Not a very eventful day today.

We joined Greg and Leslie in the breakfast room at our hotel for the last time. 🙁  I got the last croissant!! 🙂

Stu organized a cab with the front desk, so after breakfast we went to gather our things and do a final pack.  Not much to do as we hadn’t really unpacked from Aguas Calientes.

We said our final goodbyes of this trip and left in the cab.  Greg and Leslie will be moving on tomorrow to Bolivia.  Won’t be home for many a day…..

Our flight was delayed.  It was supposed to leave at 12:15 but was closer to 2 before we took off.

We had contacted our hotel in Lima and they said they would send a cab for us.  We should pay the driver $25 USD in cash.

While we waited, we were approached by a couple of women and 2 young girls.  The women asked if we spoke English and if the girls could ask us 6 questions. One of the questions was “Where are you from?”  They were very pleased when Stu told them Canada! These were easier than the Holy Week questions that were asked in Cusco.  The interview did need to end with photos, so we got ours as well!!

When we arrived we did not see our hotel name or our name on any signs, so we waited a short time before approaching one of the many cab drivers waiting in the arrivals area.  He quotes us 60 Soles, which is less that $20 USD, so we win!!

We are not in the morning rush hour like we were when we arrived in Lima over a month ago.  It is a bit less hectic, but soon it is apparent that we are now in the afternoon rush hour as it is around 4PM.  Busy busy city.

 

We upgraded to a bit better hotel this time and are quite pleased with the results 🙂   This is the giant bed! And, yes that is an AC unit on the wall.  It was quite cool at night in Cusco and Aguas Caliente.  Not so here in Lima.  We will be using this puppy tonight!

 

 

 

 

 

This is the very very nice bathroom.

 

 

 

We decide to wander about.  We are in a little different area than our last time in Lima.  From our hotel we turn right and walk a few blocks.  The street ends so we turn left and left again when we hit a busy street.  A few blocks later we turn left again and find a nice little cafe that serves beer, so we have some and an appy.  When we go to leave we make a wrong turn.  We know that we should only be 1 block away from the street our hotel is on, but we could not find it.  We asked at least 3 different people.  They don’t speak English and we tried to understand their Spanish.  No luck.  In the end we backtracked our steps and went back exactly the same way we came.  This morning we walked out of the hotel, turned left and walked 200 steps and we were exactly where we were last night!  We had a good laugh at how we became so turned around.  We justified it as the street we were looking for did not go past this large street and was actually only about 4 or 5 blocks long.   It worked for us  🙂 🙂

We have a leisurely breakfast this morning.  Gringo Bill’s has some of the standard breakfast food that we have seen here in Peru.  It also has wonderful fresh squeezed orange juice and great scrambled eggs with ham and cheese.  This makes up for the 9AM check out time, maybe….

 

 

We are a bit late for checkout, but they are understanding 🙂  This is a photo from the main square.  Gringo Bill’s up the path in the center of the picture.  We spoke with Mrs. Gringo Bill who told us that it was the first hotel here.  About 35 years ago.  Gringo Bill himself has moved on to the north coast of Peru as he is a surf bum now.

 

 

Here are some of the streets here in the shadow of Machu Picchu.  The steps for those who like steps and the ramps for delivery people and those who prefer hills.

 

 

 

We are on our way to the Hot Springs that Aguas Calientes is named for.

 

 

 

 

 

The path to the hot springs is right along the river of Rio Aguas Calientes.  This river then joins the Urubamba River in the middle of the town.

 

 

We arrived at the hot pools and I decided that I didn’t like the look of the water, so I paid my 10 soles and just watched these guys getting mellow in the pools, that they tell me were not very hot.

 

There are many sculptures in this town.  It seems to me that they have carved boulders that were naturally laying along the river.

 

 

 

I am not sure of the story behind this sculpture, but it appears that she has had a mastectomy????

