Anne in Zodiac Pointing

More views from the boat

Yesterday which may have been Thursday

We started the day with excellent 1/2 hour massages, and then we enjoyed an hour in a quiet cove in a double sea kayak.  A school of giant rays swam swam around us and many sea lions barked in caves and on the rocks all around us. The water 💦 is this color and you can easily see to the bottom. Dinner was served instead of buffet. Anne and I are still having to be careful about what we eat, so no dairy or sauces ...😕. Last night when I went out on the observation deck, it seemed as if the stars were much closer than at home. Orion was directly overhead, and I saw a satellite that was spinning around in a tight circle - I imagined that it was a google device taking photos of some area on the planet.

I have learned that is better to post photos in smaller sets, so here is one from the boat:

Argh

The internet is EXPENSIVE and slow on this boat, so my posting will be resricted these next few days. Life aboard is good. This afternoon we go sea kayaking, and tomorrow we go snorkeling. Here are a few shots from yesterday.

Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos 

There is a cemetery behind this wall.

Anne’s Post (Will upload photo later)

Machu Picchu might have inspired the adage about the journey being as important as the destination. It is still hard to get to, even going in the most expeditious and comfortable way possible as we did.

I left the hotel in Urubamba at 9:45 am and returned about 9:30 pm. Of those almost 12 hours, we spent two hours touring MP. The rest was spent getting to the train, on the train, walking through the chaotic base camp town of Aguas Calientes to get to the bus up the mountain to the site, and then doing the bus, walk, and train, and shuttle back. Still, there’s no doubt that it’s worth it. And if I weren’t going there the luxury route, there’s no doubt that I never would have made it on this particularly difficult day.

Our first-class train resembled the dining car of the Orient Express with tables for two and four laden with linens and stemware. Before we boarded, we were offered champagne in a special waiting room and a three-course lunch with wine during the 90-minute ride to Aguas  Calientes. Except for water and tea, literally none of it was what the doctor had ordered and I said “no gracias” to 99.9% of it, feeling like a rude guest. My table companions, two midwesterners traveling solo who’d been assigned to room together but already seemed like old friends, were sympathetic companions. The scenery provided extra diversion and I was busy taking photos to try and capture some of the experience for Ray, who weighed heavily on my mind and spirit.

Once there, we climbed, and I panted, up a twisting stone staircase with no rail that must be wicked slippery after rain. After the climb, our first view was panoramic and breathtaking. The day was mostly clear and cool but not hot.  The ancient village spread out in all its glory. It does look like a place where humans could live, too, unlike most ancient ruins, nestled in a cleft between massive mountain tops with the river flowing far below. There’s little to no modern signage or other clutter to mar the allusion that this improbable almost impossible place really exists in some ways as it has for hundreds of years. And you’re allowed to sit on the smooth, cool stones, as long as your feet touch the ground.

We enjoyed a wondrous day among giant tortoises and learned gobs about their history here in these islands and what the Darwin research center is doing to preserve the various species. We are on the 45 person Islander that is like a four star hotel! Both recovered and ready for hiking and sea kayaking tomorrow. Anne is working on her Macchu Pichu post which will be up soon.

Machu Picchu

I did not post yesterday because I was sick and angry! Anne and I both woke up with the demon food poisoning having reared its ugly head. Fortunately the hotel was able to call a doctor who came to our room fairly quickly with an assistant. We were examined, given shots, and a ton of medications. We had missed the morning bus, but Anne was able to make a later connection for the trip to Machu Picchu. I was too knocked out and proceeded to sleep for most of the day. So I missed one of the main attractions of our trip, and spent the day alone and miserable.

My precsiptions

Anne will provide her summary of the day’s events.

Alas today was simply a travel day with a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to Cuzco, a 1 hour flight to Lima, lunch in a hotel, a long wait for a flight to Quayaquil, a 1/2 hour flight, and then a 45 minute process to get settled on our (albeit exquisite) hotel room by 8:30 PM. And we to get up 5:30 AM tomorrow for another flight to the Galapolos!

