Day 14 Continued: We landed in Lima one hour late and secured our bags. Customs and Immigrations were a breeze. We were greeted by Miguel, our Big Five representative for Lima. He welcomed us to his country and his English was impeccable. He explained that the had lived in Miami for several years. His family had fled Peru to escape the Shining Path terrorists.
It was about 20 - 25 minutes to our hotel: The Royal Park. Nice place. Very elegant lobby, bar and cafe area. We were pretty much on our own for the morning. Shashi and I decided to stay close to the hotel as we were going to repack our suitcases. Since we were going to Cusco and immediately catching a train to Machu Picchu, we decided to pack only enough clothes for the four days we were to be gone. We ended up with two carry on size bags as well as the backpack for the camera equipment. We checked the other two bags at the desk. Prior to this, we ventured to the neighborhood supermarket for a couple of beers, chips and water. On the way back, we passed a produce stand with the largest head of cauliflower we had ever seen. We returned to the room and completed the packing while snacking on chips and beer.
We finished packing and had a quesadilla at the hotel cafe. We finished in time to board the bus for our city tour of Lima. It was the basic tour: Various cathedrals, town plazas and a visit to one of the museums. This particular museum was a privately owned one: Enrico Poli Museo in the Miraflores district. I am guessing that we were supposed to feel privileged since access is gained by invitation only. The pieces were Incan, Pre-Incan and some religions artifacts. I am sure most or all of them were obtained by illegal means. The owner was pretty much a self-absorbed buffoon. He talked and talked and talked. I think he did so just to hear himself talk. Don't get me wrong, the pieces were fabulous but I left the place kind of sick to my stomach knowing that the people of Peru were deprived of some of their ancient treasures since the guy has them locked up in his home. But, what the hell? The government knows that he possesses them since this place in not a secret. After this lengthy stay, we returned to the hotel for an early dinner and off to bed for our 3:30 wake up.
Day 15: Damn! Wake up came early. We arose by three a.m. after a good nights rest. We passed on breakfast and boarded the bus for the airport. Check in was a breeze but the security was pretty tight. The evening prior, we were speaking with David and Karen and they asked if we had the medication to assist in the prevention of altitude sickness. We replied that we did not and they advised us they had plenty to share. Throughout the night, it kept entering Shashi's mind that maybe we should try to obtain some. I guess the effects of this are pretty bad: Severe headaches, diarrhea, vomiting. After we checked in, she made a beeline to the airport farmacia and acquired some Sorojchi Pills. Some of the ways to help prevent the sickness is to limit alcohol consumption, eat light meals and drink plenty of water. Following these guidelines, as well as the pills and the "mate de coca" (tea made from the coca leaf) we would be fine.
We departed Lima on time and the flight took only 50 minutes. We got off the plane and the effects of the altitude were almost immediate. Fortunately, our stay in Cusco on this leg was relatively short. Breathing was harder and one seemed to tire easily. Shashi and I had packed only a few days of clothing into two small carry on bags so we were not affected too badly by the altitude. Most of the others had not done the same so we made our way to the hotel we were to stay at while in Cusco so they could repack. The train was very limited on space and there generally is no baggage care so smaller bags are required. We made it to the Hotel Liberatador in about fifteen minutes.
We entered the lobby and what a fantastic place. Since we had no repacking to do, we wandered through the lobby and looked at some of the shops. We decided to have a seat on one of the sofas and we were approached by a young boy dressed in the colorful local clothing. He offered some mate de coca and we accepted. Although it is made from the leaf that produces cocaine, there are no effects. It's purpose, as well as chewing the leaf, is to accelerate the heart rate, therefore, increasing the flow of oxygen to help combat altitude sickness. After about an hour of hanging around, drinking numerous cups of tea, we boarded the bus en route to Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. This is where we were to catch the train to Machu Picchu. During the drive, Mitch, our guide, informed us of the Inca culture and customs to better prepare us for what lied ahead.
We reached Urubamba just in time to catch the train. By the luck of the draw, Shashi and I received front row seats which afforded us a panoramic view of the ride to Machu Picchu. The train ride was about an hour and a half and the scenery was spectacular. We traveled along side a river and encountered many porters hauling supplies for hikers. We almost hit about six of them with the train when they did not hear the whistle as we rounded a turn. Their joy was evident after this almost disastrous encounter.
We arrived at Machu Picchu Pueblo where porters took our bags to our hotel. We kind of hung out around the tracks so Mitch could arrange our transportation up the hill to the ruins. It is amazing to see how this place (Machu Picchu Pueblo-formerly Aqua Caliente) is laid out. There are several establishments that are set up along side the track. Souvenir shops, restaurants, small snack stands, etc. Then, as you look up the hill, you can see several shops, hotels and restaurants. Definitely built to accommodate the tourists. In the main plaza were several kiosks dedicated to souvenirs.
We regrouped and located a bus to take us up the hill. It was a thirty minute drive up the winding roads leading to the mountain top. When we arrived, he had a buffet lunch at the restaurant and then met again to enter the ruins.
