Peru June 2015

It has been several months since our trip to Peru.  I definitely should have kept a travel journal and/or written about it immediately upon return.   It truly was such an amazing trip that I felt it would be forever in my brain.  And it is.  However, time is not being kind to my recall of details, so I'd better flesh out what remains of my recollection. 

Let me preface this by saying I've traveled internationally quite a bit.  I know people who have traveled more than I have, but not many.  I have had some inspiring and unforgettable experiences, a good percentage of which would be classified as "5 star" (thanks to my prior job).  My Peru trip would in no way be classified as a luxury experience; in fact, parts of it were downright primitive.  Perhaps because it was outside of my usual travel experience is what made it all so memorable.  Going to a World Heritage site (Machu Picchu) would make it so, no matter the level of beds and transport.  And then Peru ended up showing me so much more than I expected. 

We were kind of a funny group - my daughter, son-in-law and two oldest grandkids, my son-in-law's dad, and me.  Luckily, everyone got along great.  I also prepared for this trip more than any other I've taken relative to checking what vaccinations and medicine we needed.  Turns out, a lot!  And the Health Dept. gave us a big bucket list of things to avoid, like dogs and cerviche.  By the end of the trip we had disregarded a sizable chunk of this advice.  But we got the suggested vaccines and took our medications as directed. 

Flying from the U.S. to Peru is not as difficult as some international trips because it's basically broken in half.  We flew to Miami, and then on to Peru, so we weren't on any flights that were longer than about five hours.  We arrived in the evening on a Friday. 

My first taste of Peru came from going from the Lima airport to our hotel, which was not physically far away (about 10 miles), but what felt like a lifetime away in terms of time.  We could not believe how much traffic there was for the time of night.  We also ended up taking two taxis and somehow it turned out that all the "gals" ended up in one and all the "boys" in another.  So that would be one of the few things I'd do differently.  Between the fact that there was no male presence with us and the crazy traffic (another location where I decided that the most comforting thing to do was to look out the side rather than ahead - no need to see my death approaching), it was a bit stressful to say the least.  Actually, I think I would take that one step further and book at the hotel which was AT the airport.  Once we arrived at the hotel, we were relieved to see it was a decent place in a quiet neighborhood.

We didn't have long to enjoy it, however, as we were up early the next morning to catch a flight to Cusco.  Cusco is at almost 11,000 feet above sea level.  We live at about 4,500 so you wouldn't think it would be that different, but it actually does take some getting used to.  And the flight into Cusco, cutting through part of the Andes mountains, was spectacular.  Most people actually got out of their seats to look through the windows on the Andes side of the plane. 

Our hotels in Lima and Cusco were definitely Western standard hotels.  The hotel in Cusco sat on a hill overlooking the city and so had terrific views of course.  Once we got our rooms squared around, we went with a local guide to visit some of the sites around the immediate Cusco area.  Because it is at such a great altitude, it's also quite a bit cooler in Cusco than it was in Lima in June.  However, light jackets were great and the sun was shining. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the first things we came upon was some people digging and burning something in a field.  It turns out that the city was celebrating an anniversary and what the people were doing was creating covered  pits in which to cook potatoes.  We stopped and watched for awhile, and then they generously offered us a sample of the potatoes.  It was obvious that they didn't have much in the way of material things, but they shared what they had. 

Quite close to the city is a ruins called Saksaywaman.  It was initially built by the Killke culture around 1100 AD, and then later expanded by the Inca Empire.  What's remarkable is the stonework they did - without the need of mortar - the stones were so precisely cut.  We also stopped at a site called Q'inqu, a holy place which was the site of sacrifices and mummifications. 

Our final visit that day was to Qurikancha, considered the Inca's most important temple, also known as the Sun Temple.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did take the opportunity to sample a Peru specialty, cui - more commonly known as guinea pig.  I'm pretty willing to try things, but I have to say that what was off-putting is that it is served whole.  It was on a platter surrounded by potatoes, so we were joking that our guinea pig died with a smile on his face, reaching out with his little paw for the nearest potato.  Yuck!  It actually didn't taste too bad, kind of like greasy, somewhat gamey chicken.  I tried it once, and that's probably enough for my lifetime. 

