and all settled. Mom, Susan and Natilee are sleeping..taking naps. I am about to crash myself. The altitude is making me a bit dizzy and light headed. The other 3 are tired but seem fine. I think it will start to affect them a bit more as the day progresses. I have already seen my first llama walking up the steep stairs outside our hotel. Very sweet and soft looking...
Our room is huge with plenty of room for all 4 of us.. 4 beds, Nat and Susan kind of fought over the double but Nat gave up rather quickly.... We have a nice sitting area and Mom can negotiate the bathroom pretty good. We have 3 steps up to the room but Mom is managing.
The sun warmed up the day to tshirt and shorts weather. So chilly then a steady slow climb in temp as the sun warms the earth and stone.
Got a great photo of Susan´s birthday morning in Peru. She´s going to have to beg a lot for me not to post it... what are sisters for huh?
Our room is huge with plenty of room for all 4 of us.. 4 beds, Nat and Susan kind of fought over the double but Nat gave up rather quickly.... We have a nice sitting area and Mom can negotiate the bathroom pretty good. We have 3 steps up to the room but Mom is managing.
The sun warmed up the day to tshirt and shorts weather. So chilly then a steady slow climb in temp as the sun warms the earth and stone.
Got a great photo of Susan´s birthday morning in Peru. She´s going to have to beg a lot for me not to post it... what are sisters for huh?
We are in Cusco!
We have arrived safe and very sound in Cusco. Our full day in Lima was very nice. After a bit of mix up about flying out of LAX, um I goofed but it got fixed. Dad and Bob if you reading this please forgive me by Christmas. I had booked Natilee on the flight out right after the one I booked the 3 of us. Yup... flight 7734 and 7743 one leaving at 1:20pm, one leaving at 1:50pm. Both flights were full, but due to a very nice young man Natilee got on the last seat on our flight. They had her run from her gate to ours to get one but she got on. They didn´t call anyone standby, the guy just pointed at her and told her to go. So we were all on the same flight. Getting Mom in and out of the vans that picked us up and took us around definitely worked off a few pounds. But we all had fun. We got in the major sights of Lima mostly by driving around and seeing them with some walking... Got to take a beautiful tour of the Monasterio San Francisco. Since it was Palm Sunday we saw a lot of processions going into churches. Took a good walk around Miraflores and sipped iced coffee and tea from Starbucks in Parque Kennedy.
Since it was Susan´s birthday we had a fantastic seafood dinner out at a Victorian Era Building on a Pier out 300 yards over the Pacific Ocean. La Rosa Nautica... fantastic and I even got a bit tipsy on my Pisco Sour! http://www.larosanautica.com/rn_restaurante.html
What we ate:
Carpaccio from our sea, Provenzal style,
catch of the day, cut in fine slices served in tian, with an aromatic sauce,
capers, hard cheese slices and chopped tomatoes
Grilled “albacora” tuna,
raw livornese sauce, with a side of avocado risotto
with sautéed saffron spinach
Rosa Nautica seabass,
cooked in a pernod sauce, served with sea scallops and shrimps, on
a bed of yellow peruvian potatoes and topped with puff pastry
Duck magret from Pachacamac,
cooked and carved at the height of perfection, over a
sauco berries sauce, garnished with oven cooked potatoes gratin
All sitting outside on the patio listening to the waves crashing on a warm night.
(forgive the change in fonts etc... I am on a keyboard that I don´t understand and can´t change it back.)
We got up at 2:30am this morning to be at the airport by 3:45. I had scored a very good price for business class, and all 4 of us flew in style. I think it made the very early morning flight much easier for all of us. Being with Mom has one very big advantage. We do not have to stand in any line for anything at the airport, customs, immigration, security, check in, boarding.. it all disappears and we move to the front... Everyone has been very helpful and very kind.
Today is a easy day in Cusco due to the altitude. We are waiting to get into our room but waiting in the lobby of this beautiful colonial hotel is very nice. We have had a wonderful breakfast and now Nat and Mom are reading on the sofa and Susan is sleeping...
So we are all safe and sound and right now the altitude is not bothering me.
