What a way to start a trip! We did make it to Quito...eventually...but the rather unlikely chain of events made us think that the "forces that be" were sending us a message! Getting to San Francisco, the first leg of our trip, went smoothly, until we took the wrong shuttle to our hotel. Apparently there are TWO Hampton Inns near…
We began our day in a bit of a daze--a combination of lack of sleep and a bit of altitude effect. But after a great breakfast (with good strong tasty coffee) we began to feel more normal. We chatted a bit with one of the owners of our hotel, Portal de Cantuna, and found out that the building was 200…
Another delayed flight--what's the message here??!! But we did make it finally to Manta and our transfer taxi was waiting. The air was hotter and more humid on the coast and the landscape reflected this, being a combination of arid grassland and lush tropical jungle. Puerto Lopez, our destination, a few hours from the airport, is a dusty ramshackle coastal…
The trip from Puerto Lopez to Cuenca was the only segment of travel I did not plan in advance. There was no easy way to travel between the two towns. We had a choice--take 2 buses on a 9 hour trip for about $50, or take a private taxi and then a shuttle van for a 7 hour trip costing…
What do you know, we actually had a flight leave as scheduled for Cusco. Arriving at the airport we were taken aback by the sheer numbers of people with signs waiting for incoming visitors. Of course, we didn't see our pickup taxi, but he eventually showed up late.
The drive to Pisac took just over an hour. We chose this town…
We arrived at Ollanta (as it is known) in the late afternoon. This unique town, the best preserved Inca village in Peru, is characterized by narrow cobblestone streets, streams flowing down the sides (reminding us of Liijiang China) and a large central square.
Today was the day I cross an item off my bucket list! Visiting Machu Picchu was a main reason for our trip south of the equator and it almost didn't happen. I booked the whole experience through a travel agency in Cusco as it would be easier than trying to navigate the government website (in Spanish). Everything also needs to…
RELIABLE INTERNET AGAIN!
We decided to hire a driver/guide to take us to Cusco as there were a number of interesting sites enroute and the local buses would not take us there. We had prebooked Percy Salas to pick us up at our hotel first thing in the morning. Percy was a middle-aged man who once worked for the tourism dpeartment…
The Inka Express is a bus transfer from Cusco to Puno specifically designed for tourists. It is a 10 hour trip that is broken up into segments by stops at interesting sites and a stop for lunch.
In the morning we were picked up by All Ways Travel, a local recommended tour company. Our guide was Miguel and there were 8 of us on the tour.
The boat took us first to Uros, which is a group of islands made of reeds---no it is not a typo, they are really made from reeds! The people that actually live…
We're home now, feeling comfortable amidst familiar things again, but there is one more chapter in our adventure to record. We planned our last week to be settled in one place in order to begin to wind down from the hectic pace of the trip. The Amazonian jungle seemed to be the right place to do this, so we set…
The first thing we did upon arriving at our hotel in Lima was to have a HOT shower (not available in the jungle!). Then, appreciating the cool sheets and air-conditioned room (but actually missing the constant drone of jungle insects), we passed our last night in South America in blissful slumber. We had spent the night in Lima a few…