After 23 hours of travel, we are home from Peru. I have been mostly awake for the last 36 hours with a few small snatches of sleep and consider myself functional but very dull. As I wait for a reasonable hour to crawl into my own comfy bed, I am working on laundry, photos and notes.
We had an incredible trip! Aside from excursions to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, our trip included visits to 3 very distinct cities: Cusco, Aguas Calientes, and Puno. At 10,800′, Cusco is the gateway to the Scared Valley. It is a tourist town and is a center for shopping and eating. We did an abundance of both. Aguas Calientes is at the base of Machu Picchu mountain and is the entry and/or exit point for Machu Picchu. AC is a laid back town filled with international tourists toting backpacks and trekking poles. Finally, Puno is the highest town we visited. At 12,500′, Puno is geared toward locals and accommodating to tourists. Puno is one of 3 entry cities to Lake Titicaca. The other 2 are in Bolivia.
I will write more about our trip in later posts but thought I would post a few photos of us in various places.
John and me just inside the gate at Machu Picchu. The guy with us is Freddy, the SAS expedition guide who led our 4 day Inca Trail backpack in 2004 (see photo below). Freddy recognized John immediately and stopped to speak to him. He has moved to a different expedition service because he says SAS treats their local porters poorly.
A photo from our 2004 trek on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. On the left is Freddy, our guide and yes, he has cut his hair. This picture was taken on Dead Woman’s Pass, which is roughly 13,800′
The classic photo of Machu Picchu with Huayna (younger) Picchu mountain towering on the right side of the city. Note the smaller mountain just to the left of Huayna Picchu.
John and me on the top of the smaller mountain. John’s son Lee hiked with us and is taking the photo. We had a private tour of Machu Picchu, which started later than we initially planned and ran some 40 minutes longer than expected so we ran out of time to hike Huayna Picchu. We decided to climb this little mountain instead and were not disappointed with the view (see photo below).
This is our view from the smaller mountain. The city of Machu Picchu is literally carved into Machu (older) Picchu mountain. The upper part of the city (terraces) was agricultural. Pretty impressive, huh!
Another view from the smaller mountain. Machu Picchu is surrounded by mountain ranges as far as the eye can see!
John and me on the train from Cusco to Puno and I am not feeling well. It was a 10 hour train ride and I was on Day 1 of a gastrointestinal bug. I didn’t realize how sick I was until the next night when we finally took my temp and realized it was almost 102. Oh well, the train ride was fun and the food artistic! I slept for several hours as we rumbled through the mountains. Most of the rest of the time we sat in the open car on the back of the train and watched the ever changing landscape.
Sunset in the high plains of Peru. Photo shot during our train ride several hours outside of Puno. We are at about 12,800′.
Our group on one of the floating islands on Lake Titicaca. We are sampling the root end of reeds that grow in the lake. The reeds are used for food, housing, fuel and to maintain the island. Believe it or not, the reeds taste something like cucumber. Our group from left: my sister Leslie, John’s older son Daniel, his younger son Lee, John and me. Behind us are a group of houses. Locals usually just use their homes for sleeping and spend the rest of the time outside.
Here we sit inside a reed home. Selling crafts to tourists is the main source of income for the islanders and we did our part to help support them. I purchased the mobile in my hand. My sister has a beautiful embroidered tapestry in her lap (she purchased an embroidered pillow). From left: Lee, John, me and Leslie.
John and me on the boat ride home from the floating islands. You can see the reeds behind us. The area around the reeds was full of beautiful waterfowl including a duck that had a bill as bright blue as my jacket.
A group of school children participating in a parade on the main square in Puno. The parade was a once a year celebration to give the school kids (grades 1-5) a chance to show off their costumes and dances. Each school had a different costume and dance and there must have been 50 schools. We spent over an hour watching and taking photos.
