Our South American Adventure deserves all the superlatives we can muster! First and foremost, we were TOGETHER, a bigger deal than it first seems. On December 18, we converged in Lima, Peru: Becky and Rachel from the Peruvian coast, Penny and Kevin from Oregon, and Jonathan from Washington DC, where the next day 15 inches of snow fell and airports closed! Our first Christmas gift was that all of us actually got to our destination!
Our one day in Lima included slipping into summer clothes (hooray for the southern hemisphere!), a half-day bus tour, walking along the coastal bluffs and glimpses into another culture, notably the jugglers and acrobats who dart in front of cars stopped at red lights. They perform until the light turns green, then stop at each car window to ask for money!
The remainder of our time in Peru was a step back hundreds of years to the time of the Incas and before. Of couse there were cars, cell phones and modern conveniences, but we were immersed in Incan culture, architecture and technology. COOL FACT: some of their famous terraces were used to acclimate crops to higher elevations. Pretty advanced for the 15th century!!
We spent a day in the Sacred Valley and were awed by the ruins at Ollantaytambo. With construction more sophisticated than that of Machu Picchu, the fortress, unfinished Temple of the Sun and still-in-use stone water channels were a wonder!
Next stop: MACHU PICCHU Evaluation: EXCEEDS ALL EXPECTATIONS!
Day One: train ride to Aguas Calientes (aka Machu Picchu Pueblo), guided walking tour, lunch followed by an afternoon of wandering on our own.
Day Two: strenuous (and scary for the scared-of-heights family members!) climb up Wayna Picchu, the mountain you see behind the settlement, incredible views from the top and the return train ride.
Machu Picchu is such a popular tourist destination that there is talk of limiting access to aid preservation. Add in the recent floods that washed out the rail tracks, stranded some travelers and kept others away and you have another of our Christmas gifts: two days of soaking up the splendor that is Machu Picchu.
Home base for these adventures was the Incan capital city of Cusco, a lovely mix of Incan stonework and Spanish architecture. Christmas Eve we walked the Christmas market filled with the country people come to town to sell their wares: the most interesting were all the mosses and grasses sold to make fresh nativity scenes.
That afternoon we made our way south to Puno on the shore of Lake Titicaca. After our first-ever restaurant Christmas Eve dinner, we opened little gifts, called the family in Oregon and said goodnight. Around midnight Kevin and Penny were startled awake by church bells and loud bangs! We gazed at the surrounding foothills as thousands of what would be illegal in the US fireworks shot into the sky: a firefighter’s nightmare in the crowded barrios except that the homes are all adobe with tin roofs! It was spectacular — and the three kids slept through it all!
Dear Reader,
Blogging is slow for the novice who is also sifting through hundreds of photos!
If you are interested in more, check back later.
Love, Penny
