Machu Picchu was AMAZING!!

We had a long but wonderful day at Machu Picchu, and I have to say that although I truly enjoyed walking among the ruins, I think my favorite part was the view from them. It makes sense, though, since it´s why they chose the site in the first place. I have something in common with the Incas... who knew? In similar news, according to our guide, there was apparently an Inca goddess with my same name!

Once we arrived back in Cusco, we headed out to wander a bit. Most of the shops were closed already, and we weren´t really up for a BIG night out, but we found a little bar down the way that had a live afro-jazz band. The bass player was ridiculously amazing.... we´ve definitely enjoyed the San Blas neighborhood.

Unfortuanately I have just spent the last ten minutes or so trying to upload some Machu Picchu photos, but the internet here is not being cooperative. Will post more tomorrow!!

¨Harmony

Aguas Calientes

Hello out there! We´ve just eaten a wonderful candle/fire-lit dinner at the cutest Pizzaria in Aguas Calientes (doesn´t Deborah look smashing in this photo??). The best part? The bread, appetizer, pizza, and (oops) gallon of Sangria only cost $40 for both of us!! Don´t worry, we didn´t finish the pitcher ;-)

Of course, we fully deserved this luxurious feast, as we explored the surrounding mountains during a three and a half-hour hike this afternoon! Mom was amazed to see many of the carefully-tended plants from her garden growing wild and free along the trails, traintracks, etc. Apparently impatients are key... :)

Now... as much as I´d love to hang in this internet cube and write to all of you, we´re heading off to bed - rest is much needed for our full day in Machu Picchu tomorrow!!! Horray!!!

We´ll post more fabulous photos once we have faster internet. The ring of mountains surrounding us seems to have an adverse effect on uploads. Night!

¡Finally in Cusco!

¡Hola! We made it to Cusco, after a long, long day of traveling by train. It was a beautiful trip - well, about 3/4 of it was beautiful. The rest was a LITTLE arid and less exciting, but it was still very pretty, so that´s okay! We both had pretty bad altitude headaches on the way up, but after downing some Excedrin Migraine and a bunch of Mate de Coca tea, it subsided.

I have a bunch of amazing photos, both of our train trip and Cusco, but for some reason this computer isn´t playing well with my photo USB-thinggie, so I´ll have to post them later...

Our train to Aguas Calientes leaves tomorrow morning at 6:50am, though, so I should get to sleep here. Night!

We Have Landed in Puno!!!!

What a difference a day makes!!! We departed Lima about 1P, a short stop in Cusco, and then, off to Juliaco, where our driver was waiting to wisk us off to Puno, on Lake Titikaka, on the border of Bolivia.

Puno! What a treat...bright sunlight, clean streets, beautiful city... from what we can tell by our walk from our hotel, to the restaurant (which will be its own paragraph) and wandering down the street, Puno is quite the find!

It is definitely a lot colder up here than in Lima...Harmony is wearing her beanie, and I am going to invest in one...pictures to follow after purchase. I am surprised at the minimal amount of write up in all the guide books, as it definitely deserves more!

Now for the restaurant, Mojsa Restaurant & Pizzaria...unbelievable!!!!! My descriptions will not do it justice! Upon recommendation for local cuisine, we started with Peruvian potatoes with baked cheese and a shared conquesa (beer). For our main course, we chose Alpaca a ala Parilla, which is grilled alpalca, served with mashed sweet potatoes and highland salad, and, Causa Mojsa, which is mashed Peruvian potatoes with yellow sweet pepper, topped with fresh trout, avacado, and creole sauce.....unbelievably delicious!!!!!! Groans of joy were heard throughout!

To top it off, we had a wonderful dessert, with crisp crepes, caramel, ice cream, coffee, and mate de coca.... This for the total prices of 72 Soles, which is a total of $24, USD!!!!!

And now, we are getting ready to stroll the streets a bit, and then, go back to our hotel, as we need to be up early for our 8AM departure to Cuzco, on the Andean (Orient Express) Journey...about 8 hours, through the Andes, and Machu Picchu!!!

This has been another wonderful day!!! Until our next blog!

Peru 2008 · Day 3 · Off to Puno!

Well, we´re done with Lima until Sunday... off to the airport for our flight to Lake Titicaca! We will miss Miss Llama head, but maybe we will see her again!

(This statue of the patron saint of Lima was commissioned to an artist in Spain, I think, with the expectation of a crown of flames on her head... the double meaning of llamas was not doublechecked, however, and she ended up with a Llama · the animal · on her crown! Awkward... click on the photo to see the Llama closer)

Okay, we´re off!

Peru 2008·Day 2·Lima·Miraflores

Today was a fine day in Peru! After enjoying sleeping in, and making contact with a Peruvian Tour Director for my business, we wandered off into the city where we found a late breakfast stop in Peru, Don Qutos, and planned the rest of our day.

With having a wonderful day, yesterday, Harmony and I decided to enjoy a day at the ocean, in Miraflores, which is about 30 minutes out of central Lima. The taxi driver dropped us off at this cliff side mall, Lacomar, which had about 8 levels, all facing the ocean, with cliffs below to the water. Not wanting to spend time in the mall we went in search of the ocean...

We kept seeing all these paths, and finally, after walking distance along the cliff, we discovered the way down to the beach. We also discovered this amazing restaurant on the pier, where we decided to enjoy a fresh seafood lunch, which was outstanding!

The taxi ride back was interesting, as all drivers in the city enjoy making their own lanes, and merging at their own peril....

And now we are back at our hotel, relaxing and getting ready to depart for Juliaca, in SE Peru, in the morning.

Our next blog will be from Puno, if we can find an internet cafe. Good night!!!

Peru 2008 · Day 1 · Lima!!

605am · Arrive in Lima, Peru!!!

Pre·arranged driver picked us up right outside of customs and wisked us to the Kamana Hotel where we got all checked in. Slick!

After the scheduled travel, we had breakfast, and went off to explore the beautiful (though a bit polluted) city of Lima!

Our favorite things so far have been associated with the San Francisco Monestary and Museum... there was an amazing procession as we first walked up. The actual cathedral was beautiful (along with all the other ones we saw today), but in addition to the normal churchy·type things, they have a Rome or Paris·style catacomb beneath, which was part of our tour!

The food has been amazing (much better than that of Brazil so far, in Harmony´s opinion), and we are taking advantage of our pre high·intensity time up in the mountains to eat, drink, walk, sight·see, eat, drink, walk, sight·see, repeat.

Oh, and did we mention that we´ve already sampled the famous local cocktail, the Pisco Sour. Tomorrow we may shift down to Inca·Kola, just to be safe! ;-) See photo below for further evidence... uhoh...