Peru: Apurimac Canyon

Day 5

Sunday we had time for breakfast in the hotel restaurant. They have a nice buffet that includes omelets and eggs cooked to order. I only ate a light breakfast because I'd been experiencing a loss of appetite. I attributed it to the high altitude, but figured out later that it is a side effect of the acetazolamide I'd been taking to prevent altitude sickness, so I was half right. We finished breakfast in time to meet with our guide Romulo for the condor canyon tour. He was prompt this time at 8:30 am. After our Machu Picchu tour Saturday, Jennifer and I agreed that the horseback option was a good idea and contacted Romulo Saturday night to request it. Sunday morning he told us he hadn't been able to get in touch with the horse provider but he would continue to try.

We got into Romulo's minibus and drove a short way until we collected another couple, Abdel and Mercedes, who were joining us on the tour. The 5 of us drove for about an hour to the Quillarumiyoq site of an Inca temple of the moon. Romulo walked us on a tour of the site and explained how it connected with the Inca religion. The climb up the hillside to get to the site took some effort, but the walk back was easy.

Inca terraces

Moon temple

Moon temple waterfall

We got back in the minibus and drove about another hour to Limatambo where we stopped for lunch. It was a small quaint restaurant with outdoor tables and a woman cooking in an outdoor stone oven. The food was good. Jennifer had a vegetarian plate of vegetables and rice, while I had thin sliced bistec, with potatoes and rice. We all sipped some Chicha Morada, a sweet drink made from purple corn.

Lunch stop

After lunch we got in the bus for the final leg of the journey. We drove to the mountain village of Chonta, over 11,000 feet high. We continued even higher up the mountainside until we reached the Condor Canyon entrance building. We signed for our tickets and began the 3km trek along a narrow mountain trail to the viewing area above the Apurimac canyon. Fortunately Romulo was successful in arranging for the horses and we were met at the beginning of the trail by a guide with 2 horses. Looking back now, I doubt I could have completed the journey on foot. There were a lot of slopes that would have given me trouble.

Horseback ride to the canyon

Horseback ride

Precarious trail ride

Apurimac Canyon

Apurimac canyon

Canyon girl

We reached the viewing area after about an hour on the trail. It was a foot only trail down to the viewpoint near the canyon edge, but it wasn't too hard since it was downhill. Another viewpoint was even closer to the canyon but farther down the slope, so considering the return climb necessary, I decided to stay at the intermediate stop. Jennifer however continued all the way.  We started to spot condors right away. Most were pretty far away but they were recognizable. One actually flew relatively close. Jennifer had a good view down into the canyon and could see them soaring sometimes in pairs. None came up as high as the viewpoint but she captured some good pictures with her telephoto lens. I think we stayed about 1.5 hours and left when the condor activity seemed to decrease.  The climb back up to where we left the horses was strenuous. It was a narrow switchback trail and I had to stop and rest at nearly every turn. But I made it up and was happy to see a horse waiting for me. Jennifer opted to walk for part of the way. We started back and Jennifer got on her horse when we got to viewpoint #1. (We did our viewing from viewpoint #2)  The trip back seemed quicker to me. We reached the trail head and got back in the minibus for the ride home. As we were starting back Romulo noticed an eagle perched on a rock by the road. We stopped and Jennifer was able to capture a few pictures.

Viewing from up close

Viewing from afar

Condor

Condor

Condor

Eagle

Trailblazers

It was dark for the drive back and I fell asleep for a while.  When we got to Limatambo, we stopped to pick up Romulo's sister who needed a ride to Cusco. She got on the bus with her 6 month old baby. The baby fell asleep and was quiet the whole trip to Cusco. We dropped them off about 15 minutes before we reached our hotel in central Cusco. The other couple got dropped off when we were about 5 minutes away. When we arrived at the hotel around 8:30 pm we thanked Romulo for the amazing experience and promised to recommend him when we could. Jennifer and I had dinner at the hotel restaurant and selected a cozy table near the fireplace by the bar.  I had some fish and chips, and Jennifer opted for dessert for dinner. We didn't stay up too late because we had a 7:30 pickup Monday for the Sacred Valley tour.