Since it was Susan´s birthday we had a fantastic seafood dinner out at a Victorian Era Building on a Pier out 300 yards over the Pacific Ocean. La Rosa Nautica... fantastic and I even got a bit tipsy on my Pisco Sour! http://www.larosanautica.com/rn_restaurante.html
What we ate:
Carpaccio from our sea, Provenzal style,
catch of the day, cut in fine slices served in tian, with an aromatic sauce,
capers, hard cheese slices and chopped tomatoes
Grilled “albacora” tuna,
raw livornese sauce, with a side of avocado risotto
with sautéed saffron spinach
Rosa Nautica seabass,
cooked in a pernod sauce, served with sea scallops and shrimps, on
a bed of yellow peruvian potatoes and topped with puff pastry
Duck magret from Pachacamac,
cooked and carved at the height of perfection, over a
sauco berries sauce, garnished with oven cooked potatoes gratin
All sitting outside on the patio listening to the waves crashing on a warm night.
(forgive the change in fonts etc... I am on a keyboard that I don´t understand and can´t change it back.)
We got up at 2:30am this morning to be at the airport by 3:45. I had scored a very good price for business class, and all 4 of us flew in style. I think it made the very early morning flight much easier for all of us. Being with Mom has one very big advantage. We do not have to stand in any line for anything at the airport, customs, immigration, security, check in, boarding.. it all disappears and we move to the front... Everyone has been very helpful and very kind.
Today is a easy day in Cusco due to the altitude. We are waiting to get into our room but waiting in the lobby of this beautiful colonial hotel is very nice. We have had a wonderful breakfast and now Nat and Mom are reading on the sofa and Susan is sleeping...
So we are all safe and sound and right now the altitude is not bothering me.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Peru Itinerary April 4 - April 18, 2009
Saturday April 4th
American Airlines #1564
Departs SFO 9:25am arrives LAX 10:55am
LAN Airlines #601/AA #7734
Departs LAX 1:20pm arrives LIM (Lima Peru) 11:55pm
Pick up from airport by taxi sent from Hotel in Lima
April 4th - April 6th, Lima Peru (Saturday, Sunday, early departure on Monday morning)
Hostal El Patio
Diez Canseco 341, Miraflores Lima, Peru
Tel: 51-1-444-2107, 51-1-715-0986 , Fax: 51-1-7171878
http://www.hostalelpatio.net/
Full day in Lima on April 5th.
April 6, 2009
TACA airlines #007
5:40 AM - Lima, Peru - arrives 7:05 AM - Cuzco, Peru
Pick up from airport by taxi sent from Hotel in Cusco.
April 6th - April 12th ( Monday through Sunday, This is holy week in Cusco, Sunday is Easter.)
Hotel Rumi Punku
Calle Choquechaca 339
Cusco Perú
Telf.: +51(84) 221102
Fax: +51(84) 242741
www.rumipunku.com
Monday April 6th through Easter Sunday afternoon in Cusco and surrounding area.
First 24 hours very slow and mellow so we can acclimate. Cusco is over 11,000 ft altitude. Light food and no alcohol with only light walking around is advised for the first 24 hours.
April 12th Sunday
Transfer to the Sacred Valley and Inca Town of Ollantaytambo
April 12th - 16th Sunday through Thursday
Hotel Pakaritampu
Located on the road just up from the railway station
Teléfono: (51-84) 204020 - 204104 - 204106
Fax: (51-84) 204105
www.pakaritampu.com
April 13th Tuesday
Spend day exploring Ollantaytambo and Sacred Valley
April 14th Wednesday
http://www.perurail.com/web/tper/jdm_interface.jsp (train schedule)
Train from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu
5:35am arrives Arrives Aguas Calientes 7:01am,
Depart Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo by train
7pm arrives Ollantaytambo 8:25pm
Bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu
The bus from Aguas Calientes up to Machu Picchu takes about 20 minutes and costs US$6 each way (US$12 return). The ride itself is spectacular as the narrow track winds its way up the mountainside. It can be a bit scary at times with almost vertical drops plunging down into the Vilcanota Valley below especially when you meet a bus coming in the other direction! The scenery is lush cloud forest with great views of the sacred mountain Putucusi on the opposite side of the valley. If it wasn't for the rush to get to Machu Picchu this ride would be an attraction in itself. If you look closely out of the window you can see splashes of pink and orange flowers growing on the slopes - these are actually the orchid Wiñay Wayna which can be commonly seen throughout the region. The buses are clean and modern with air-conditioning. You have to buy your bus ticket before you get on the bus in the morning. There is a small ticket office just opposite the departure point which opens at 5:15am. The first group of buses depart from Aguas Calientes at about 5:20am then at 10 minute intervals throughout the day depending on demand until about 4pmIt speeds things up if you buy your bus ticket in advance, either from the ticket office in Aguas Calientes the night before or from the Consettur offices in Cusco (located in Avenida Pardo opposite Parque Espana - its a short walk from the main post office or just ask a taxi driver to take you there which will cost 3 Soles / US$1). Each bus departs when it’s full. The last buses depart Machu Picchu at about 5:30pm,
Machu Picchu opens at 6am and stays open until 6pm.