We entered the gate and walked about fifty meters and a portion of the village became visible. At first we stopped, starring in amazement and then slowly moved forward. Each step around the small curve of the hill exposed more of the immense village. One word to describe: Unbelievable. Unbelievable that this place is still standing after several centuries and three devastating earthquakes. Shows the Incas know how to build. We took a few photos and then climbed to a higher point to get a better view of the place. We wandered around for about four hours and the sun began to start it's descent into the surrounding mountains. We headed back to the bus and began our trip down the hill.
To get to our hotel, we had to travel the path of the railroad tracks. A month prior to our trip, a deadly mudslide occurred in the town and removed the bridges that would allow us to access the hotel from the Pueblo. On our way to the hotel, we passed the area hardest hit. Several apartment buildings were damaged and the residents were still living in them. Sheets and blankets were set up as walls in some of the rooms. The slide missed our hotel by about 40-50 meters. The slide also damaged the railroad tracks and stranded about 1500 tourists in the area. They had to be rescued by helicopter. We checked into our hotel and located our room. Nothing spectacular and in desperate need of updating. What the hell? It was only for one night. We found the hotel bar and had a couple of cocktails, met the rest of the folks for dinner and went to bed early.
Day 15: We awoke refreshed, ate breakfast and spent the morning exploring the pueblo. Did some souvenir shopping and walked almost every street and alley in the town. We met at noon at Toto's House for lunch and boarded the train back to Urubamba. Shashi and I had the same seats but on the return trip, they were at the back of the train. The seats flip so we turned them around and had the same panoramic view, only this time, leaving Machu Picchu.
We got off the train in Urubamba and were supposed to visit some more ruins in the Sacred Valley. We opted instead to visit a local ceramic factory. We had expressed interest in the place and Mitch made the arrangements for the visit. It was a nice place with a several nice pieces. I ended buying a mask and Shashi acquired a couple of pieces she was looking for to place on the maple buffet I had bought her for Christmas. We had the larger pieces shipped back to Monterey so we would not have to lug them around for the rest of the trip. We left the factory and were going to stop at a craft market. When arrived, we found out that they had started charging admission to the place. Well, the sun was setting so we just visited a local family (Paolino and crew) and the demonstrated the methods of weaving, dying wool, making garments, etc. Of course, they had items for sale. We made it back to the bus and headed back to Cusco. Throughout our stay in Peru, I had been hinting to Mitch that I wanted try the local delicacy: Cuy. Cuy is commonly known in our neck of the woods as Guinea Pig. Since they were out of Cuy in this village we stopped at (Cuy can normally be obtained through street vendors as one would obtain a hot dog in our country), Paolino had graciously volunteered to provide us with some. Arrangements were made for Paolino to meet us at a restaurant in Cusco the following day.
We arrived in Cusco and were assigned our rooms at the hotel. Nice, I mean really nice, place. We met Annis downstairs in the lounge for cocktails and wandered off to dinner. We made it an early evening and went to bed.
Day 16: We awoke refreshed and ate a light breakfast at the hotel. We met Mitch and proceeded on with the days activities. Our first start was across the street at one of the cathedrals. This was a great example of how the Spaniards tried to erase the Incan culture. They took the Incan holy places and built their cathedrals on top of them. They covered the stones cut by the Incans with gypsum and painted them. This went undetected for centuries since the churches were private property of the Catholic church. When an earthquake in the 1950's revealed the evidence, the church had no choice but to allow archeologists in.
We then went to a couple of ruins outside of Cusco and then back into town the Plaza de Armes were we went to one last cathedral. This one was really large and contained original oil paintings which showed how the Incan painters snuck in their culture into the religions paintings.
Afterwards, we went to our restaurant for lunch. As promised, Paolino arrived with the Cuy. It was great! Probably the most flavorful piece of meat I had on this entire trip. It served well as an appetizer. For the main course, I chose the alpaca while Shashi stuck with chicken. After lunch, we opted to pass on the bus ride back to the hotel and wandered the streets of Cusco, helping the Peruvian economy by spending US Dollars on souvenirs. After several hours, we made it back to the hotel, showered, changed and relaxed with a cocktail. We then met with the group and headed to the local museum where we had dinner reservations. Dinner was good but we were exhausted from all the walking in the high altitude. We bid our good night early and headed back to the hotel.
Day 17: Wake up was early and we caught our transfer to the airport. We were pre-checked in by Mitch and all we had to do was get through security. We actually boarded the plane without having to provide any identification to the screeners. In fact, Russ had packed his passport in his checked baggage and made it through with no problems.
We arrived in Lima on time and were taken back to the Royal Park. We decided to take a taxi to the overrated Larco Mar Shopping mall. We found one shop where we bought Shashi a silver necklace and picked up some more souvenirs. We had lunch at a little pizzeria and took the cab back to the hotel. We got our luggage and had a light dinner. Afterwards, we went back to our room, rested a bit and caught our transfer to the airport. Our plane left at about 1:00 a.m. and we settled in for the long trip home.
Day 18: We arrived in Los Angeles on time and made our way to the domestic terminal. It was a couple of hours before our plane was to depart so we found a Burger King and had some hash browns and a soda. We went to the gate, boarded our flight to San Francisco and made it home in one piece.
Twelve planes, two trains and several busses and taxis. This was a long and exhausting trip but without a doubt, the best vacation we have had. We certainly hope you have enjoyed reading about it and looking at our photos. Please remember to sign or guest book.