Peru: Cusco, Machu Picchu

Day 3

Day 3 was a travel day. We stayed in the hotel in Lima until checkout, then took a private car to the airport.  Driving in Lima is horrible. It takes a long time to get anywhere because of the traffic, and there are frequent speed bumps built into the roads. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare however. There's no frequent flyer lounge in the domestic terminal so we waited at the gate. The flight to Cusco was less than an hour long. We passed snow covered mountain peaks on the way and arrived to good weather and mild temperatures in Cusco.  We were met outside the airport by a representative of our travel agency Viajes Pacifico.  We climbed into one of their vans, and drove us to our hotel. On the way they reviewed the itinerary for our tours in Cusco. Our check in at the hotel was managed by the concierge Abel, who went out of his way make us feel welcome. He even showed us to our room. After getting settled, we went back to the lobby to wait for Romulo Orellana who was coming to brief us about our condor tour on Sunday. When he became significantly late, I asked the front desk to call him and he apologized for forgetting our meeting and said he'd be there in 15 min. He arrived, briefed us on the tour and accepted our payment. He also mentioned an optional add-on to do the walking part of the tour on horseback. We told him we'd consider it and get back to him.

Jennifer and I decided to take a walk around the nearby historic central square in town before dinner. While there we were approached by a local artist Jorge who was selling his work. Jennifer was interested in one of his paintings and negotiated a significant discount off his asking price. After completing the purchase we had dinner in the hotel restaurant where we tried our first Pisco Sours. We went to bed in anticipation of our 5:30 AM trip to Machu Picchu.

View from Lima Hotel

Mountains on the way to Cusco

Cusco Landing

Entryway to JW in Cucso

Check in desk at the hotel

Cathedral in Cusco central square

Cusco Square

Pisco Sour

Day 4

We got up with our wake up call Saturday morning, and headed downstairs. The hotel provided a box breakfast for us that we ate in the lobby while waiting for our pick up.  We drank some coca tea with it. Our shuttle showed up on time at 5:30.  I thought they were taking us to a bus for the trip to the train in Ollantaytambo, but it turned out the shuttle was our transportation for that entire  2.5 hour trip.  When we arrived at Ollantaytambo we were met by more representatives of Viajes Pacifico who guided us on to our train and told us we would be met by our guide a the other end. The train ride was scenic and lasted about 1.5 hours. The cars had large windows on the sides and roof. The seats were in groupings of 4, 2 on each side of a table. We were served coffee and carrot cake. We shared a table with a couple who were in Peru for a motorcycle tour. 

Peru Rail Vistadome train

Snacks on the way to Machu Picchu

When we arrived at Aguascalientes we were met by our tour guide, who was amazingly named Hamilton Daniel. He led us to the buses and we boarded the next available bus within minutes. The bus took us on a winding switchback road up the mountain to Machu Picchu. Outside the entrance we stopped for bathrooms and to stamp our passports with a Machu Picchu visitor stamp. Inside the guide did an excellent job of relating the history of the complex. To get to the classic 'postcard view' of Machu Picchu it was necessary to climb a lot of steps.  I had to stop and rest a few times but I made it all the way up. The view there is worth it. From there, it is mostly downward stairs to get to the various temples and rooms of interest in the site.  We were guided through most of the complex and our guide had explanations for all we saw. In all we spent about 2.5 hours in Machu Picchu. Afterward we took the bus back to town. Our guide offered to recommend a restaurant but we weren't hungry so we parted from him and spent a little time walking around Aguascalientes. We rested on a park bench in the square for a while, then returned to the train station to wait for our return train. On the return trip we sat across from a young couple. She (Danielle) was from Lima and he (Ledjon) was from New York. The return snack was a chocolate brownie. There was also an Inca dance show and Alpaca fashion show during the ride back. We were met at the end of the train and driven back to our hotel. We were tired but thought we should eat, so we ordered from the in room menu. Another early wake up call was scheduled on Sunday for the condor tour.

