Peru - day 3

Day 3 was a full day tour of Cusco and the highlands while en route to Ollaytantambo, the city where we would begin our 4 day hike to MP. We explored the ruins of Pisac,  visited a remote village where we fed the llamas, learned about yarn making & dying and shopped for some 100% alpaca souvenirs.

view of Cusco

our gang, the Sexy Llamas (from L to R)

 Grant and Megan (Toronto), Brian (Calgary), Jen (Toronto), Patrick & Eri (Boston), Kathleen and Donald (Ireland), Trevor (Calgary), in front: Donya (Manhattan), Lilly (New Jersey), Paul (in back) and Sara (in front) (England) and Andy (England)

We felt so lucky to have such a great group of people to travel with, they made our trip that much better!

the children there are so precious and look like darling little porcelain dolls, they were so sweet

feeding the llamas and alpacas and learning the difference between the two

the Sacred Valley

snack break: empanadas from a local 'bakery'

Guinea Pig farm. Pigs are a huge delicacy there and many families farm them and sell them to restaurants to make a living. (More on that to come)

Pisac

farming terraces

After lunch and a hot, cramped bus ride we got to Ollayantambo where we explored another ruin and turned in early to prepare for our 4 day trek ahead of us. 

mountainside prison

stairs, stairs and more stairs. scary indication of what is to come on the inka trail

ps. this was not a good looking vacation for me. I seemed to look like I was roughing it from day 1!

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Peru - days 1 & 2

I can't believe we planned to go to Peru a year ago and now it has already come and gone. Here is a rundown of our trip (prepare for a serious picture overload)..

If you take them, be prepared for me to post them

Day 1 (and two) were spent looking pretty haggard both due to our red eye flight from Mexico City to Lima and the fact that when we got to Lima we were informed after 25 minutes of searching that our bag was still in Las Vegas. So much for showing up 2.5 hrs early to the airport to avoid such catastrophes. Luckily we each had 1 change of clothes & garments! The Lima Temple also was very gracious towards us (not surprisingly, saints are truly that-saints!) and our rugged appearance and allowed us into their gorgeous temple to do the Lord's work.

We spent the rest of our time in Lima (24 hrs total) exploring, eating delicious cinnamon butter stuffed croissants, avoiding car rides (there are pretty much no traffic laws as we found out and poor Jeffrey threw up as soon as we pulled up to our hotel. He (we) spent the rest of our trip dreading our cramped bus rides) and meeting up with our group/guide who we would be with during our hike to Machu Picchu.

the Gorgeous Lima, Peru Temple

Day 2  Started with an early flight to Cusco, Peru, where we checked into our hotel and had a detailed orientation about the adventure hike we were about to embark on. We were then treated to a walking tour of the city, a delicious and simple peruvian lunch and a much needed shower and change of clothes once our bag was recovered!

 

The flight to Cusco is about 1 hour straight up. The elevation gain is so much so that there is no real descent when landing. It's a very strange feeling.

The main plaza, the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America

King Pachacutti ( poch-a-cootie), he was the one who built Macchu Picchu

Inka Kola is a very sweet version of cream soda that fizzes on your tongue after you swallow it