This is a summary of our itinerary in Peru. I will post the Ecuador, Galapagos Islands separately.
- Flight to Miami to catch the tour (10/18)
- Lima, Peru (10/19)
- Lima, Peru (10/20)
- Cusco/Sacred Valley, Peru (10/21)
- Sacred Valley, Peru (10/22)
- Sacred Valley/Machu Picchu, Peru (10/23)
- Machu Picchu/Cusco, Peru (10/24)
- Cusco, Peru (10/25)
On the 20th, we explored a bit of Lima (there are 10 million people there), known as the City of Kings and the center of the Spanish Empire in the New World for three centuries after Pizarro’s conquest. In the afternoon, we toured colonial and modern Lima. We saw the historical center and the San Francisco Church as well as Plaza de Armas and the Government Palace.
On the 21st, we flew to Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire. It's at 11,000 feet elevation. Our guide for the rest of Peru, Dagmar Becerra, met us at the airport and headed for the Sacred Valley where we took part in a Shaman religious ceremony and visited Awanakancha, a weaving center which keeps ancient weaving techniques and traditions alive. Marsha and I each bought a sweater there. This center is also home to the “4 camels of South America:” llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos. Later, we arrived at our hotel located in the village of Yucay. We had a welcome dinner at our hotel, La Casona De Yucay Hotel.
Tuesday, the 22nd, we visited the town of Pisac located on the bank of the Urubamba River in the Sacred Valley. We went to an Indian market. After lunch we went to Ollantaytambo and visited the ruins of the massive ancient fortress.
On the 23rd, we started our two-day expedition to Machu Picchu. We rode the VistaDome train through the Urubamba Valley. Arrive at “The Lost City of the Incas”, rediscovered by accident in 1911 by Hiram Bingham in the foggy mountain jungle. We stayed at the El Mapi Hotel in Aguas Calientes, also called Machu Picchu Pueblo, that night.
On Thursday, the 24th, We hopped back on the bus for the twisty return to Machu Picchu for a second tour. We actually hiked a portion of the Inca trail that came into Machu Picchu from above. I wish I had a dollar for every time I said, or heard someone say, "How did they do that?" To this day nobody can explain how the Incas managed to transport the huge blocks of limestone for the city’s construction onto the mountain top. In the afternoon, we took the train back to Ollantaytambo Station and arrived in Cusco and transferred to our hotel, Novotel Cusco, located in the heart of the old town.
On the 25th, in the morning, we visited the main Inca and Colonial monuments and explored the Plaza de Armas, center of the Inca Empire and the impressive 16th century cathedral, built on the ruins of the Inca Palace. In the early afternoon, we dropped our laundry off to be done and picked up by 5:00. Then we found a place for lunch. I had Guinea pig and Marsha had fish. The pig was good. Kind of like greasy pork. Marsha tried it, but was happy with her fish!
On Saturday, the 26th, we headed for the airport and flew to Lima where we connected with your flight to Quito, the colonial capital of Ecuador, located just 15 miles from the equator and surrounded by ice-capped volcanoes. We got a brief orientation tour en route to the Hotel Hilton Colon.
The Ecuador part of the trip will be covered in the next post. Stay tuned and enjoy.