The next morning we left for a van ride through the Sacred Valley, with Urubamba as our final destination for the day.  Driving through the rest of Cusco, the most striking thing was the number of stray dogs.  We had all had a rabies vaccination because of the stray dog problem in parts of Peru, and the truth of that problem was very evident.  We also saw this novel concept - a hotel room strapped to the side of a mountain.  We passed this in Sacred Valley.  My understanding is that you either have to climb up a 1,400 rung ladder, or zip line to it.  I'd choose the zip line!

We drove through a small village, where to my surprise we stopped.  It didn't look like there was much there, and there continued to be a lot of wild dogs.  It turned out that we stopped to have a demonstration from some local weavers.  These ladies would take alpaca wool, create the thread, dye the thread different colors using natural ingredients, and then weave it into beautiful creations.

We also stopped at a site called Moray, where enormous, concentric pits have been carved out of the earth to depths of up to 100 feet and more. Temperatures between the top and bottom layers can differ by more than 20 degrees, which has led some researchers to theorize that Moray was an Inca agricultural site where experiments on crops were conducted.

We spent some time in Ollantaytambo.  In the 1500's it was the site of the Inca's greatest military victory over the invading Spaniards.  It still retains the massive walls, steps and street systems from that time.  It's also where I tried alpaca, which reminds me of beef and is actually pretty good. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent Sunday night at the Hacienda del Valle in Urubamba.  This is a small hotel on beautiful grounds, accessed by a narrow dirt road about a mile or two long (and of course, populated by those ever-present dogs).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Monday morning, we left to catch the VistaDome train to Machu Picchu.  This is a gorgeous way to take in the rest of the Sacred Valley, and they have lots of fun stuff on board, like fashion shows and shopping.  Arrival is in the town of Aguas Calientes, which is the closest town to the Machu Picchu site.  From here you take a bus that winds its way up a switchback road for about 30 minutes. 

 I am not a sufficiently skilled wordsmith to do justice to Machu Picchu, so I'll let our pictures of it attempt it.  Like most people, I'm sure, it was the main reason for our destination choice.  And yes, it really does look exactly like the pictures you've seen!  You can hike to most places within it, though a few spots were undergoing maintenance and/or renovation.  I'm sure that's an on-going project.  I'm also sure there were a lot of people there that day, but it is big enough that it doesn't seem like it once you get inside.  Two pieces of advice: two days there might be awesome, especially if you sign up for some of the "extra" hikes and/or you're prone to long periods of contemplation at a site so magnificent.  However, one day - especially if you get there as early as possible and stay as late as possible - is perfectly sufficient.  Secondly, be forewarned that there are no bathroom facilities within the site itself and a need for a toilet will almost certainly involve a long hike back to the entrance.  So, especially if you are with young children, you really need to take care of that before entering.  You also cannot eat inside the site, so you'll need to go back to the entrance area where there are some food services available (or you can do what we did and pack your own lunch).   Another bit of advice that perhaps I should have put at the beginning of this whole thing: you really take a chance of even being able to get into Machu Picchu unless you buy your tickets ahead of time, since they limit the number of visitors to 2,500 per day.  And buying said tickets online is a very challenging process.  It helps to actually do the online purchase in Spanish.  I did so with just the help of any online translation site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After another night at the charming Hacienda, we returned to Cusco for a flight back to Lima.  It seems that whatever it is you want to do in Peru, all plans must radiate from Lima as there are no international flights to other cities and the distances are a bit far to drive if you don't have a lot of time.  We arrived in Lima early enough to be able to take an escorted tour of the city, ending in the best seafood dinner I have ever had. 

 

 

Another short night in Lima, and the next morning we were on a flight to Iquitos, in northern Peru.  Iquitos is home to the Amazon region.  After we were met at the airport, we had a boat ride of over an hour to get to our lodge on one of the tributaries of the Amazon, the Sinchicuy Lodge. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now things really took a rustic turn.  The lodge is comprised of a great room/dining room, a "hammock house," and rooms in pods of four per building.  Each room contained beds, one night stand, and a very rudimentary bathroom.  There were no ceilings, just mosquito netting, so that there was in essence no auditory privacy whatsoever.  Let's just say it may not be the best choice for a honeymoon.  The lodge had no electricity except for an hour or so each night provided by generator for the purpose of allowing guests to power their various devices.  There were propane lights, but those were limited use.  Indoor plumbing, thankfully, but no hot water. 

