This was our first escorted tour. We were a little unsure how it would go, because we had always traveled on our own. We chose Gate1for the tour. We flew down a day early to spend some time with Zach’s sister Celeste and niece Caleigh. We had a nice day at the beach and an enjoyable evening with Celeste and her friends.
We depart for Lima on Sunday afternoon. After a five and a half hour flight, we met the other 23 members of our tour group and were bussed to our hotel, Casa Andina Miraflores. After check-in, we went out to buy a bottle of wine. It was too late, wine sales closed at 11pm.
The hotel was only six blocks away from the Pacific; so, the next morning, after breakfast, we took a quick walk down to the cliffs overlooking the beach.
That morning we went on a Lima highlights. The colonial center of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its historic buildings surrounding the splendid Plaza Mayor, including the Palace of the Archbishop, Government Palace, and the 16th century Cathedral of Lima whose first stone was laid by Francisco Pizarro.
From there we went to the 17th century Monasterio de San Francisco complex with its ornate tiles and ceilings, world-renowned paintings and library, and catacombs with thousands of dead. No pictures were allowed. We did buy some post cards though.
That afternoon, we went to the Larco Herrara Museum, considered the best museum in Lima. As a bonus, it had beautiful gardens.
It has the world's largest collection of pre-Columbian masterpieces and a stunning exhibition of gold and priceless jewels.
That evening we went to a dinner with a Peruvian dance show. The food was disappointing and the highlight of the dance was Zach dancing on stage with the dancers!
That night the tour manager said we would need a vacation from this vacation to Peru. He was right! The next morning we had to get up a 430 am to catch a flight to Cuzco. Cuzco is the ancient capital of the Incan Confederation and the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.
Before checking into our hotel, Casa Andina Sacred Valley, our bus took us along roads with farms and small villages through the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Enroute, we stopped in Chinchero for a weaving demonstration and lunch.
After that, we walked through a traditional market in Urubamba. A crazy place!
On the morning of day 4, we visited the impressive Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo, an ancient complex of temples and terraces towering high over the valley, the last stand of the Incas in their defense against the Spanish conquistadores.
That afternoon, we went to the town of Maras. On the way there, Zach stopped to help a farmer plow his field!
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The nearby salt evaporation ponds in Moras were an amazing maze of ponds that feed from one source, a very small salt-water stream flowing out of a mountain. Oh Yeah, that mountain was 13,000 feet above sea level. We were in the Andes the youngest mountains on earth. This area used to be at sea level, thus, a salt-water stream at that high of elevation.
From there we went to Moray, a remarkable agricultural center that demonstrates the ancient Incan's mastery of high-altitude crop growing. It was a large complex of perfectly circular depressions in the earth that historians believe were used to study climatic condition for growing different crops.
Every day was exciting and interesting, but the next day was the primary reason we went to Peru, Machu Picchu. Zach is still recovering from his Achilles repair; so, we were not about to hike there as much as we wanted. The day started at 5am to take us to Sacred Valley's Ollanta Station to board the train to the astonishing ancient citadel of Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu, the "Lost City of the Incas,” is designated by UNESCO as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Some highlights include the imposing Temple of the Sun, Temple of the Condor the House of the Priest, the Sacred Plaza, the intricately carved rock likely used as a sundial by the ancient Incas and the Inca Gate.
We went to the plaza,
and discovered a street parade.
In the afternoon, we visited the Colonial Cathedral with a main alter of silver and one side alter of gold and a collection of over 400 paintings (only postcards there),
the Temple of the Sun, at the Convent of Santo Domingo,
and the fortress/religious area of Sacsayhuaman, which took over seven decades to complete. That was on top the mountain at 13,000 feet and a big wind was blowing. It was the only time we were cold on our trip.
The next day was an all-day bus ride through the Andes Mountains to Puno with stops at Raqchi and Temple of Wiracocha, the largest Inca temple ever discovered.
The highest point on the drive was 14,200 feet.
That evening we arrived at our hotel, Jose Antonio, Puno, on the shore of Lake Titicaca. At 12,500 feet above sea level, it is the highest navigable lake in the world and South America's largest fresh water lake.
The next day was 2nd most interesting only to Machu Picchu. We went to Floating Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca. They are really floating! These islands are completely man-made structures, using the totora reeds from the lake to build the islands and houses.
We even ate the inside of the reeds.
In the afternoon, we went to the Sillustani Tombs, the pre-Incan burial ground on the shores of Lake Umayo. The tombs are built above the ground in tower-like structures called chullpas, vestiges of the Colla people before they were conquered by the Incas in the 15th century.
Zach crawled inside one for this picture.
The next morning we flew back to Lima, after a 430am wake-up, again staying at the Casa Andina Miraflores. We had a free afternoon and walked down by the cliffs overlooking the Ocean to the Park of Love.
That night we had our farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
The next morning up at 5am for our flight back to Miami. Another night with Celeste and a Lobster dinner to end our trip!