Stairs up to the Machu Picchu overlook

Overlook view of Machu Picchu

Agricultural terraces

Switchback road for buses up to Machu Picchu

Sun Temple at Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu Millipede

Rock carved to match the mountain behind

Our guide Hamilton Daniel

Inca costume dancer

Alpaca fashion show

Peru: Lima, Nazca, Paracas

Day 1

A 4:30 am wake up Wednesday morning started our trip to Peru. We had an early flight to Newark where we connected to Lima. Janet drove us to OHare. Jennifer and I both had TSA precheck so security was easy. We spent a little while in the United club then went to the gate. We had good seats since my complimentary upgrade cleared Sunday morning. The flight left about 15 minutes late. I fell asleep and woke up as we were on final approach. We walked to the United club near our next gate to wait for the connecting flight. Some of the Newark clubs are being renovated so this was a temporary club created by building walls in an open corner of the terminal. There was no bathroom and limited snack options but it was furnished with the usual club seats & tables. 

United "Pop Up" Club

Waiting for the next flight

 Our flight to Lima boarded on time but departed late. The flight was full and the middle seat didn't stay empty. I gave the aisle up and sat next to Jennifer. Sometime early in the flight one of the flight attendants came to our row looking for Mr. Hamilton. I identified myself and she acknowledged my million miles with a congratulations and a high five. Later she mentioned it to a co-attendant during food service and he offered me a drink but I declined. As we were leaving the plane in Peru they congratulated me again and thanked me. Passport control went fairly quickly and there was no customs stop at all unless you had something to declare. We we found the car service easily and were quickly on our way to the hotel. The drive took about 40 minutes and included some random turns down side streets. I assume the driver was avoiding known traffic areas. We got checked in to the hotel and were upgraded into a room on the 24th floor with a view of the ocean. It was after midnight by the time we got settled in the room and we went straight to bed. 

Hotel Lobby

View from hotel room

Day 2

We had a 6:10 pickup for our Nazca Lines tour. We arranged the previous night for a 5 am wake up call and breakfast delivery at 5:15. We finished up breakfast and were in the lobby by 6:05 where we met the driver who took us to the bus station. He also bought our tickets and gave us instructions for boarding and for our return bus trip. It was nicely warm outside. The bus was a very comfortable air conditioned touring coach with wide 1st class style seats that had leg/foot rests and deep recline. Complimentary sandwiches and coffee or tea were served during the ride. Jennifer and I slept most of the nearly 4 hour trip to Paracas. 

Cruz Del Sur bus line

Luxury bus seats

We arrived at Paracas and were met by a driver who took us about 15 minutes to Pisco airport where we weighed in and passed through security. We then were told to hurry because the plane was waiting for us. We boarded the 10 seat plane and taxied to the runway. The takeoff was exhilarating. It took about 30 minutes to get to the lines. Once there a guide instructed us where to look to see each figure. We also had a guide card that showed how each figure should look. The pilot made 2 passes over each figure so both sides of the plane could see. The banked turns necessary to maneuver back and forth started to give me a little motion sickness but I was able to get over it. A couple of other passengers did not take it well and appeared to be quite sick. After seeing about a dozen different figures we returned to the airport.

Nazca Lines Flight

Nazca Lines Passengers

Spider

Lizard, Tree, & "Hands"

Condor

Our driver Elio took us to the Paracas National Reserve where an English speaking guide joined us. We drove into the reserve on a road made from salt mined from the reserve. We stopped to view fossils of shellfish that were easily seen embedded in the hard ground. Then we traveled to several scenic viewpoints along the coast including a view of an offshore island covered in guano that Peru used to export as fertilizer. After the tour we headed back to the bus station, stopping first at a cafe where Jennifer and I bought sandwiches and water. We ate our late lunch at an outdoor table behind the bus station. Our return bus was due at 4:10 pm but didn't arrive until 5 because of a flat tire. The return trip was as comfy as the first and we were treated to a beautiful sunset on the Peruvian pacific coast. We ate a late dinner in the hotel restaurant where we shared a fine Peruvian ceviche.

fossils

"The Cathedral"

Black Sand Coastline

Coastline

Red sand beach

Sunset on the south pacific