Wednesday night was our formal welcoming dinner in Lima hosted at the historical residence of one of the original Spanish families. Very opulent. The current owner showed us around and ate dinner with us. The place is listed, so they raise money for its maintenance by hosting private dinners and weddings.
After arrival into Cusco, we headed out of town for an outdoor lunch followed by a Mother Earth ceremony performed by a local shaman. Lunch was accompanied by a very enthusiastic band playing drums and pan pipes. Good by not nearly as impressive as the guy who serenaded us over dinner playing ABBA songs on his pan pipes at what ,just have been his highest volume.
Unfortunately we lost Carol and Ron. Pretty much immediately on arrival into Cusco, the altitude got to her, and despite giving her oxygen on the bus, they ended up taking her to the decompression unit at the local hospital. The news this morning is they are skipping the Andes part of the tour, but will rest up in Lima to join us for the coastal trip up to the Nazda lines. Really disappointing as they had been training for months hiking up and down steps in anticipation.
Friday a stop over in the Inca fortress in Ollantaytambo. Then a visit to a local Incan ladies house, somewhat different to the Spanish mansion. The guinea pigs ( inside her one room house) aren’t pets – core part of the diet here.
Next stop was a 90 minute train trip on the Vistadome (similar to Rockie Mountaineer) down to Aguas Calientes which is the access point for Machu Picchu. shortly after we left we saw the starting point for the 4 day Inca trail hike to Machu Picchu. Dirt track high on the side of a steep mountain, heading upwards. Our mode of transport much better.
Quick stop in town for lunch and some more coca tea to ward off altitude sickness before heading off in bus to Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu has a number of different routes to be followed. Today we did the panoramic route – my watch is reporting 137 flights of stairs. After some lessons in making pisco,sour tonight, tomorrow morning we’re back following a route which takes us through the ruins.
Round about 