 

 

 

There is basically no vehicle traffic in this town except for the buses that go up and down Machu Picchu.  Anything that needs to go anywhere gets hauled in carts and wheel barrows from the train tracks.  These guys really earn their money.  Everything is up hill!!

 

 

It seems that the “Love Lock” phenomenon is a bit more well known here.

 

 

 

 

Here is a statue of an Inca Warrior with the 3 sacred animals of the Inca.  The Condor, the Puma and the Snake.

 

 

We pickup our luggage at Gringo Bill’s and head to the train station to catch our train to Ollantaytambo.  Once there we will catch a bus back to Cusco.

 

 

The sun is shining beautifully.  We get this great shot through the bus window 🙂  Beauty!!

This was quite a scary bus ride.  It was a 19 passenger van.  The driver was driving very fast on very windy roads.  We were very happy when we arrived safely in Cusco.

When Greg and Leslie arrive we head out for our last dinner together.  We are leaving for Lima tomorrow and they are continuing on to Bolivia and other South American destinations.  We go back to the Andean Grill where Stu and I had a great meal a few nights ago.  Another good meal, with even greater company!!

Well I have soooo many photos to choose from for this day that I hope you don’t get bored 🙂

We took the bus up to Machu Picchu at about 8:00.  We immediately see Greg and Leslie!  We greeted them with hugs and congratulations on their accomplishment!!  They told us how tough it was and Leslie was sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed the toilet experience.  Yuk yuk!!  Oh well I had a comfortable night at Gringo Bill’s.   Decent bathroom and really comfortable bed!

 

Here is the entrance to Machu Picchu.  This isn’t even at the busiest time.

 

 

 

 

 

We hike up to the site.  This is what we find!!  WOW!

 

 

 

Quite a sight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stu through my shot 🙂

 

 

 

A pure shot.  It doesn’t even reflect the numbers of people.

 

 

 

 

 

The man at the top.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Sun Gate.  Greg and Leslie came up from the back of this to see Machu Picchu.  At this time of year it is unfortunately quite cloudy in the morning.

 

 

 

As you can see from this shot, this is a busy place.

 

 

 

Now me almost at the top.

 

 

 

 

This is the actual Mountain of Machu Picchu.

 

 

 

 

This is the housing on the mountain.

 

 

 

 

This famous peak is actually Huayna Picchu, this apparently means “Tall Mountain”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stu heading down some very steep steps.

 

 

 

 

We bought a packed lunch from our hotel Gringo Bill’s.  We found a nice quiet spot to eat it.  No one around.  Quite a feat here!

 

 

 

 

With this view!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some odd twisty rock formations.

 

 

 

 

 

Back in Aguas Caliente, the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down.  We were trying to go for a walk.  This shows the rain coming down the street and a fountain springing up in the center.

 

 

 

 

After the rain stopped we went out again to find a geocache.  it is hidden here at this sculpture.

 

 

This is a view of Aguas Caliente from the path along the river.  An odd up and down bridge making the crossing.

 

 

 

In the evening we return to the little restaurant along the tracks.  This is one of the dishes we have again!!  Nachos Especial.  Very good! Again!!  🙂   Yum.

 

We take a couple of goofy photos in the town square as we head back to the hotel.

 

 

A very very amazing day!!

 

No time for blogging the  past couple of days.  Have some amazing shots to share later after we arrive in Lima.

Today we are on the move.  We have spent 7 nights in Cusco and are looking forward to a change in scenery.

We are to be outside the tour office we purchased the transport from at 8:30 for pickup.  We arrive there by 8:15 and the place is locked up tight.  We pause and wait patiently.  At 8:30 still no sign of life and we begin to wonder if this trip, the first one that has provided us with what we North Americans would call legitimate vouchers, was the one that was fraudulent.  Not to worry.  About 8:35 we hear someone call “Stuart”.  We look up to find a woman with a gaggle of people in tow walking up the street to where we have caught other buses.  She barely breaks stride as she crosses the street and turns left.

