TexasPhil

It's nearly 6 am and I've already been up for 2 hours after getting to bed after midnight. We had a lot of things to do yesterday and a lot of packing, but now it's time to finish and head to the airport for our flight to Miami where we'll catch the second leg to Lima. Mary hasn't been back in 3½ years and it's been nerly 4 years since she's seen her mother so she's pretty excited. It'll be my 16th trip to Peru, but this one will be very different as we'll be spending some time in her mother's very remote, very rural village deep in the Andes. I'm not sure what to expect! I'll try to post each day, but it may not be possible. Feel free to email at phil@texastrack.com -- I'd ... read more

It’s Tuesday night and I’m in Aguas Calientes, the tiny pueblo which serves as the base for Machu Picchu activities. Pretty much everything here revolves around the ruins. And it really is tiny. I’ve walked from one end to the other several times. Because Inti Raymi and tomorrow’s strike has pretty much isolated the village, it is very dead today. I think there are only a handful of tourists in this hostal, Hostal El Tumi (which isn’t very nice by the way). In fact, there are relatively few tourists here in Aguas Calientes at all. I found out that the strike will cover LOTS of things including restaurants tomorrow. I bought a few things to eat, but I’m counting on the strike ending tomorrow night. I’m really curious to know if I will be able to ... read more

This is going to be a short day time-wise. It’s 6:30 in the evening and I hope to be asleep within an hour. Unfortunately, this cold is really beating me down. The congestion really makes it hard to breathe when you’re at 11,000 ft! I didn’t get much sleep last night - that sure didn’t help my cold - because I left for the airport at about 3:15 in the morning. The flight was again without problems. It was about 2/3 full of Japanese tourists including the two ladies who sat next to me. They spoke a little English and were very polite and helpful in the short 50-minute flight. Because of clouds and the early morning hour, sightseeing in the Andes was very limited, but I did get a good look at Artesonraju, the steep, ... read more

I’m back in Lima. Actually it’s Miraflores, an upscale suburb of Lima that is very popular with tourists, very safe, and is very much like any U.S. city. I got to the hotel about noon and immediately went to KFC for lunch. I know that’s sad, but I had to have some American food for a change. I'm pretty spoiled after having internet access last week. My hotel here (Hotel las Palmas) is comfortable and convenient, but it doesn't have wi-fi so I have to hike over to a nearby Starbucks to access the internet. The last couple of days haven’t seen any writing because, to be honest, I haven’t done much. When I returned to Iquitos I just didn’t want to be out in the heat and humidity any longer so I spent a lot ... read more

It’s early Sunday morning in the rainforest. It’s about 6:50 in the morning as I write and it looks like a beautiful day ahead. The last two have been pretty overcast and a little wet, but that has also kept us cloaked in unseasonably cool temperatures. Sleeping has been easy the last 2 nights. I’m curious to see what today will bring, though I can take a little discomfort for another day and a half. I’m awfully curious to see how the video will come out. It’s frustrating not to be able to do some editing or even look at it on a bigger monitor, but I’ll be able to hook up to the TV in my hotel room once I return to Iquitos tomorrow. Soon we’ll be served breakfast - the menu say scrambled eggs ... read more