Life as J

Before I get too in the weeds, I think it's worth noting that after at least a decade of traveling to developed countries, Peru was bound to be a very different trip. It was our first time traveling to South America. It was the first time I was traveling with my in-laws. Also first time traveling to high altitude locations. Lots of firsts! The first thing we noticed was the transportation - we travelled on a South American airline (LATAM) for the first time, and found it to be a good experience. They automatically checked us into the flight 48 hours prior - I can only assume this is because they don't overbook their flights. On international flights, they provided blankets, pillows, and a light meal to all passengers (which is no longer part of the base fare for North American airlines). Of course, we did have that unfortunate experience on the flight back (also with LATAM) where one of us got food poisoning - so they don't get a perfect score. The great experience also doe...

Thankfully, today's travels were relatively smooth. The Cusco airport was pretty quiet, so we breezed through bag drop and security, with plenty of time left over to check out the few shops in the waiting area before boarding our flight to Lima. In our last few hours in Lima, we finally got a chance to try the restaurant Punto Azul - it was a wonderful experience showcasing seafood in different ways: ceviche, in soup, deep fried, and cooked with rice. As we walked around the city, we saw lots of Mother's Day events, and even got the chance to try famous picarones in Kennedy Park!  It's been fun discovering Peruvian food, culture, history, and architecture over the past few weeks. I'll do another post on overall reflections once we're back home. Just a warning about flying with Sky Airlines in South America - be very careful with online bookings because their website can be very slow and prone to errors. If you submit any payment information, even if an error appears...

We survived. Our day started slow with breakfast and then killing time until our train departed at 1:30pm. That's what we thought would happen.  In reality, a landslide along our train route stopped all trains. Luckily, this happened before we were scheduled to depart, so we definitely dodged disaster. We ended up waiting only 2 hours to board a train out of Aguas Calientes, but this delay was only the first of many, which was not unexpected, since no one was prepared for the landslide.  Instead of our train taking an hour to reach Ollantaytambo, it took almost 2 hours, most likely because they were only able to clear one track along the route. Then, since we had to transfer to a bus in Ollantaytambo, and there was a backlog of passengers needing transportation, we got stuck in line/traffic. It took us almost an hour to get out of Ollantaytambo, with the streets completely jammed. We finally arrived in Cusco around 8:30pm, three hours later than the originally scheduled time. ...

Machu Picchu was incredible - it was perfect weather, we had the best tour guide, and all the hype didn't dampen the experience in the slightest.  After having breakfast at the hotel, we were escorted to the bus station to join the many other tourists headed to the ancient city. The bus ride itself took 25 minutes, traversing the winding road until we reached the parking lot - I caught glimpses of people opting to hike up the mountain instead of taking the bus, and the path they chose looked like an unending series of stone steps. Thank goodness for the bus. Our guide was waiting for us at the entrance, and he kindly suggested for us to use the bathroom (2 soles, with unlimited toilet paper!) before beginning our tour. Once our tickets were checked, we headed off on circuit 2 - the most popular option because it provides a great overview of the entire city, so popular that they check tickets multiple times on the route to make sure people who are on the circuit are supposed to be t...

It's been quite the day.  We were picked up from our hotel before 5:30 in the morning by a tuk tuk to take us (and all our luggage) to the Urubamba Peru Rail train station. The strange thing about this station is it seems to be part of the Tambo del Inka property - a luxury hotel. The station and the hotel share similar outer security walls, staff uniforms, landscaping, and the signage at the station actually says the name of the hotel, not "Urubamba". When we boarded the train, the Peru Rail staff did not turn the lights on in the cabin, or the heat (it was pretty cold, especially after waiting outside for the train). The advertising for the tier of ticket we bought suggested we were supposed to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience and the prices were steep (USD$135 per ticket), so I was surprised by the lack of service. This was our first experience at a train station in Peru - and it was unsettling, knowing that the station was in a gated community, a not-so-subtle ind...

Luck was on our side today - the person we spoke with at the tourist information centre yesterday, Carlos, ended up picking us up at the hotel in the morning to take us to Maras and Moray. He felt bad sending us off with a driver who couldn't speak English, so he decided he would be our personal tour guide! We were ushered into a very comfortable SUV, and then made our way to the Maras salt mines, learning about Peruvian life and culture along the way.  When we arrived at the salt mines, Carlos accompanied us into the site, explaining the history and how the mines are used today - answering tons of questions we had. The area is divided into more than 3000 separate plots, which are maintained by different families, and have been in place for thousands of years - and the water for all the plots is sourced from a single hot spring. During the rainy season, the plots are too wet to harvest, but once the dry season starts, combined with the summer heat, the salt deposits created in each...