 

On the bus we head up and out of Cusco.  The traffic comes to a stand sill as we approach a market that is spilling out into the street.

 

 

 

The old meets new with this woman who is dressed in traditional dress, but speaking into her cell phone.

 

We board our train.  It is Inca Rail.  The last train we were on was Peru Rail.  This is not as swanky as our Andean Explorer.  However the seats are comfortable and they provide us with a snack and a drink AND it is much cheaper than the Andean Explorer and only about 2 hours long.

 

 

 

 

The car has skylights as well.

 

 

 

The Urubamba River flows swiftly alongside the railroad tracks.

 

 

 

 

The Andes tower above us.

 

 

 

We also pass some ruins along the way.  Not sure what these are, but they are very large and interesting.

 

Once we arrive in Aguas Calientes I notice these recycling and garbage bins.  They remind me of the garbage cans along the Sea to Sky highway when I was a child.  They were call Garbage Gobblers.  Interesting containers that encourage people to deposit trash in the correct spot.  These obviously go a bit further with “Organics”, “Non Organics” and “Dangerous Product”!

 

 

This is the main square in Aguas Calientes.  Much smaller than Cusco.  Our hotel is just off to the left of this square.

 

 

These are the delivery guys in town.  They haul these carts heavily laden with goods to stores and hotels in town.  They need to be very strong and we need to get out of their way while they do their very hard work!

 

 

 

The train tracks go right through the center of town.  Bars and restaurants line the tracks offering favorites for people around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

We find a place for a snack, “Nahcos Espsecial”  These are not tortilla chips, but wonton chips.  It comes with guacamole and beans.  The beans are awesome!!   Oh yeah the beer is cold too 🙂

 

 

 

It is the time of day when the trekkers are making their way into town after 4 days and 3 nights.  While sitting here we see many of the porters making their way into town.  Here are 4.  They are heavily laden with HUGE Packs!!  Notice the 3rd one in this group.  The others all have some type of large backpack, he has the typical Peruvian backpack, a blanket!  There are strict regulations on how much weight a porter can carry.  They have weigh ins to ensure they are not overloaded.  Perhaps these guys are carrying the light stuff???

We are to meet our tour guide for Machu Picchu at 7PM at our hotel “Gringo Bill’s”.  We are waiting in the lobby and it is now 7:20.  We speak with the fellow on the desk and he makes a call for us to our tour supplier.  The message is he will be here in 5 minutes.

In about 9 minutes he arrives and introduces himself as Vladimir.  As he is quite obviously Peruvian we both wonder about his name.

He explains to us the process to get the bus up to Machu Picchu and when his tour will start.  He mentions that it is “Rainy Season” (which should end at the end of March).  When we say that the Rainy Season was over yesterday, he grins and says “That is sarcasm”!  We all have a laugh.  Sometimes sarcasm is lost in translation 🙂

After we are finished I asked him how he got the name Vladimir?  He smiles again and says he thinks his parents saw a movie with a character with that name and thought it would be a good name for their son.  He seems confused with their choice.  He seems to have a good sense of humor, so our tour tomorrow should be fun.

The altitude here is about 6,800 feet.   I can feel the difference BIG TIME.  So much easier to walk around and up and down hills and steps.  I had no idea what I would feel at a high altitude.

 

 

 

We have noticed this in other towns and cities that we have visited.  Fountain cleaning day!

 

We are here at Plaza de Armas to join the Free Walking Tour of Cusco.  Our first stop is this map on a nearby wall.  This map shows the original shape of Cusco.  It is the shape of a Puma, which is one of the most important animals to the Incas.  The others are the Condor and the Snake. The head of the Puma is Saksaywaman (Sexy Woman), the site we visited yesterday.

 

We walk down a street with an Inca wall that has had modifications done by the Spaniards.  As you can see their skill was not up to the Incan standards.

 

 

 

We enter a courtyard where there are some Llamas and Alpacas.  This is an Alpaca Suri, the type that has Bob Marley wool.  This guy also has huge bottom teeth!!

