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Halfway through Peru
Nov. 23rd, 2009 01:37 pmI am about halfway through this vacation so thought it was worth a quick summary update.
I was quite relieved to be met as arranged at Lima airport, but surprised driver had trouble finding the hotel. I spent the next day meandering around the colonial center, which is like every other Spanish colonial city center. The cathedral with Pissaro´s remains was especially impressive.
Then I flew to Cusco but went straight from the airport to Ollantaytambo so I could acclimate somewhere not quite so high up. I miscalculated and Ollanta is really 9260 feet (which is still better than the almost 11,000 of Cusco). That made both the walk to and from town and, particularly, the climb up the couple of hundred steps of the fortress rather challenging. I also took a basketweaving lesson.
Next came the train to Aguas Calientes (6700 feet) and a splurgy night at the Inkaterra Lodge. I went straight up to Machu Picchu (7898) and climbed about another thousand steps there. Down is actually harder than up. I did not walk every single inch of the site, but saw enough to satisfy myself and tire myself out. The alpacas were not very cooperative with respect to lighting for photos.
Today has been chill out and recover day, though I did do two walks on the lodge property this morning (one to see spectacled bears and one to look at orchids). I´ll take the train up to Cusco in a couple of hours. Tomorrow is an excursion to Pisac. Then I´ll have part of a day to explore Cusco, followed by a long bus ride to Nazca. Then back to Lima and back home. And I´ll be four travelogues behind, sigh.
I was quite relieved to be met as arranged at Lima airport, but surprised driver had trouble finding the hotel. I spent the next day meandering around the colonial center, which is like every other Spanish colonial city center. The cathedral with Pissaro´s remains was especially impressive.
Then I flew to Cusco but went straight from the airport to Ollantaytambo so I could acclimate somewhere not quite so high up. I miscalculated and Ollanta is really 9260 feet (which is still better than the almost 11,000 of Cusco). That made both the walk to and from town and, particularly, the climb up the couple of hundred steps of the fortress rather challenging. I also took a basketweaving lesson.
Next came the train to Aguas Calientes (6700 feet) and a splurgy night at the Inkaterra Lodge. I went straight up to Machu Picchu (7898) and climbed about another thousand steps there. Down is actually harder than up. I did not walk every single inch of the site, but saw enough to satisfy myself and tire myself out. The alpacas were not very cooperative with respect to lighting for photos.
Today has been chill out and recover day, though I did do two walks on the lodge property this morning (one to see spectacled bears and one to look at orchids). I´ll take the train up to Cusco in a couple of hours. Tomorrow is an excursion to Pisac. Then I´ll have part of a day to explore Cusco, followed by a long bus ride to Nazca. Then back to Lima and back home. And I´ll be four travelogues behind, sigh.
