Trip to Peru 2016
Lima Aug-30-31
This is our guide Washington from the World Spree Tour - he was great and very knowledgeable about the history of Peru's Inca ancestors, and other
ancient cultures.
Joan's Daughter Lily posing with the tourist police.
View of Lima coastline from our Marriott Hotel room
Sacred Valley Sept 1-2
We had to get up at 4:30am in order to eat our buffet breakfast and get to the airport a rescheduled flight to
Cusco and the Sacred Valley
Lily and the Sacred Valley countryside with the Andes in the background
Marketplace along the road at one of many stops we made on the bus ride to our hotel.
The villagers greeted us with dancing and it was fun
This is a local delicacy -Guinea pig that some of the group tried but they only eat very small amounts of any meat
This is the local diet - many types of potatoes, tubers, and grains like quinoa.
The local women showed us how they spin and use plants to dye, and weave their wool from sheep, alpaca, and llamas
Each group has a distinctive hat that is exclusive to their community.
View of the Sacred Valley at about 10K feet
11 year old girl sheep herder and baby sister. The job is only for those under 11 and over 80 years of age. While stopped for the sheep herd crossing the
road our guide called her
onto the bus and gave her some packaged treats. She is in charge of babysitting her sister as well as the sheep. Her lunch in a bag was potatoes and root
vegetables.
This is the Inca site Moray believed to have been used to grow crops under different microclimates. The circular and multi level terraces each have a
slightly different temperature depending on how exposed to the sun and other elements.
The all-you-can-eat buffet lunch stop on our way to Ollantaytambo
This shows the Inca terraces at Ollantaytambo Lily and I climbed to the very top which was a good workout at 9,500 ft. Rain coats not needed after
a brief drizzle.
Train ride from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, the gateway to Machu Picchu
Aguas Calientes is where the shuttle busses transport the crowds uphill to Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu Sept 3
This is our first view of Machu Picchu after a steep uphill climb to get to the entry gate. We had beautiful weather after a rainy week there.
Best overall view of Machu Picchu - wow, we were able to get a full 4 hour tour of the entire site seen here. Our guide, Washington majored in Inca history and Machu Picchu
Another view of the site with guard tower and wall on the hillside above the ancient terraces.
We'll climb this another day
Shuttle bus road to and from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu
Hot and tired but happy after finishing the enjoyable tour
Aguas Calientes Sept 4
View of town from the hotel balcony
Entertainment on the train leaving Aguas Calientes to return to Ollantaytambo station..
Cusco Sept 5-6
Christ the redeemer statue scaled down was a gift from Rio - On Cusco park with Lily
Here we are at Sacsayhuaman (pronounced sexywoman) on top of a hill overlooking Cusco. It was explained how the Incas shaped and moved these huge
stones, not placed by aliens
as rumors claimed.
Washington, our guide, said that if you looked at this structure from the air it is built in a zig-zag form to resemble a lightning bolt.
Amazing multi-ton stones surrounding a fist made of large stones. (Sacsayhuaman)
Inca stone work in Cusco that the Spanish Conquistadors built on top of.
Main Square in Cusco
One of the main tourist streets in San Blas shopping area. Note the owner and llama who charges for picture taking.
This was a quiet little vegan restaurant we found in Cusco near our hotel.
This is our group at an archaeological site on the way to Puno & Lake Titicaca
Megalithic temple walls of Racchi.
A bathroom stop along the way altitude 14,200 ft. Beautiful glaciers on the mountain peaks.We were OK with the high altitudes. This was the highest spot on the
trip, then downhill into Puno and our Hotel at Lake Titicaca.
Puno - Lake Titicaca 7-8
Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca with everything made of reeds that grow in the lake.
Market Place on the floating Island we visited with the opportunity to shop and buy hand woven textiles of every kind.
The group boarded a large reed boat to sail other islands and we were given a singing good-bye by our hostesses.
Locals rowing us to other islands
You can stay on this floating island in one of these cabins. They are nice inside. Note there is a restaurant next door.
Restaurant on floating island
We were all dressed up in woven colorful ponchos.
All of us delighted in playing "dress-up". The skirts were heavy - we like our jeans.
All this posing was after a wonderful lunch the hosts prepared for us.
One last stop for photos on the way back to Juliaca airport and a return to Lima
Return to Lima and fly home.