 

 

 

 

We are shown some instruments and other objects that are important to the Incas.  This is a couple of Condor feathers.  Stu is holding them.  Just look at the size of the stems???   If that is what they are called.  😉

 

The other day when we went on the tour of the Sacred Valley, we had a buffet lunch that had local entertainment.   One of the musicians was playing a percussion instrument that we were unfamiliar with.  The sound was interesting and they looked to us like a bunch of mussel shells.  Today we learned that this instrument is made from the toe nails of the llamas and alpacas.  Apparently they shed these nails (two per foot) and they are collected and made into this rattle like instrument.

 

This fellow is a very accomplished musician.  He had a huge variety of instruments and demonstrated his talent for us.

 

We learned that the three sacred symbols of the Inca, The Puma, The Condor and The Snake or Serpent are depicted in the Incan wall that we are standing beside.  This poster shows the outline of 2 of them.  We did see these stones and recognized the animals.  The faces even had eyes and mouths carved into them.

 

This is the Plaza San Blas.  We found this on our own with Greg and Leslie the other day.  Today there is a little market set up.  Our tour guide took us through this barrio that has some very interesting little hotels.

 

 

San Blas also has their own little market.  Our guide brings us there.  Here are some of the vegetables that are available here.  The purple corn, okra, squash and more.

 

 

Here are some other veggie stands.

 

 

 

This is a bronze plate that is seen on many streets in Cusco.  Anti Suyo means the Inca Trail.  This trail is more than the 4 day 3 night trek route, is many many kilometers long.

 

 

 

Walking back through town we see this representation of the Snake.  A carved stone and some shrubbery to represent the body.

 

 

 

 

We come to another large market called the San Pedro Market.   Here is the beef department.

 

 

 

 

And the chicken department.

 

 

 

 

And the Bakery.

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure if this is the horse or donkey department.  I also have no idea what you would use this for???

 

 

 

Went to the Andean Grill a restaurant recommended by our City Tour Guide Elvis.  The meal was very very good.  Stu had Lemon Trout and I had Caprese Chicken.

 

 

 

Tomorrow we are taking the bus and train to Aguas Caliente, the little town closest to Machu Picchu.

It is Stu’s birthday today and as it should be he is again a year older than me!!

 

We are getting tired of the coffee we get with breakfast here in Peru.   It is unbelievably strong.  We have switched to coca tea in the morning. We don’t understand this as there are coffee shops with decent coffee in most towns.  Yesterday Stu found a little cafe and we decided to head there after our breakfast for a decent cappuccino.  A little hole in the wall, but we really enjoyed this coffee!

 

 

We have purchased the “Tourist Ticket”.  This costs 130 Soles , just over $50 CAD and we get entrance into a number of venues around Cusco.  We are heading to the mysterious museum we could see from the converted Inca Temple the other day.  On our way we come across these condor statues.  They really are not pretty birds.

 

 

 

We enter the museum and wander around the various rooms learning how the Inca who only ruled for less than 100 years, came to power.  They used a soft sell to take over other cultures.  If the other culture was not cooperative, then they defeated them by force.

 

After room 5 we find the staircase that we think will take us up to the green space we could see from the Temple.  Here we come up onto the field.

 

 

We head back to the Plaza and find ourselves following this little lady.  We see so many older Peruvian ladies all hunched over.  We assume that their stoop comes from years of packing heavy heavy bundles on their backs.

 

 

This is a little walking street that takes us from our hotel to the main Plaza.  This morning a couple of ladies are leading their alpacas to the square to earn some money posing for photos with tourists.

 

We are taking the City Tour on a bus today.  This is an archaeological site just above the city.  it is “Saqsaywaman”,  Many people pronounce this “Sexy Woman”.

 

 

Here are the ruins of Saqsaywaman.  The Spaniards dismantled most of this site, so it is difficult to say what it looked like before they arrived.

 

 

 

More of this site.