Cusco

We made it to breakfast by 5:30 AM, met our tour group (44 people), and to the bus, and to the plane and to Cusco by 11 AM, all in a fog. Our tour leader, Saul, (we are divided into 3 buses) looks just like Gael Garcia Bernal (from Mozart in the Jungle - we loved it), and is excellent. We hit the highlights of Cusco (a few photos follow), then went to Chinchero where Quechua native women run a weaving community using traditional techniques to produce beautiful textiles for everything from small purses to ponchos. Now we are staying in a 5 star resort hotel in the Sacred Valley - the ultimate in Luxury ( https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/cuztl-tambo-del-inka-a-luxury-collection-resort-and-spa-valle-sagrado/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2).

We did struggle some with the altitude today, made a bit more challenging by our recovery from the “tourista”, but the experiences of Cusco and Chinchero caried us through. Much more to say about the people and the culture and the history than I have energy for tonight. Even being a tourist among many as part of a large tourist group in places that are doing everything they can to cater to tourists, I still felt the awe and mystery of these places.

Down Day

Anne and I both woke this morning with healthy cases of “tourista” which were likely the result of something we ate last night (the serviche is my prime suspect). We took immodium and dragged ourselves through the process of packing and checking out of the Dazzler - which tops my list of weird hotel names - though it was perfectly fine for one night.

Then we dove back into traffic madness, as our Uber driver demonstrated skill at the Peruvian game of vehicular chicken. One day we saw what looked like a driver getting a traffic ticket and wondered what he could possibly have done that crossed the line. In addition to the absence of the concept of voluntary yielding, which creates the ideal conditions for bumper cars (though in all the time we spent in cars going here and there, I never saw one vehicle touch another), the highway design and frequent blockage of the right lane force three solid rows of bumper to bumper traffic to merge down to two lanes - or with worse adverse impact on traffic flow, the two left lanes become stopped up attempting to turn left against a steady stream of oncoming traffic, forcing all those trying to continue forward into the far right lane, unless of course it is blocked by one of the many rickety minibuses dropping off or picking up riders, in which case gridlock prevails amidst a cacophony of honking horns.

I was able to categorize the honking into at least four groups: 1) taxi drivers asking a pedestrians if they would like a taxi (random pooling seems pretty common); 2) a driver warning another driver that they were insisting on the right of way; 3) a driver warning pedestrians crossing against the light or in the middle of the road to run faster or else; and 4) a driver who is justifiably angry at some manouver that crossed a line that all would agree was reckless and stupid (a difficult threshold to define here).

We arrived safely after the 60 minute ride to our hotel, the Lima Airport Holday Inn, at 2:00 pm, check in time! And this is where we have mostly slept since, now wondering if we should risk dinner.  We have learned that we have to have our luggage outside the hotel room door by 6 am. Clearly some moments in any journey stink.

Doing Lima

After settling in to our new hotel, somewhat pretentiously named Dazzler, we ubered to the Lima museum of art where we saw pottery in various forms as old as 1,600 years bc. The exhibit was well organized to show the history of Peruvian art up to present. We have leaned a great deal about the history of Peru, and have come to appreciate what a journey it has been. The country is rich in minerals with gold high on the list and lithium soon to become an even more important export. Last night we had dinner with Gonzalo, a close relative of Connie’s (mother of Elizabeth and active participant in the Whimsey Cove frame shop.)

He is highly educated with excellent English and a fascinating life story having worked for the World Bank and UN and about to embark on a new career as an independent consultant.

This evening meet up with our tour group at a hotel airport and tomorrow we fly to Cusco, “a city in the Peruvian Andes, which was once capital of the Inca Empire, and is now known for its archaeological remains and Spanish colonial architecture.”

Photos from our walk around the park with the Museum of Art.