Day 9: Peru - home again, home again!

An amazing #3GenCPeru trip! 

To Sees on my next Peru trip:

Lima (for a day and night)

Salinas de Maras 

Cusco again

Climb Toqllaraju, Huascarab, Cordillera Blanca... or any other Andes mountains, so many options - like a candy store! 

Nazca Lines 

Ballestas Islands (Peru's Galapagos)

Arequipa 

Books to read:

The Conquest of the Incas, Hemming

Touching the Void, Simpson

Wizard of the Upper Amazon, Cordova-Rios

Our trip was amazing, everyday packed with action. A most memorable experience for our three generations. 

Hope you enjoyed it too! 

In closing, i do believe with the growing unrest in Europe and the rest of the world, travel to the central and south Americas will increase tremendously, I know ours will.

❤️

Hiking Mama

Days 4,5 & 6 - Peru: Mimi and Milli take on Puno

6:30am departure for their 3 day Southern Peru trip ---

This trip was a Herculean logistical accomplishment by our travel agent Abby! Brava!!! Email me if you want her information. 

From Cusco to Puno to Taquile to Juliaca back to Cusco again and then to Aguas Caliente for a sunrise start to meet up with me at Machu Picchu. 

M&M were on the move. 

Puno is known for its plateaus and plains and for its alpacas and llamas and agriculture. The locals not huge on the photographs, they think the camera sucks out their souls! But it seemed like a warm smile and some soles could help your photo seeking mission. 

M&M stop in Pucara (means fortress in Quechua) along the 7 hour way down 3S towards Puno. 

Don't worry Mimi, we are not climbing that! 

Milli and Mimi take in the views from Puno.

The Uru people and their reed island and boats! 

Milli met and captured on film a little Uru girl. Some awesome photography! 

Lake Titicaca sits high in the Andes at 12,507' (don't worry Mimi brought her oxygen!). It is the highest large lake in South America and the highest navigable lake on earth, it shares its shores with Bolivia and Peru.

The Uros, are people who live on 42 self fashioned floating islands in Lake Titicaca. The larger islands house about 10 families, while the smaller ones house about 3 or 4. The islands are made entirely from Totora reeds and are anchored with ropes attached to sticks driven into the bottom of the lake and they make reed boats. New reeds are added to the top every three months because bottom reeds rot quickly.

Taquile Island is 28 miles offshore from Puno. It's about 2 sq miles, tallest point sits 13,287' above sea level, the main village is at 13,000'. Just think, M&M didn't have to hike stairs to get there! It's an island of textiles, the men do the knitting...the women prepare the yarn! Approximately 40,000 tourists visit every year. 

Day 8 - Peru: Cusco, the final hours

We are now conditioned to wake at 5am, no alarm required. Ugh!  So what are three girls to do at 5am? Of course, pack and repack bags, squeeze in more sites to see, places to eat and prezies to purchase before we fly back home. 

Peru is going to be a repeat destination for all three of us. The people were wonderful, the energy was magical and the historical, mythical and archeological stimulation is endless. 

Morning starts with a fly by Hotel Monasterio, very zen! And lush! 

Next up, a Cusco MUST, before and after a visit to Machu Picchu. Mimi and Milli snuggling up to Inca Yupanqui-Pachacuti at the Museo Inka. 

Next a redo at San Pedro Market, it's everything under one roof! A Marrakech spice market meets a farmers market meets juice press on steroids...rows of artisans, herbal remedies and a plethora of lunch, coffee and dessert bars. 

Tips:

Bring small bills, negotiate, and leave plenty of time to take it all in!

Three rows of juicers! Mimi opted for orange and mango, I opted in for all verde with ginger! 

Colorful prezies all around...taking a shopping break! 

Flowers...

Spices...

All the sites made us hungry...bellying up to a lunch bar for pollo and papa fritos, and a chi cha murado (you have to try this purple corn drink or the alcohol version, chi cha - fermented yellow corn). Lunch for two - 10 soles = $3 USD

As we exited San Pedro Market we couldn't resist a bag of churos and an strawberry ice pop for 2 more soles = $.60 USD

We set off to find a Feliz Dia Padre prezie and we learned about the perfect place to go...but first, we were swallowed up by another parade! June is definitely a fabulously festive month to enjoy Peru and Cusco, if you stay a few days later than us, you will enjoy the biggest celebration on June 21st. 

Parade mob...traveling like a pod of fish down Calle de Marquez...

Another proud mothering moment for me! Milli and I learning about Pisco and choosing a Fathers Day bottle for Dad! 

Day 7 - Peru: So we meet again!

I am working this blog backwards...no cell service for days. 