 

 

 

From here we see the “Christo Blanco”.  A gift from Israel in 1945.

 

 

 

This horse was just standing in the road.  The bus driver slowed and the horse eventually moved.  😉

 

 

We climbed up a hill to go and visit some caves.  These caves are all naturally formed.  Our guide tells us that Cusco used to be a lake many many years ago.

 

 

Inside we see some shelves carved into the walls.  These were used for ceremonial purposes.

 

 

From the Christo Blanco we have a fabulous view of Cusco.  We can see the Plaza de Armas down in the center.

 

 

 

We find Qosqo Beer House.  Before we order we confirm that the beer is indeed cold.   As you can see it is!!  This 750 ml bottle of Cusquena Special cost 20 soles, $8 CAD.  We enjoyed an appy and this beer.

 

 

 

We aren’t very hungry, but we should eat so we head out.  Stu convinces me that he saw some interesting places up the hill from Jack’s.  I sigh and start up the hill.  Nothing on the hill.  Next thing we are up in the square above.  We pick a little place and decide on soup.  They deliver Stu’s bowl and I am waiting for mine.  Our server comes through the door with an empty soup bowl.  Shortly after my soup arrives.  I ask for a “cold” water.  She smiles and says yes, goes back out the door and comes back with a cold sparkling water.  We noticed a number of times the staff running out the front door and returning with ingredients they must need.  Cheese, flour etc.  Cute tiny kitchen with suppliers just outside their door.  Just In Time at its best 😉

 

 

 

I just wanted to post a note about smoking in Peru.  As non smokers we very much felt like a minority in Europe last year.  Some countries still allow smoking indoors.  We had no idea what to expect here in Peru.  What we have found is that smoking is not a habit that many Peruvians have.  I can count one one hand how many times that I have seen what I consider to be a Peruvian smoking.  It is quite refreshing.  You can sit on a park bench in any Plaza de Aramas and not worry that someone will sit down beside you and light up.   Unless of course that person is a tourist.  😉  Any time we have been bothered by smoking it has been another tourist.  It has been a nice surprise!!

Greg and Leslie have some preparation to do before they begin the Inca Trail tomorrow.  They are off arranging things and we head down to Plaza de Armas to sit and do some people watching.  We see the Ross’s headed our way, but they don’t notice us.  Stu tries to sell them a City Tour 😉

They stop and we are chatting when 3 school girls approach  us (other groups are working the Plaza). They are practicing their English and have some questions for us.  All about what Holy Week means to us.  Gulp,  Turkey Dinner ???   We all muddle through and at the end they wanted a selfie, so that was agreed if they would reciprocate.

 

We met again a bit later for lunch.  A cute little sandwich place with a mezzanine upstairs.  Greg had to watch his head if he stood up and we all had to duck under a beam.  We had very good sandwiches, turned away warm beer and ordered a Chichi Morada, which is a drink made from purple corn.  It has some cloves and other spices added.  We all had a taste and greed that it was pretty good.

 

 

 

Down in the Plaza, Stu captures this woman doing some reading under the crucifix.

 

 

 

 

We picked out a spot for dinner this afternoon and head just down the street from our hotel.  They promised they had cold beer!  Stu and I ordered red wine, they brought us Rose, we said no and ordered bottled water, yes, it was warm.  Our hopes for a good dinner seemed to be waning.  We were very pleasantly surprised when the food arrived and we were all happy with what was placed before us.

An early night for all as the Ross’s are being picked up very very early.   We said our good byes for a few days.  Wished them well, wished we were with them.  But it is what it is.  🙁

 

We have an all day tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas today.  As we walk to  meet our tour group in the Plaza de San Francisco, we take the opportunity to take a photo of the Inca wall along the way.  Inca construction is unique as they do not use mortar and the stones have very straight lines.  This does not mean they are square.  They have multiple corners.

 

We travel for a while into the Sacred Valley.  The terraces look a bit odd to us.  As we get closer we notice that there is snow on the hillside.

