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Published: April 27th 2008
Our trip to Peru...
We began traveling at 5am Friday February 22nd and finally arrived in Lima, Peru 12pm Saturday, February 23rd (no time change!) The trip was relatively easy and surprisingly comfortable. We took a four hour bus from Cuenca to a town in Ecuador called Machala. The narrow road reminded me so much of the Old Pali Highway in Hawaii. On one side of the road was a huge tropical gulch on the other, rocky mountainside. We drove through deep puddles and mud nearly the whole way there. Once we got to Machala we took a two hour bus to Tumbes, Peru. A man from the bus got off with us at the border to help us take care of all of the passport stamping and customs, got with us on a different bus that eventually caught up with our original bus where we returned to our seats and luggage.
Chris and I heard that Tumbes was an ugly border town and weren't sure what to expect! We only had two or three hours there before our bus to Lima left, but it was enough time for us to fall in love with this little town and
Sacred Valley Town
These kids jumped into our photo at the last minute and then afterward held out their hand for a "propina" or tip!our introduction to Peru. It is bright, beautiful and full of history. In the 1500s it was an Incan city, then later on it was an Ecuadorian city, and now, after the border war in 1940, it is a Peruvian city. Chris and I sat in a little umbrelled cafe that looked out over the city center drinking frozen lemonades and eating Patacones ( a wonderful potato patty like food made from plantains.) The climate in Peru is surprisingly warm and humid much like Hawaii. After strolling the city, Chris and I stretched our legs and prepared for the twenty hour bus ride to Lima. The ticket station told us they had sold out of "regular" seats and only have "VIP" seats for $10 more. Chris and I shrugged our shoulders and took the VIP seats. And wow, let me tell you, this is the way to travel! The VIP seats are on the first floor of the two-story bus and had huge leather reclining seats and only about 8 seats stretching across the bottom floor. There was AC and a tv and we were served dinner and breakfast with coffee the next morning. I slept like a baby for
Infamous Machu Picchu
Even more spectacular than a picture can portray. about 14 of the 20 hours! The six awake hours I had was enough to determine Peru is astounding. It is beautiful and majestic and like nothing I had ever seen before. We passed through hours of green fields that stretched as far as the eye can see, then hours of having the ocean and beautiful beaches out one window and mesas, mountains and plateaus out the other. And our final hours we traveled through miles of desert and colossal rolling sand dunes. As I said, beautiful and majestic.
In Lima, we were able to explore the impressive national museum and city center. The museum was walking distance from our hostal (unusual in the huge capital) and had a breathtaking photo exhibit regarding the turmoils in Peru from 1980-2000. Apparently there were rival cult groups fighting the military, the police, and incredible black and whites documenting it all. Later, someone recommended we go to the "yoki" plaza for dinner, so Chris and I took the advice and asked a taxi to take us to the "yoki" plaza. After a 15 minute cab ride, amidst poverty and broken down buildings, a huge shopping mall appeared. Gigantic, actually. Chris and I
More Machu Picchu
Definitely worth the 4 days of hiking! gawked as we exited the taxi and walked into another world. We were surrounded by Benihanas (yes, the one and only), Chili's, TGI Fridays, Tony Romas and Longhorn's-and a big JOCKEY sign. This "Jockey Plaza" has Starbucks, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and is bigger than the Ala Moana Shopping Center. Chris and I are still rubbing our eyes in shock. (That bus did say to Peru, right???) The prices there are (like the smaller malls in Ecuador) more expensive than the United states. Chris looked at the price of a leather vest and it was 2,000 soles, roughly $700 USD. Unbelievable. The climate also reminded us of the Ala Moana shopping center, and highly air conditioned inside and as soon as you step into the parking garage--tropical and humid.
We finished our evening at Jockey Center and headed back to our hostal to prepare for the early morning flight to Cuzco...
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