Melissa & Dan Simon
Melissa & Dan from Illinois are heading to Peru for Inti Raymi from 6/19-6/28.TheSimons
Travel Blog Posts
June 27th 2009
June 25th and 26th was our trip to Los Calientes and Machu Picchu. Initially, we were supposed to hike to Los Calientes from a certain point (I'm not sure what that point was), but because of forest fires and mudslides, it was canceled. Instead, we were told we would be taken on some hikes in the Los Calientes and Machu Picchu areas, but that didn't happen. We got on a 7:42am train to Los Calientes, which got us there around 11am. Someone from the hostel met us at the train and led us to the hostel. I admit, I was a bit worried about staying in a hostel. And I can't say my fears were unfounded. While it was relatively clean with a private loo and decent bed, our room smelled completely musty. I could see ... read more
June 24th 2009
Wednesday's event was an all-day thing for us. We left the hotel around 8 and met up with a group at Qoricancha (pronounced coricancha) for the first part of the Inti Raymi festival. We were lucky and ended up with our tour guide from Sunday, which included both of the archaeological sites we would be at for the festival. Inti Raymi was a religious ceremony of the Inca Empire in honor of the god Inti. It also marked the winter solstice and a new year in the Andes. For many years, locals have been producing the festival which is a huge tourist attraction. It starts at Qoricancha, then moves through the streets to the main square, Plaza de Armas, then heads up to Sacsaywaman. The celebration has basically been going on since we got here. There ... read more
Tipón, Andahuaylillas, Pikiliacta and a bonus stop!
Published: June 24th 2009South America » Peru » Cusco
June 24th 2009
Not that the other days/tours haven't been great, but today was incredible! We were lucky enough to have a private tour guide for our trip today. John is a younger guy--my guess is in his early 20s. He calls himself a career student, so in addition to being a tour guide, he is studying anthropology and a little bit of archaeology. He made an excellent guide for today's sites, as I think he may have some more current info about them, or at least theories and philosophy, from what he's studying at school. Our first stop was Tipón, which is an extremely interesting samples of agricultural terracing and water management developed by the Incas. The journey up to it was quite harrowing, even in a vehicle. It was very high up, and the "two lane" road ... read more
Sacred Valley, Pisac, Ollantaytambo & Chinchero
Published: June 23rd 2009South America » Peru » Cusco
June 23rd 2009
Monday was a really, really long day. If I never see a set of stairs again... Just kidding, as I'm sure we'll be using them frequently today. We started out driving to the Sacred Valley area for pictures and the like. It was absolutely beautiful. From there, we moved on to the archeological site of Pisac (not the town) to hike and check out the ruins. The ruins lie on top of a hill (mountain to me) and are basically the entrance to the Sacred Valley. There are a number of temples and other structures in the various areas. Here, we ran into two of my (Melissa's) favorite phobias. The first being the fear of unenclosed heights--the type where you have a good, shear drop on the edge of something. So being on the top floor ... read more
June 22nd 2009
The trip that had a rough start is going very well! When we last wrote, we had wandered around for a few hours in Cusco and were resting up a bit. Saturday night, we wanted to try some of the local food, so we went to a place called Pachapapa. We had outdoor seating, so we could hear the festivities going on outside while having a nice, relaxed dinner (with gas heaters). Dan decided to order almost everything on the menu. Well, that might be stretching it a bit. He had some sort of chicken soup that we pretty good, plus he ordered Chicarrones. They are the devil. We must never eat them again. If we do, I fear I may never stop. They are basically crackling pork, or the outside parts of sort of fatty ... read more
June 20th 2009
We finally made it to Cusco, albeit one day late. Here's what's been going on since I left you. We hung out in a while in the Costa Rica airport. We ran into someone from our home town that we had not seen in about five years, give or take a year. He has since moved to the Miami area, and was returning home from a week on his honeymoon. Stranger things have happened. TACA airlines got us to Lima ontime last night. We made our way through to the LAN Peru desk and were very lucky that there was no line. Although I guess 8 people in 4 separate groups needing to have tickets changed and hotel vouchers issued caused a line, but that's not my point. We finally got a good night sleep in ... read more
June 19th 2009
But we're not. Instead, we're sitting in the airport in Costa Rica looking out at the beautiful mountains. Not what we had planned at all! So here's what happened. We took an Aero Mexico flight out of Chicago to Mexico City. It was a pleasant flight that came in early. It even had good food! We had a 4+ hour layover and were due to depart on a LAN Peru flight to Lima at 11:55pm. And we were on the plane by then and falling asleep when they announced that the plane had "mechanical issues" and everyone would need to depart the plane. They also said they wouldn't have any news for us until around 1:30am. As 1:30am rolls around, we're both mighty sleepy. I'm trying to nap a bit on rather uncomfortable chairs, but it ... read more
June 16th 2009
Welcome! We are departing for Cusco, Peru on Thursday, June 18th, and will be arriving on Friday the 19th in the morning. We have a full itinerary in Cusco, including trips to Machu Picchu and Pisaq, and will be attending the Inti Raymi festival as well. We're staying at the Hotel Rumi Punku except for one night in a hostel during our hike to Machu Picchu. We hope to be able to make semi regular posts here for friends and family interested in following our journey! Check back soon... Melissa... read more
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