Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu

It is hard to believe that I arrived in Peru less than 10 days ago. So many things have happened and I have already had numerous adventures (as well as some minor misadventures)! I arrived in Lima after a pleasant 4 hour flight from Managua. Carmen, a friend from my days at CIRI, arranged for me to stay with her brother in Lima for my short 24 hour visit there. The Lima airport was crazy, but luckily, Carmen´s brother arranged for a car to pick me up and to take me to Miraflores, an upscale part of Lima and the location of his apartment. I had a great time at Larcomar and in Miraflores with Jose and his girlfriend before moving on to Cusco!

Cusco is over 11,000 feet and I certainly felt the altitude when I had to climb the long set of stairs to my hotel. The weather was also quite a contrast to Nicaragua and to Lima. It was freezing! I met up with a couple of the people joining Dragoman and toured the city a bit. The central plaza was impressive even in the pouring rain.

Dragoman is a British adventure type tour group. The group I am joining started in Lima and will travel ultimately to Rio de Janerio, Brazil. The group is made up of folks from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Australia, France, Holland, Great Britian, Scotland, and Egypt, ranging in age from 19 to 62. I am also joined by one other American woman but she is leaving the group tomorrow so I will be the sole American on the tour. That is just fine with me. Everyone in the group is extremely well traveled and has amazing stories. I am really enjoying getting to know such interesting people. My Spanish skills are not really going to improve with this group, but my Norwegian is getting better!

I spent the next three days on a beautiful and challenging trek on ancient Incan trails and through tiny mountain communities near Cusco and Pisaq, reaching heights over 15,000 feet. It was exhilerating and, literally, breathtaking. I have to admit that at the tops of the passes chewing the coco leaves really helped (or at least lifted my spirits!). I can´t even begin to describe the beauty of the mountain passes and our camping sites, as well as the people that live and farm in the area. I wanted to spend weeks more on those trails...On Day 3 we arrived at a wonderful hot springs and soaked our sore bodies in the soothing water. The trip was over and we were all tired and wet, but happy as well.

Yesterday we arrived at Machu Picchu. It was a mindblowing day! It is currently the wet season in Peru and consequently also the low season for tourism. However, at Machu Picchu, there were plenty of tourists and considering I hadn´t seen any tourists in several days, it was a bit jarring, but both the train ride and the site itself were magical and well worth the hassle of some overcrowding.

Machu Picchu really is one of the 7 wonders of the world. I went on a three hour cultural tour that took us all over the site and then spent the rest of the day just wandering around and staring. Clouds and rain storms passed through quickly and alternated with blazing sun. It was simply a thrill to be there and I hated leaving.

Today we are all exploring more of Cusco and catching up on laundry. I can´t believe how dirty everything I own is! Tomorrow I am moving on to Puno, Peru.

If you are interested in seeing more photos, try this link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112457896511557975831/February172012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJHSjNOqp7eYCw&feat=directlink

Ciao,
Kelly