Day 2: Lima
Did you know...that even though Simón Bolivar was considered the
"protector of Perú" he never set foot in the country?
We returned to
the hotel at 5pm and had some free time until dinner at 8pm. I
decided to go exploring and went down to "Larco Mar", a shopping center
on the
Pacific Ocean and visited the "parque
Salazar" as well as a large
supermarket downtown. After this first (and exciting) day we were
in bed by 10pm.
Did you know...that there are over 6 million people in Lima and that
there are over 9 million in Lima and the neighboring area of Callao?
(Jorge Chávez International Airport is in Callao.) Also, there are
over 70,000 taxis in Lima!
Day 3: Cuzco and the Sacsayhuaman
Fortress
We were up and out early today! We left for Jorge Chávez
International Airport at 7:20 to catch a
flight
to Cuzco (about a 1 hour
flight) only to find that our
flight was
delayed until 12:50pm. No problem...we're pros at killing time in
airports.
We arrived in
Cuzco at 1:50pm and headed to "el hotel de la Villa
Hermosa" and went straight to the dining room to enjoy a cup of "mate de
coca" (Coca tea) to help prevent altitude sickness.
Did you know...that Cuzco is 3,360 meters above sea level? (just
over 10,000 feet!)
At 3pm we left for our guided tour of
Cuzco
with Eliuth and Lucrecia,
our fantastic
guides
for our stay in
Cuzco. Our first stop was "el Convento e Iglesia
de Santo Domingo" which was built on the Inca ruins of the "Coricancha"
or Temple of the Sun. Afterwards, we headed to the former Inca
fortress known as Sacsayhuaman. It
was here that we received a plant called "muña" which, when rubbed
between your hands and breathed in, helps to prevent altitude sickness.
We stopped at a market that sells alpaca clothing and blankets before
heading back to the hotel. We then walked to the "plaza de armas"
where we ate at the
Andean Grill
- a great restaurant that I highly recommend. We ate alpaca for
the first time! Back at the hotel around 9:30 and in bed by 11pm.
Did you know that an alpaca is like a llama but with finer fur that
makes a very soft but warm wool?
Day 4: Cuzco, Ollantaytambo, Q'enqo,
Tambomachay...oh my!
After a nice 8 hour nap we awoke and departed
at 8:30 for Ollantaytambo, the ruins of
a multifunctional Inca city, located in the Urubamba Valley. We
passed through some beautiful countryside on the
way to our destination. We stopped for lunch at the
Alhambra
restaurant before heading to the large outdoor market at Pisac.
Afterwards we headed to the Inca Water Temple of
Tambomachay and Q'enqo
- an Inca temple dedicated to the Puma. We returned to the hotel
and celebrated Michelle's 18th birthday, and to turn in for the night.
Did you know...that the currency in Perú is called the "sol"? The
exchange rate when we were there was 3.49 soles per U.S. dollar.
Day 5: Machu Picchu
Well, in order to catch the 6:15am
train
to Machu Picchu we had to wake up at 4am. (we perked right up
though because we knew where we were going!) After a 3 hour and 40
minute
train
trip we arrived in Aguascalientes, a small town at the base of the
mountains leading to
Machu Picchu. We met our
guide,
Nilo, at the train station and took a 25 minute
bus
ride up the "Bingham Highway" to
Machu Picchu, "the lost city of the
Incas". After spending most of the afternoon there, we returned to
Aguascalientes and had a nice buffet lunch. During our 3 hours of
free time afterwards I walked to the site of the
terrible landslide that occurred in
Aguascalientes in April 2004.
We had dinner at 8pm and then returned to the hotel to prepare for
another trip to
Machu Picchu.
Did you know...that Machu Picchu is only 2,400 meters above sea level?
Day 6: More of Machu Picchu
Come to find out that today (6/21) is the winter solstice and that it is
the one day of the year when the sun shines directly into one of the two
windows at the Sun Temple at Machu Picchu...and it only happens at
sunrise. Of course we had to go! So we woke at 4:30 to catch
the first bus up the mountain (which we did) and beat the crowds.
We were in position to see the sunrise and it was amazing!
Afterwards some of the students decided that they wanted to
climb Huayna
Picchu, the mountain that you see in all of the "typical" pictures of
Machu Picchu.
I figured, hey, why not? So we
climbed Huayna
Picchu! The view from the top was breath-taking. After
relaxing and taking in the beautiful view from atop
Huayna
Picchu
some
students (they're so full of energy) decided they wanted to go to the
Moon Temple on the back side of the mountain. No problem...it's
all downhill! (Little did I know that to come back to
Machu Picchu
from the
Moon Temple
you had to climb almost all the way back UP the
mountain to come back around!) It was worth it
though...unbelievable! After that climb, descent, and climb, we
had really worked up an appetite. After a quick lunch we dashed to
the train station to catch our
train
back to
Cuzco...which we barely made! After returning to
Cuzco, we
had dinner in the hotel and crashed HARD!
Did you know...that most people can climb to the summit of Huayna Picchu
in an hour or an hour and a half? And that some of my students
made it to the top in only 25 minutes? I told you they had a lot
of energy!
Day 7: Cruising down the Urubamba...
We got to sleep in today! We woke at 7:30 to catch our bus to the
Urubamba Valley at 9am and again passed through some
beautiful countryside.
We were going white-water rafting down the
Urubamba River today. After a 90 minute
bus ride we arrived at our launch point, "suited up", and set out down
the river. It was my first time white-water
rafting (as it was for many others in our group) and we had a blast!
We returned to the hotel in the afternoon and had about 5 hours of free
time. Yep...you guessed it...time to explore
Cuzco! I walked
down so many little (and I mean little) side streets and found some
really great shops and really good deals. Later that night we
returned to the
Andean Grill restaurant and we all tried "cuy", a
traditional peruvian dish, for the first time. If you don't know
what "cuy" is, you'll just have to see the pictures! Since it was
our last night in
Cuzco, we took the "niños" to a "discoteca", then it
was back to the hotel.
Did you know that June is WINTER in Perú?
Day 8: Back to Lima
Our
flight
back to
Lima left
Cuzco at 9:30am. We were back in our first hotel
in
Lima by noon. With 5 hours of free time we decided to hit the
large Indian market in
Lima and spend some "soles". After a quick
shower it was off to the airport (and a FULL 3 HOURS of security) to
catch our flight back to the States. We got to the gate as they
were calling the final boarding call. FYI - if you're in
Lima and
heading back to the U.S., be sure to be at the airport AT LEAST 3.5
hours before your departure time...you'll need it! We departed
Lima at 10:50pm.
Did you know that it is only sunny in Lima from November until April?
Day 9: Flight home with a stop in sunny
Miami
After leaving Lima at 10:50pm we flew overnight to Miami and arrived
there at 5:30am. That was after my students woke me in the middle
of the night to sing "feliz cumpleaños" to me. After an almost 8
hour layover in Miami, we finally returned home to Detroit. During
our layover we were able to get some beach time in down on South Beach.
This definitely was one of the best trips I have ever been on! I
can't wait to get back!
Feel free to
with questions or comments.
This page was last updated
08/26/07.
Perú