Tickets to enter Machu Picchu can no longer be bought at the entrance to Machu Picchu itself. You now have to buy the entrance tickets at the Machu Picchu Cultural Centre in Aguas Calientes (10m from the main Plaza, opens at 5:15am). The entrance fee is 122 Peruvian Soles (which is approximately US$44). There is a 50% discount for students with a valid ISIC card. They only accept payment in Peruvian Soles and rarely have any change so make sure that you take the exact amount. If you don't they'll just tell you to come back when you have the correct change.! If you can, best to buy the entrance tickets the day before. Alternatively you can buy the tickets in Cusco at the Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INC) offices which can be found at Calle San Bernado a few blocks from the main Plaza de Armas). The tickets are valid for 3 days from the day of purchase which means you have time to travel to Aguas Calientes, stay the night and enter Machu Picchu the following morning. However once you enter Machu Picchu they are only valid for that day. If you want to return to Machu Picchu the following day then you have to buy another ticket.
April 15th,
Repeat Machu Picchu trip if exploring site another day. Can take later train up to site and come back earlier. Various times available.
Alternative exploring sacred valley and sites around if not going back to Machu Picchu
April 16th Thursday
Return to Cusco in afternoon for one night stay at:
Hotel Rumi Punku
Calle Choquechaca 339
Cusco Perú
Telf.: +51(84) 221102
Fax: +51(84) 242741
www.rumipunku.com
April 17th Friday
Taca Airline # 008
7:55am - Cuzco arrive 9:20am Lima
Radisson Hotel San Isidro
AVENIDA LAS PALMERAS, 240
SAN ISIDRO, Lima27
511-422-3887
Morning to evening in Lima, food, rest. Our flight leaves at 1:40am in the morning on Friday night really Saturday morning. We leave for airport around 10pm.
Lan Air #2604, AA#7736
departs 1:40am arrives LAX 8:15am
American Airlines #581
departs LAX 12:00pm arrives SFO 1:20pm
Pick up at airport by family!
American Airlines #1564
Departs SFO 9:25am arrives LAX 10:55am
LAN Airlines #601/AA #7734
Departs LAX 1:20pm arrives LIM (Lima Peru) 11:55pm
Pick up from airport by taxi sent from Hotel in Lima
April 4th - April 6th, Lima Peru (Saturday, Sunday, early departure on Monday morning)
Hostal El Patio
Diez Canseco 341, Miraflores Lima, Peru
Tel: 51-1-444-2107, 51-1-715-0986 , Fax: 51-1-7171878
http://www.hostalelpatio.net/
Full day in Lima on April 5th.
April 6, 2009
TACA airlines #007
5:40 AM - Lima, Peru - arrives 7:05 AM - Cuzco, Peru
Pick up from airport by taxi sent from Hotel in Cusco.
April 6th - April 12th ( Monday through Sunday, This is holy week in Cusco, Sunday is Easter.)
Hotel Rumi Punku
Calle Choquechaca 339
Cusco Perú
Telf.: +51(84) 221102
Fax: +51(84) 242741
www.rumipunku.com
Monday April 6th through Easter Sunday afternoon in Cusco and surrounding area.
First 24 hours very slow and mellow so we can acclimate. Cusco is over 11,000 ft altitude. Light food and no alcohol with only light walking around is advised for the first 24 hours.
