Day 91: Cusco area - Sunday February 6, 2011

The Hotel Monesterio in Cusco was fabulous – beautiful, historical & has a great restaurant! Our professional guide (David) was excellent. We saw Sacsaywaman with its monumental stones and stupendous workmanship; Tambomachay, a sacred fountain: Q’enqo, a mystery site set in natural stone clefts, the Cathedral and a delicately curated museum of pottery and other small items. It was a fulfilling day! We had a delicious lunch at a contemporary Peruvian restaurant on the main plaza.

The drive to the Sacred Valley, mostly through a river gorge was beautiful. I yearned for the Andean corn beer Chicha as we went by the red tipped or flagged poles – to no avail. Maybe tomorrow we will have our chance.

Justin used Slingshot to hook us up to his TV for the Super Bowl. Several Gringo hotel guests (part of a National Geographic tour) joined us. We had delicious new tastes for dinner: cuy leg; Paiche – Amazon river fish; tacu tacu; tree tomato ravioli; soup of black Quinoa; lechon – yummm!

Day 90: The spell of Machu Picchu - Saturday February 5, 2011

Since the Sanctuary Hotel was right at the entrance to Machu Picchu, we had an early start and the site almost to ourselves. All the surrounding high mountains held back clouds so the light at Machu Picchu was perfect for viewing. Enjoy the photos! It was magic. The photos are unedited. The Incas took care of the framing.

The Hiram Bingham train ride back was fun. The band sang several Quechua songs at my request. An Italian lady was moved to dance. So it was lively. Dinner was tasty contemporary Peruvian cuisine. The whole outing was an Orient Express package. We got back to the hotel late, and tired & most satisfied.

Note: I am posting unedited Day 89 photos for the diehards.

Day 89: Machu Picchu - Friday February 4, 2011

The Hiram Bingham train is quite elegant and professional including the handling of the passengers, the musicians on board and the lunch service. We had to take a car for the first 1/3 of the trip due to a landslide. The coach up from the train station to Machu Picchu was on sheer switchbacks on a dirt road. One could easily suffer from acrophobia in a spectacular setting!

Machu Picchu is more stunning than advertised. What we could only imagine from the foundation left in Cusco, we saw complete here. Even though it was not the capital of the Inca empire, it showcased the height of imperial technology in architecture, spirituality and science. As a longtime aficionado of stonework, I was in heaven. I took 200 photos!

The Inca empire was short lived. It was primarily a trading empire encompassing the coast, mountain ranges and the jungle and it was somewhat socialist as a cooperative society. Trade from the all corners came to Cusco and back out. The Spanish destroyed the trade system so many of the thriving communities such as Machu Picchu could no longer sustain themselves independently and were abandoned. The Spanish went about destroying the cultural & spiritual identity of the indigenous people.

We have the entire day at the site tomorrow! I am not suffering as much from the elevation since we are at 8,500’ so I might try a 1,000’ climb to watch the sunset tomorrow.

Day 88: Andes Roads to Cusco cont. - Thursday February 3, 2011

The first half of the drive was going down a beautiful river gorge. The second part was climbing up the Andes, through various valleys, then Cusco. The road was very good all the way in. It is not at all as dangerous as reputed. The motorcycle navigation device that Justin rigged up worked very well and took us through a very nice residential section.

The Monesterio Hotel in Cusco is magnificent – even more elegant than the converted convent in Oaxaca. We are at something like 13,000 feet and can feel it. Tomorrow we go to Machu Picchu overnight, then back here.

I could not stop thinking of the tragedy of the Spanish conquest this evening when walking around the oldest parts of Cusco to see the Spanish building techniques and compare them to the magnificent stonework of the Inca and prior civilizations. We will tour Cusco after we return from Machu Pichu.

Day 87: Nasca into the Andes up to 14,930’ - Wednesday February 2, 2011

The desolate Peruvian coastal desert goes right into the Andes from Nasca toward Cusco. Even at 11.000’ the mountains facing the Pacific were drier than Death Valley and contained the world’s largest sand dune. The Andean landscape became more familiar from the next valley on.

The high pampas (plains) is mostly 12.500’ – 15.000’. We encountered herds of llamas, alpaca and vicuna at those elevations. Some were wild in a national reserve. We had the pleasure of fog, rain and sleet on an exquisitely sinuous road for 360KM. Justin & I split the 6-hour drive. Cattle were kept below 12,500’. 2 passes were at 14,980’ elevation. The river valleys with waterfalls everywhere, indigenous communities living their lives, grand snow capped mountains, so on made me not notice my little elevation headache.

The road has been excellent. Road crews were everywhere clearing up rock falls from the rain and fixing erosion in the asphalt. There were no delays. What a difference with the road out of Huarez. We reached our hotel at 4:15. Tomorrow we drive the Andes to Cusco. We are undertaking trip scheduling to Rio so that Anisa & Steve can make their plans. There are so many delicious options!

From Pasto at the beginning of the Andes culture through Justin’s segment ending in the salt deserts south of Lake Titicaca will have been high adventure! The part from Buenos Aires to Rio will have the treats we have been spoiled to. High adventure awaits us in the Atlantic coast of Brazil, particularly, the Amazon Delta through the Guyanas.

Day 86: Nasca Lines - Tuesday February 1, 2011

Our flight over the Nasca Lines was at 11AM. We saw a short program on the site and various associated theories. It was a photographic extravaganza. Enjoy mine! Carol will post hers later. Maybe Justin will add a few.

Carol & Justin drove to the Nasca desert graveyard with all its mummies. I stayed at the hotel and took a nap. They got the better deal. Keeping in mind their belief that the dead were in another world & communicate during trances. We skipped the large mud brick Pre-Inca city (ancient Nasca) 40KM down a dirt road.

Locally, the cactus farms for Napolito and cactus fruit impressed us. Our hotel is another faded beauty with absentee ownership.

Day 85: Lima to Nasca - Monday January 31, 2011

The car was packed to the gills with the addition of Justin’s bags and a spare to take back our purchases. The departure from Lima was smooth. Outside the Lima metro area, we were back in the relentless coastal desert, occasionally broken by a river valley & irrigation therefrom. We had a delicious seafood lunch at El Piloto in Caneta.

We paid a visit to Don Jose’s family in Ica. Justin came with a new GPS system, prepared to limit getting lost – only once did we ask for directions. We had a pleasant visit with Martin, Jose’s brother, his mother and father and met one of his aunts. The pisco sours were great. We were running late due to the 3-hour flight delay in Justin’s flight so it was a bit hurried – only enough time for 2 pisco sours each.

We reached our hotel in Nasca an hour after dark and in light rain. Then on to a nice dinner.