Where did my soles go?

Yesterday was the last day in Cuzco. I decided to exit the hotel a different way and go down the street instead of around the corner - scandalous I know. I stumbled upon a church built on top of Incan ruins. The Dominicans preserved this and turned it into a museum of sorts. So I was all excited because | had to buy this tourist pass for 130 soles which is about $35-$40 and it was supposed to get us into all of these attractions... Well after Pisac I couldn't use it so I had to whip out my wallet. I really need one of those international student cards...

From there I followed the Incan walls to the main square, with a detour at the Andean craft village. After making one woman's dreams come true with a bag full of purchases and a promise to come back (she was going to give me a free gift if I did), I headed towards the square. I then reached into the wallet again for the tour of the cathedral. Of course I got the headset so I knew what I was looking at..I am such a dork. After that, I thought, why not spend more and go into the Jesuit church. They already got 4 years worth of my family's money for tuition in college, what's another 10 soles?

I then met up with Ann and the shopping started/continued. Upon returning to the Andean art village, I was greeted with smiles and many holas and given my free gift. We then made our way to the hills of San Blas where the artisan's work. A few alpaca goods and jewelry stores later, I called it a day in terms of the shopping that is.

I guess if I am not good at climbing a mountain, I am at least good at stimulating the economy of the surrounding areas

Machu Picchu

After a rainy afternoon and early eveing that included red wine and red meat, we made our way back to our hotel and waited for Pablo to show up. Supposedly we were on his tour. I was v. skeptical because the whole we will get you a tour, no worries was not flying with me. But he showed up and we knew we had to be to the bus stop by 5:10ish to get in line for the buses to MP. About 5:25 came and the buses all came into town and we slowly started getting on them. We then made the 30 min trip to MP winding up the mountain. Yeah walking to MP looked like hell. Samantha Brown is full of shit. There is no way she climied that thing and then looked how she did on camera.

These are the mountains around MP at dawn.



From there we stood in line and got in. It was amazing, but we didn´t have time to stop and take it all in as we were in a foot race to get to Huayana Picchu (HP) to be one of the first 400 pèople there to get a ticket and be able to climb it. Success as we were 355 and 356. More on this later...

We then wandered around and watched the sunrise over MP before our guided tour.



Met up with Pedro and went on a tour. I am so glad we did that because he took us all around and over everything explaining how the town was laid out and what everything that we were looking at was. It was a gorgeous day- hot, sunshine and limited bugs. I did have to break out the hat though, the sun was so strong. Baseball hats and me just don´t work. The tour ended at 10ish am and then it was off to climb HP.

Aguas Calientes

This is going to be brief because my time is running out and there might be a dog fight (literally) at the computer next to me.

It is a very rainy afternoon in a town wiht nothing to do. We started the day on an early 3 hour train ride to AC. THe ride was gorgeous and the scenery is great. It was a bit tough to go to the bathroom and balance coffee though. No one met us from our hotel, but we found it and put our backpack down. During lunch we debated trekking up a mountain. Then we realized that it required climbing ladders and there were parts that were dangerous. So we quickly abandoned that plan and walked to Macchu Picchu instead.

We didn´t go in because our tickets are for tomorrow, but we were able to go to the museum and botanical gardens on the grounds. As we were walking back the thunder started. We made it back to town and inside before the huge downpour.

Now it´s time for drinks and dinner before our 5AM start in Macchu Picchu for the sunrise.

Jesus´ Grandma

After napping in Cuzco, we went out for some drinks and dinner. We spent some time at a pub where this guy was on his first day of work. He was Irish so we were chatting and asked how he came upon the job. Yeah he had been there 2 days and didn´t want to go back to be on the dole.

From there we went to this great organic restuarant, Green. The waiter asked our names and when Ann said hers, his response was, "Like Jesus´ Grandma?" Si

Cuzco

Cuzco is great. The main square almost reminds me of something from Europe as opposed to SA. Please feel free to agree or disagree all of you who´ve been here. We had a snack and sipped pisco sours on a balcony overlooking the Plaza and walked around the city.






We then went to the San Blas neighborhood and had a great dinner. For the record Alpaca fur is much softer than Alpaca meat. I decided to try the ham, cheese and currants wrapped in Alpaca and then cooked. Ann had her favorite Peruvian meal - steak with the veggies, fries and rice.

It is now Sunday morning and after breakfast we are off to Pisac for the markets and some ruins and then we are going to see where the day takes us. Then tomorrow is our 6:20am meeting with this woman to get us to the train for Aguas Calientes.

More soon! Happy Mother´s Day!!!

Airport Security

Lima has a shockingly efficient airport. It is clean, there are shops, there is food, the lines make sense and everything goes very fast. Highlights of the Lima airport include the restaurant "Manos Morenas" or brown hands. The symbol is a black woman from slave times... It is Chinese food. Hmmm....




Security in Lima was also really good. While they weren´t looking for shoe bombs, they did make sure to confiscate all hacksaws, box cutters, knives, etc and display them in a clear box. Whew!



The flight was great and then we landed in Cusco where I manaaged to misplace my luggage ticket so that was drama. Then we started talking to our taxi driver who was going to take us to the hotel. We had reservations at Ninos 2 not Ninos 1, which is the nicer one. He told us the hotel was really dangerous so we listened and chose a new hotel. So while I am contemplating where we are going to stay, he and Ann are chatting and we end up at a travel agency. I guess everything in Cusco is closed on Sunday so we had to get all of our tickets. Whether or not we got taken is tbd, but we did end up with train and bus tickets to Aguas Calientes (town near Macchu Picchu) a hotel, entrance fees and a sunrise tour of it. We also got a room for the entire time we are in Cusco at a brand new hotel that is decent, the right price, in a great area and clean. Although we realized last night as we didn´t sleep that it is noisy...

Twas the night before vacation...

I finally finished all of my work, got through my list, programmed the Tivo, and now it's just packing, laundry and cleaning!

I hope you enjoy my new FB profile pic courtesy of Sara. If you aren't on FB, then here it is!

Peru - Here I Come! Now - What to Pack

Ann and I are off to Peru. However, we are going to Peru by way of Canada. Don't ask. We are going to mainly be in Cusco with a few days reserved for Lima and the outlying areas.

Now the big questions are:
What to Pack?
Where to stay?

Pack
I know I am going to need some kind of rain gear and I am back to scouring the LL Bean Site. Who knew that 14 years after the high school backpack, I'd be back wanting something from LL Bean. But I think I found the raincoat.

Sarah just got back and told me to bring a hat. Ugh - that is one accessory I don't do well with. Oh well. Any suggestions I am always open to them.

Finally I want to only carry on and I think that means a backpack... Now where to get one of those...

Stay

With a month left, we have to find a place to stay in Cusco. Any recommendations are very welcome.