April 12th Sunday
Transfer to the Sacred Valley and Inca Town of Ollantaytambo
April 12th - 16th Sunday through Thursday
Hotel Pakaritampu
Located on the road just up from the railway station
Teléfono: (51-84) 204020 - 204104 - 204106
Fax: (51-84) 204105
www.pakaritampu.com
April 13th Tuesday
Spend day exploring Ollantaytambo and Sacred Valley
April 14th Wednesday
http://www.perurail.com/web/tper/jdm_interface.jsp (train schedule)
Train from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu
5:35am arrives Arrives Aguas Calientes 7:01am,
Depart Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo by train
7pm arrives Ollantaytambo 8:25pm
Bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu
The bus from Aguas Calientes up to Machu Picchu takes about 20 minutes and costs US$6 each way (US$12 return). The ride itself is spectacular as the narrow track winds its way up the mountainside. It can be a bit scary at times with almost vertical drops plunging down into the Vilcanota Valley below especially when you meet a bus coming in the other direction! The scenery is lush cloud forest with great views of the sacred mountain Putucusi on the opposite side of the valley. If it wasn't for the rush to get to Machu Picchu this ride would be an attraction in itself. If you look closely out of the window you can see splashes of pink and orange flowers growing on the slopes - these are actually the orchid Wiñay Wayna which can be commonly seen throughout the region. The buses are clean and modern with air-conditioning. You have to buy your bus ticket before you get on the bus in the morning. There is a small ticket office just opposite the departure point which opens at 5:15am. The first group of buses depart from Aguas Calientes at about 5:20am then at 10 minute intervals throughout the day depending on demand until about 4pmIt speeds things up if you buy your bus ticket in advance, either from the ticket office in Aguas Calientes the night before or from the Consettur offices in Cusco (located in Avenida Pardo opposite Parque Espana - its a short walk from the main post office or just ask a taxi driver to take you there which will cost 3 Soles / US$1). Each bus departs when it’s full. The last buses depart Machu Picchu at about 5:30pm,
Machu Picchu opens at 6am and stays open until 6pm.
Tickets to enter Machu Picchu can no longer be bought at the entrance to Machu Picchu itself. You now have to buy the entrance tickets at the Machu Picchu Cultural Centre in Aguas Calientes (10m from the main Plaza, opens at 5:15am). The entrance fee is 122 Peruvian Soles (which is approximately US$44). There is a 50% discount for students with a valid ISIC card. They only accept payment in Peruvian Soles and rarely have any change so make sure that you take the exact amount. If you don't they'll just tell you to come back when you have the correct change.! If you can, best to buy the entrance tickets the day before. Alternatively you can buy the tickets in Cusco at the Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INC) offices which can be found at Calle San Bernado a few blocks from the main Plaza de Armas). The tickets are valid for 3 days from the day of purchase which means you have time to travel to Aguas Calientes, stay the night and enter Machu Picchu the following morning. However once you enter Machu Picchu they are only valid for that day. If you want to return to Machu Picchu the following day then you have to buy another ticket.
April 15th,
Repeat Machu Picchu trip if exploring site another day. Can take later train up to site and come back earlier. Various times available.
Alternative exploring sacred valley and sites around if not going back to Machu Picchu
April 16th Thursday
Return to Cusco in afternoon for one night stay at:
Hotel Rumi Punku
Calle Choquechaca 339
Cusco Perú
Telf.: +51(84) 221102
Fax: +51(84) 242741
www.rumipunku.com
April 17th Friday
Taca Airline # 008
7:55am - Cuzco arrive 9:20am Lima
Radisson Hotel San Isidro
AVENIDA LAS PALMERAS, 240
SAN ISIDRO, Lima27
511-422-3887
Morning to evening in Lima, food, rest. Our flight leaves at 1:40am in the morning on Friday night really Saturday morning. We leave for airport around 10pm.
Lan Air #2604, AA#7736
departs 1:40am arrives LAX 8:15am
American Airlines #581
departs LAX 12:00pm arrives SFO 1:20pm
Pick up at airport by family!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
First Entry
This blog is for people to see photos and to read stories about the Kimball Peru trip. My Mom, my sister and my niece along with me are going to Peru on April 4th for 2 weeks. Join along and see what fun we have.
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