Today, we left Cusco and made our way to Urubamba via taxi. Along the way, we saw where the Cusco locals live and shop - their markets are far cheaper than what we've seen anywhere else, and my guess is that those prices wouldn't be available to tourists. We also saw that for multi-unit dwellings, the top floor seemed to be open-air (i.e. windows with no glass) - presumably for residents to hang their clothes to dry? We actually gained elevation from Cusco to a town called Chinchero (approximately 3800m above sea level) - where they grow a lot of the vegetables that are consumed by Cusco. The landscape changed from mountains without fields to mountains covered by fields of yellows and greens - many patchwork quilts sewn into the earth, filled with corn, barley, potatoes, carrots, etc. Our driver suggested a brief stop in Chinchero to visit textile makers so we were able to see how they take alpaca shearings, clean them, use a spindle to twist the wool into thread, and then dye ...

Our last day in Cusco was mostly spent at the famous San Pedro Market and a workshop about chocolate. After getting a really good sleep (thanks to the Rainbow Mountain hike), we had breakfast at the hotel, then slowly made our way to the market. At first, it seemed like some of the other markets we've seen in Lima, but then we kept walking, and walking, and there were still more vendors. The market was massive, with many stalls selling similar products - hats, sweaters, purses, stuffed animals, figurines, art, magnets, cups, kitchen utensils, vegetables, fruits, grains, spices, meat, alcohol, chocolate, bread, candy, nuts, juices, sandwiches, empanadas, coffee, tea, soup, ... I could go on and on. It all blurred together the longer we browsed - we ended up getting a few things, but it was sometimes tough to pick which vendor you wanted to buy from, especially if they were selling items at the same price. There were tons of tourists doing the same thing as us, and everywhere you loo...

Rainbow Mountain was amazing!  We were picked up from the hotel at around 4 in the morning, then slept on the tour bus until we got to breakfast, similar to our Colca Canyon tour. This time though, the food wasn't as good - most of the buffet was cold (when things like eggs and pancakes should have at least been warm). The worst part of the restaurant was probably the bathroom - unfortunately there were no seats on the toilets, and not enough toilet paper. Yeah. Luckily, I'd been doing a lot of squats as recommended by my physio before the trip, so I just had to grab some napkins before heading to the bathroom.  Once our driver took us as far up the mountain as he could, we prepared ourselves for the hike ahead - we were equipped with one hiking pole per person, given instructions on when to meet at the top of the mountain, and provided information on asking for a horse if it got too difficult. The first kilometer was supposed to be relatively easy, then the second kilometer w...

We did our own walking tour of Cusco - at a relaxed pace, so we wouldn't use up too much energy. Breakfast at the hotel was toast with eggs, fruit salad, and coca tea (I think I'm getting addicted to the tea - it's so good for the altitude). Then, we headed over to Qorikancha - the Incan temple of the sun, which was repurposed by the Spanish and turned into the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo of Guzmán. It turned out to be a fascinating lesson in Cusco's history, Incan architecture, Spanish colonization and the role of religion, and how the Incan heritage is being preserved today. The engineering behind the stone structures was incredible to see - I think it's just a taste of what we'll end up seeing at Machu Picchu, and I can't wait to learn more about it. From the temple, we walked along Loreto Street - an important road preserved from the Incans that used to be the border between two palaces (and derives its name from religious influences). We could s...

When we arrived at the Arequipa airport, we knew it was small because they only had one baggage carousel. Today, as we headed into the airport to fly to Cusco, we found that not only is it small, it is actually quite busy - there were 3 flights ahead of ours, and the whole airport was filled with people. Dropping off our bags took much longer because they are very detailed in their examination - they scrutinize every carry-on bag to ensure it meets the guidelines, and they examine every check-in bag for any sign of damage to ensure it's documented and you sign off on the current condition. There are no automated machines for printing boarding passes or bag tags, probably because of the careful inspections. It also makes sense why they recommend arriving at the airport 2 hours before a domestic flight.  Once we had our bags checked, security was a long line due to the extremely small area they have for the processing - only 2 lines maximum, so they have to limit the number of people...