 

 

 

 

We stop at a lookout of the valley below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sacred Valley behind us.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a photo through the bus window of the terraces in the mountains.  They seem to run right off the cliffs.

 

 

We come to the first little town of Pisac.  The women in their traditional dress are there for us to photograph.  They have a very cute little girl who is also carrying a baby Alpaca.  I couldn’t resist paying the 1 Sole ($.40 CAD) for the privilege of having my photo taken with them.

 

Our stop in this town also includes a tour of a silver factory/store.  In Cusco we are approached multiple times a day by people selling silver jewelry.   We learn in this shop that if the price is too cheap, then it is very likely not silver, but nickel.  Since it is my birthday I purchase this little bauble.  It is a ring with a disc that has two different patterns on it.  The top photo is a design of Machu Picchu and the other side is what they call Patchamama or Mother Earth which is a very big Incan icon.

 

 

 

 

We drive from Pisac to an Archaeological site above the town.  From this photo you can see some of the large terraces that the Incas used to grow crops on.

 

 

 

 

Some of the ruins at this site.

 

 

 

You can see holes in this hillside.  These were tombs of the Incas.  They placed the bodies of the dead into these holes.

 

 

 

The next site we see is at Ollyantambo.  When the sun aligns on the summer solstice it shines through this portal from the valley.

 

 

 

 

Across from the mountain the temple was on (above) is this mountain.  There are structures on the side that the Incas used for refrigeration.

 

Up on the Ollantaytambo site there are other structures that are likely houses.

 

 

As we head back to the bus for the trip back to Cusco, Stu captures this dramatic sunset.  These clouds would prove to be very stormy as Patchamama gave us an unbelievable light show for an hour as we were on the road.  The skies opened up with a torrential downpour that included hail.  The roads above Cusco were like roaring rivers.

 

As we arrived in Cusco at about 7:30 we ducked into the nearest restaurant to escape the rain.  We enjoyed a good meal.  We hoped that when we were ready to leave the rain would have stopped.  Not to be!

We scurried single file hugging the wall and trying to keep under the overhang.  We skirted Plaza de Armas the long way, going through the covered colonnades as far as we could.  The last bit we took advantage of the small overhangs but arrived very wet to our hotel.

What a night.

 

We are off to the Peru Treks office this morning.  We have decided that even though I am feeling better at the altitude in Cusco, no nausea and less fatigue, I am still feeling the effects of the altitude whenever I exert myself.  I am guessing that the pneumonia has left my lungs weaker than they were.   So we are sure that this trek will not be very enjoyable for me.  We hope that Peru Treks will be able to help us with alternatives.

Sad day.  We had to cancel our trek.  They have no alternatives for us.  Other companies offer 2 day treks that are less strenuous, but permits are not transferable and there are no permits available until October.

Greg and Leslie are getting their briefing and Stu and I head to the Plaza to see if we can arrange transport to Machu Picchu on the bus/train.  We hope to meet Greg and Leslie at the citadel on the 3rd of April.  For the 2nd of April we book the bus to Ollyantambo, the train to Aguas Caliente, bus to Machu Picchu on the 3rd.

Plan B in hand we meet up with Greg and Leslie again and head towards Qorikancha.   This is a former Inca Temple which forms the base of a Spanish Colonial Catholic Church.  It once was lined with gold sheets.  One of the richest temples in the Incan Empire.

From a terrace on Qorikancha we see this large grassy area with people enjoying the sun.  We aren’t sure how to get to this space.  We see people coming out of a stairwell in the center of the area.  We also see a woman pop out of a trap door and then close if after her.  We are confused.  🙂

This is what the courtyard of the church looks like today.  In behind these colonnades are Inca walls that were part of the original temple.

Back in Plaza de Armas Stu takes this photo that shows both of the large churches that line the plaza.

Another shot of the busy plaza in the evening.

The end of a disappointing day, but we will make the most of what we have 🙂