 

 

The only other guests were two women (Marni and Sue) who arrived a bit after we did, and another American who had her own guide so we didn't see much of her.  Marni and Sue were enjoying a bit of fun time before settling down to their purpose in coming to Peru: helping to neuter the overwhelming number of stray dogs.  They were a lot of fun to hang with. 

The first night we went on a night walk through the jungle.  Yes, this is as creepy as it sounds.  At one point, we were stopped looking at a big tarantula when something (not the tarantula) jumped at my 8 year old granddaughter, nearly scaring her to death.  Deep into the jungle, our guide had us stop and turn off all our flashlights.  I don't remember ever seeing a darkness so completely black before.  You literally could not see your hand in front of your face.  Our guide said that if a native's batteries die at night, they will just stay where they are until morning rather than risk getting lost (or worse) in that blackness.  I think it would be equally frightening to sit there all night with who knows what crawling around and on you, or waiting to eat you. 

The next day we went to a small village nearby.  Actually, I think it was probably built specifically for tourist purposes.  Some of the villagers in I guess what was their native dress came and did a dance and gave a demonstration of blow darts, and then they let us all try it.  It was actually easier than I thought it would be to blow a dart out of a ten foot pole.  We all at least hit the trunk of the tree where the target was, and Mickel even hit the target. 

Finally, as is the case in all good tourist attractions, we browsed their selection of handmade items and purchased a few things.  There were several native kids there, and the funny thing was that they kept coming up to me and whispering something.  I noticed that they didn't do that to anyone else.  Kaiya and Teague decided that they knew I was a Grammie, and they were asking me for treats.  After visiting the public area of the village, we walked around.  Most of their "houses" were nothing more than a platform on stilts, with a roof.  Some of the houses also had sides, but not all of them.  There were no "rooms" per se, just one big platform. 

We also went fishing for piranhas.  This was old-time Huckleberry Finn kind of fishing - a stick with a string and a hook on the end.  Still, we (I mean the collective we ... I didn't actually fish myself) caught quite a few of the little buggers.  The fun thing was that we took them home with us and the lodge cook prepared them for our dinner.  They really are small fish, so there wasn't much meat on them.  They were pretty good, they tasted like ... fish. 

The next day we went for a lengthy boat ride.  We saw some pink dolphins, and went a bit deeper into the tributaries than our boat would allow us via a canoe that some guy showed up with.  We stopped at a local village and saw how they made sugar cane juice and various liquors, and took some sugar cane with us for a snack.

We also stopped at an animal refuge, where we were greeted by the two cutest little monkeys you ever saw.  I was a little leery at first, but the monkeys were obviously friendly and very cuddly.  Before getting down to the business of cuddling with us, though, they jumped in our boat and grabbed our sugar cane!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went up to the main building, where we handled some snakes (!) and a big old sloth.  Then we went to another area where there was a colony of a different species of monkeys.  These monkeys were quite aggressive.  We had to wear these big old rubber boots wherever we went because of all the mud everywhere, and in this particular area the mud was really bad so you couldn't move around very easily.  The monkeys were trying to grab whatever they could.  One jumped on poor Teague, who nonetheless had the grace to hold still (we had been told the worst move would be to try to push them or grab them) even though he was obviously scared to death.  I didn't like those monkeys too much.

All too fast, our amazing week in Peru was up. 

We did pack a lot into one week, which made for a very hectic itinerary.  That's our preference - to see as much as is humanly possible because who knows when or if we will be able to come this way again.  We were very sorry to have missed out on Lake Titicaca, and it would have been nice to have more time.  But, otherwise, there's nothing I would change about the trip.  Doing it the way we did, it was a given that we would have to plan our own trip because no group tour would attempt to put in as much as we did in that amount of time.  It was definitely a challenge to plan it ourselves.  As I mentioned, my former job was planning trips and nothing I did even came close to the difficulty of this one. 

We went primarily for Mach Picchu, which is one of the wonders of this world and will (literally!) take your breath away.   But we found out that Peru is so much more.  That's what I love about traveling.  If you are open-minded and pay attention, it is always so much more than you could imagine.