| GALAPAGOS & PERU 1997 - Part Three
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Thursday, 15 May, 1997 - Lima - Cusco
We told Pepe the next morning that we wanted to be put in a nice
hotel for our return trip through Lima, and we gave him the name of one recommended by my travel agent. We told him that we didn't care if it cost extra, we just wanted to be put there.
We flew Americana airlines to Cusco, which was a lovely old town at about 12,000 feet above sea-level. We arrived around 9:30 a.m. and were met at the airport by Umberto, who saw us to the Dorado hotel and advised that our guided tour of Cusco would start at 2:00 p.m. They gave us some Coca tea to take the edge off our altitude adjustment, and we went to our rooms and rested for a while.
We all (excluding Lou) wandered off through town and stopped at the
Bagdad Cafe for lunch. Had a very interesting hamburger platter - more vegetable than ham - complete with a fried egg on top. Hmmm. We took some pictures and headed back to the hotel. We found the large tank of oxygen standing in the hotel lobby for the benefit of the altitude weary guests and took a couple of tries at it.
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Our guided tour of Cusco was very interesting. We stopped at a
Dominican church that had been built on the old Incan Temple of the Sun. Much of the Incan architecture is exposed and it is a striking contrast to the newer church structures. Next we went to the Cusco Cathedral, which was very lovely and filled with beautiful paintings and carvings. We then traveled outside of town to the Incan ruins of Sacsaywaman, along with several other sites with long, unpronounceable names. The Incan workmanship was truly impressive,
and to this day, no one has been able to determine how the stones were made to fit exactly with one another, with flawless angles and surfaces.
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We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant; I had spaghetti bolognese which was OK. We all made a diving leap for the exit when the roving mariachi-ish band began. I was beginning to think they were following us. Cheryl and I asked to have our room moved, as there were people hammering in the building next door to us earlier. We were moved to the other side of the building, and we both sleep soundly.
Friday, 16 May, 1997 - Cusco - Machu Picchu
Breakfast with the REALLY strong Peruvian coffee (Cafe con leche).
I figured out the secret - put just enough cafe in the cup to cover the bottom, then fill the rest with milk. Gary and John told us that they (foolishly) did NOT ask to have their room moved, and the workmen returned to the construction site at 1:00 a.m. We checked our unnecessary luggage, and Umberto met us downstairs to take us to the bus station. We had a lovely two+ hour bus ride through some dramatic scenery, and through the Sacred Valley of the Incas. We then took a train to the "Machu Picchu Base Camp", our luggage was deposited with the hotel reps and we were swept up into a bus headed up the steep canyon walls to the ruins.
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We had lunch at the ONLY restaurant, complete with yet another
band of Peruvian youths in serapes. After that we had apparently done enough penance to be able to see the ruins.
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Wow. There is no way to really have any sense of the size and
majesty of Machu Picchu without seeing it in person. We were shown the temples, houses, aqueducts, courtyards, etc., and it was just so impressive. The absolute lush green of the surrounding mountains was a striking contrast to the precise stonework of the buildings and terraces. Of special importance is the focus that the Incans put on the location of the sun at both the summer and winter solstices. The buildings were designed to have windows that let in the sun at either of these peaks, and there was a massive stone sundial at the top of one of the temples.
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We took the last bus back down, and located our hotel, the Pueblo
Machu Picchu.. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the hotel is modern, clean and beautiful. We decided to eat in the hotel restaurant, and met up with Julie, a young woman who was on our tour. The food was very good despite the presence of the Peruvian Band (same young guys from the lunch restaurant). We nicknamed them, "Pepe and his Husky Vermouth Band" (No, don't worry, you really had to be there for that to make ANY sense).
Julie recommended that when we return to Lima, we should go to the Museo Nacional, rather than the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum), where most of the tourists go. There is a special exhibit of Sipan (a warrior whose tomb was found in Northern Peru 10 years ago). Sipan has been on exhibit around the world for the past year, and is on exhibition in Peru for the first time.
Gary ordered a nice bottle of Chilean white wine for the table,
which was very tasty. I had an avocado salad (became addicted to avocados on the boat), and a ham and cheese omelet with french fries. A-B-E: 8-7-8
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