Annie's 2 cents

Ron has been hogging the PC or we're out exploring or I'm resting up from the adventures and the altitude.  So I will probably do my writing and pictures from home next week. 

But --- I have to say Macu Picchu was an amazing, at times overpowering experience.

All morning Machu Picchu was wreathed in mist, shrouded in mystery, but still green and so beautiful.  Around one the sun broke through at last, the last clouds lifted, and there was the sacred mountain Wayna Picchu.  I stood at the high altar and wept, my heart was so full of joy and gratitude

Day 3 Cusco to Aguas Calientes

Woke up feeling a bit better today. Today we travel from Cusco to Ollantaytambo via van with several stops for sightseeing, then take a train to Aguas Calientes which is on the river at the bottom of Machu Picchu where we will overnight before Machu Picchu. On the way, we visit the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and the Pisac Market, which is the biggest Saturday market in the area. You could spend many hours here. Everything from crafts, art, local fresh food, to soup and nuts. This is really more of a local market where the natives come to shop,, and sell with a  mix of tourists. Great spot, would have loved to spend more time there.

On the way we also saw the 3,000 salt mines (ho hum) in Maras, and then the circular terraces at Mora built by the Incas in natural sinkholes where they adapted plants to different altitudes. Quite ingeniouw those Incas, as we were only beginning to see. By lunch, I am feeling fine, but Annie is now beginning to get altitude sickness. who knows why this happens, but is has occurred this way before.

After lunch, it's on to Ollantayambo, which has a number of Inca ruins of it's own, but we will not put up any pictures, since anything else pales compared to Manchu Picchu. From Ollantayambo, we board the train for an hour and a half ride through the valley beside a raging river before arriving at Aguas Calientes, a village of about 2,000 people. This is the point that almost everyone stays when visiting Manchu Picchu. From there, it's a 20 minute bus ride up to the Inca Ruins, but more on that in the next blog.

Cusco Day 3

Flight from Lima (sea level) to Cusco (over 11,000 feet) was ok, but on the arrival, I had a bad case of altitude sickness. Otherwise, this is known as a really bad hangover withouts the joy of the previous night's buzz (or so I've heard). At any rate, drank 3 cups of Coca tea to try to combat the sickness, but did not notice any benefit. Went to bed for a few hours, and felt a little better then. Annie did not notice altitude sickness. We went out for a bit to shop, take some pictures, and saw the big cathedral. See photo at the right. Ate some soup for dinner and then went to bed.

Lima Day 2

The education continues..... Glad that we are leaving tomorrow, as this city is too big and polluted. At any rate took a tour today of several interesting places including the Presidental Palace, the Cathedeal, a great museum (more on that to follow), and some other city sights. Most obvious was the TRAFFIC! Do you get the picture that it is a pain? Yep. I personally liked the museum, especially the separate erotic part. Note the two figures that were on the bathroom doors. I'll leave it to you to figure out which one you would have gone in to use.

Duh, even I figured this out..............

Typical traffic in Lima.......

Actually, this does not show the worst of it. There would be parts where there were many full city buses belching out fumes.

Ah, but better times were to come at the museum, as the preview above indicates......

The museum went from very primitave to very advanced in terms of art from different periods in Peru. The pottery at the left is a great example of some with great detail.

We are told that there are over 47,000 items in the museum. Many are not even on display in the main part, as they are in glass cases not normally seen by the pubic.

And now on the part you have all been waiting for..........the erotic museum. Well ok, maybe not, but here it is anyway (or should I say only a sampling).

We'll leave this one to your imagination.

We have progressed through good times, bad times, political turmoil, struggles, progress, and now courtesy of the internet we bring you art from  the past.

                                                       Some things never change...............

And that folks is the end of the brief preview for today. We are off to Cusco tomorrow where we will test our ability to function in much higher atmosphere. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Lima Day 1

What I learned - Day 1.

Lima is a city of 9 million that is noisy, dirty, city, and has horrible traffic. We spent the first day in Lima Peru exploring on our own. After getting our bearings, we went to the local pyramid which is solid, and built out of adobe hand made bricks.See the view from the bottom looking up.

But things looked up considerably when we found a nice resturant with good beer! My kind of place.