Entering the fourth day of the Inca Stairs (renaming). Smelling like a hamster, over my daily menu of soup and popcorn, craving a shower, a proper toilet (not the Chinese version), a turkey sandwich, chips and a Coke Zero (sorry, don't judge, everyone has a vice), and not in any particular order...! 

Rising at 3am to queue up at the control center for final leg of my journey.

Admittedly this is the hardest hike I have done, maybe I carried too much weight, perhaps 50 is catching up with me or perhaps I should have trained differently... any which way the many magical, historically impressive and mind blowing Inca archeological sites and Andes views supplied hours of rewards that far outweighed the physical challenge!

Inca Trail Day 4:

Distance: 3.5K

Time: Control to Sun Gate: 40mins. 

Sun Gate to Machu Picchu main entrance: 40 mins.

Altitude: 8,860 to 7,875 ft. 

Dress code: headlamp, hat gloves, puffer, fleece, hiking shirt, t-shirt, tank top...various versions thereof throughout the day.

My guide Luis and me! Queued up at 3:30am...and we weren't even the first in line! 

Only if you could see what I see...or if I could only see... :) The final path is filled with ups and downs, somewhat like the sacred snake and a million youngsters leaping stairs at single bounds... 

Daylight brings, yes, you are correct, more stairs...or as they are known..."gringo killers".

What? You may ask...yes that's right Virginia there is another set of stairs! Last, apparently most noted set of "gringo killer" stairs, so vertical I needed to crawl up...have I mentioned I packed too much? 

Reaching Sun Gate by 6:25am, a record for my guide. This old lady was on the move. The Sun Gate is the only entrance to Machu Picchu from the Inca Trail. It's another 40 minutes down. 

These Mama rocks were used for burial and worship sites. It is just amazing how industrious the Incas were. 

And here we are, isn't this site amazing? A small city for 300-500 people, and an occasional visit by the King, running water to each house, retaining walls, agricultural terraces for food, equipped with an amphitheater with a carefully engineered acoustic system, an industrial tool, weapon and pottery making section, Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Condor, all made of all stone and still standing 500 years later...simply magical. 

Inka Trail Tips: (things I wish I knew before...)

1. Stairmaster, train on it before you go!! With your pack on and off for hours...

2. Don't be proud, hire a porter! 

3. Pack minimally...I wore versions of a tank top, wick tshirt, hiking long sleeve shirt, fleece, vest and puffer jacket, scarf, hat and gloves...temps went from 30 to 70, sunny and bright. 

Prizes at the other end...the other two of our posse of #3GenCPeru and Machu Picchu! 

Guess who met me at this magical place? Up at 5am, on a bus at 6:30am up the mountain, switch backing for 30 minutes. Milli and Mimi arrived with bells on. Reunited at the Temple of the Sun!

Machu Picchu means: old mountain Machu = old and Picchu = mountain 

The amphitheater directly below us and behind us in the distance is Waynu Picchu (young mountain) . You can take the bus to MP and then climb to the top, steep and narrow, to see a panoramic view of what the Inca watchmen saw.

Happy Mountain behind us! 

Urubamba Valley, the direction from which Hiram Bingham and the first "tour guide" a 12 year old village boy took to uncover and bring fame to the citadel of Machu Picchu. It took 20 years to uncover MP from underneath all the overgrowth.

Milli and me take a few more stairs to the watchmen's tower. 

After an amazing day finishing the inca trail and exploring MP with my 3Gen posse we took the bus down to Aguas Caliente, had a turkey sandwich, a capacinno, wandered through the AC market...

Milli and Picchu found each other at the market...25 soles = $7.50 USD

Then took a four hour train to Poroy and a 30 minute car service back to Cusco and Casa San Blas! 

Don't forget to get your passport stamped! 

Showered...yay!!! Ciao until tomorrow! 

Day 3B - Peru: Sacred Valley Tour

Well after 2 hours zip lining from top to bottom we were dropped off 7minutes away in the town square of Ollantaytambo for a tour of a MUST see Incan historical archeological site.

My phone was dying so not so many pix. 

2 of our 3 generation posse had had enough for the time being... :) 

Soooo, I solo climbed to the top of the one of the most spiritually and politically important Inca sites. 

Zoom in and you can see "storage or jails or schools or...historians aren't 100% sure what they were for, but amazing just the same! 

Ever so thoughtful construction with the sun, moon, rocks and water as guiding principles. 

Awing how much of the Incan villages and Temples still survived the Spanish destruction. 

Try lunch at La Esquina Bakery on the square! Good food and great value. 

Our fading posse took an abbreviated tour of this site and Chincheros, the center of weavers, where we visited to see how they traditionally made their textiles. 

After another 13 hour day we are back at Casa San Blas for our regroup, repack and much needed showers!

I leave for the inca trail at 5:00am and the girls leave for Puno at 6:30am.

No rest for the weary! And no blog for a few days! Ciao.