Machu Picchu - Wednesday

Before dinner we are treated to a performance on the hotel lawn of vibrant dances based on Peruvian traditions and folklore.

We have an early morning start for the train ride down to Machu Picchu. It came as a surprise that the ride from Ollantaytambo (9160 feet) to Machu Picchu (7700 ft) was downhill, constantly and significantly. The uphill return ride should be interesting. Everyone going to Machu Picchu must take the train from there Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, also called Machu Picchu Pueblo (City), the base town for Machu Picchu. 

Passengers from a local train pass us on the way to the stations. There are many sherpas passing by with their heavy packs.

The highlights of the ride through the canyon and between the steep Andean mountains is the tall snow-covered mountain peak Veronica, the beginning of the modern day Inca hiking trail, and ruins of the Inca supply depots along the trail.

Exiting the train, we are guided through Machu Picchu town, still called by many and including our guide, , mostly because the lines for the busses are ridiculous just after the train arrives. 

The bus from town climbs a long dirt zig zag road to Machu Picchu. Our third Belmond hotel is located adjacent to the entrance of the ruins. There are only two things on the top of this mountain: Machu Picchu and the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge.

Our entrance time into Machu Picchu is 2pm. It will be quite enough time to torture us with another series of climbs. For the second day, even the youngest in the group are breathing hard; all except for the three native guides.

The place speaks for itself.

Lima/Cusco/Sacred Valley - Monday

After an overnight in the hotel in Lima, we transfer to the airport for a flight to Cusco and our 4th new airport of this trip. From Cusco we ride to lunch in the mountains.

After lunch we travel to an Inca site. But what is it? The site or the cerveza?

It is an extremely good local black lager.

This is an Inca agricultural research site where they performed research on crops; particularly potatoes and corn.

The next stop was the gallery and workshop of a famous local artist couple.

We will spend two evenings at the Belmond Rio Sagrado in the Sacred Valley. The room is spacious and beautiful, the grounds gorgeous, and dinner divine.

Ollantaytambo Fortress, Paso Horses, and Weaving - Tuesday

We begin the day with a visit with baby llamas and a National Geographic lecture by Peter Frost on the Inca Empire. It is very informative. He accompanies on our tour/hike today.

We hike the Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo where the Inca's held off the Spanish for more than nine months. How by all that is holy did CJ make it to the top of the fortress at 9160 feet when he couldn't ski slopes at 6000 feet.

It is an incredible place know not so much for the siege, but the extraordinary Inca engineering, construction, and agriculture. The Inca were a very advanced civilization.

We have lunch at another private home, Casa Hacienda Huayoccari. This place part corn farm, art gallery, and restaurant.

We have a demonstration of their Peruvian Paso horses.

After the horse demonstration we turn our seats around and get a lecture and discussion on weaving by National Geographic grantee Nilda Callanaupa the founder of the Center for Traditional Textiles.

We purchase a runner for our dining table and Carol gets a luscious feeling scarf.

While waiting for the others to conclude their purchases, we play with the horses.

 

Lima, Peru - Sunday

The city of Peru is located on the coast. These days there is a highway and sporting facilities between the bluffs and the sea. It is all built on reclaimed land. The view from our hotel room in Miraflores shows the contrast.

There is an Inca excavation in the middle of downtown Peru!

We visit a museum of Inca artifacts.  The collection is massive.

On the way to lunch we pass by the tranditional Spanish town square. We have a treat. On Sunday, the daily changing of the guard is conducted on horseback.

A half block off the square we have lunch in gorgeous private home.

Many of the buildings and homes in the historic district have a half timber design.

Baltra Island - Saturday Departure

Overnight we have again crossed the equator and returned to the Southern Hemisphere. Baltra Island is not part of the Galapagos National Park. The airport located there was originally built and used by US forces in World War II to guard the western entrance to the Panama Canal. It has been modernized. 

The airport became the world's first "green" airport in December 2012.

The new terminal, which consists of recycled steel tubes taken from oil drilling operations in the Amazon, is spread over 6,000 square meters and required an investment of just over $24 million. The new complex will use clean, renewable technologies such as solar energy, wind farms, and seawater desalination, among other environmental innovations.

We disembark at Baltra Island for the return Avianca flight to Guayaquil.

After lunch back at the Hotel Oro Verde, we fly to Lima, Peru

By the time we check-in at the Belmond Miraflores Park Hotel and get to bed it is 0100.