Blogs from Peru, South America - page 17

Relaxed start today as our scheduled tour wasn’t on until 14:00. We ventured out about 10:00 and wandered down to the main square and heard music as we approached. Turns out there is a Festival of Dance on and all these little kids were lining up to perform. We watched and waited for them to start but when 10:30 came around I decided I should start my short hike for the morning to the Inca Granaries (Pinkuylluna) that we can see from our window. It was suppose to take 1.5 hours but I figured I would go slow and hike until 12:00 before coming down again as I had arranged to meet Daisy at 13:00, so giving me an hour to get down. The hike was suppose to be moderate but moderate by Peruvian standards is ... read more

Woke up at 7:00 to shower, pack and have breakfast before our scheduled 08:45 pick-up for the airport. They actually came a little early but better early than late. The guide Sapa, was the same one who had picked us up and this time they drove via the coast road which was great as we hadn’t had the chance to walk along the beach as we had planned. Sapa gave us a running commentary as well so it was like a mini-tour. We also got into a political discussion and it seems all Latin American countries have very similar problems with corruption and too many parties and candidates. She also said that they are trying to bring in a law that all candidates have a certain level of education. Sapa accompanied us into the airport to ... read more

Two person taxi choloswere lined up in front of our hotel at 7 AM to pedal 22 of us to the harbor in Puno for our exciting two days on Lake Titicaca, at 12,500 feet, the world’s highest navigable lake. We were deposited at a local lakeside market and instructed to purchase the necessary foods needed for our Amantani host people to make our meals later in the day. One of the things that made me choose Kaypi Peru Tours was their commitment to giving back to the people of Peru. Taxi cholos were chosen instead of busses so that more local people would benefit from the hire rather than one bus driver. In addition, one particular shop was chosen for us to buy food, water and gifts because this store gives a discount to the ... read more

For breakfast we went back to the rooftop restaurant at our hotel and had the somewhat meager Hotel Polo breakfast buffet (no eggs and no avocado!). I had heard about the good avocados in Peru and the bountiful breakfasts where the rest of our traveling troupe stayed, but sadly had not had the pleasure yet. But we did drink cupfuls of coca tea to stabilize our rocky stomachs. Safe water is dear in Peru, especially when tourists can’t drink from the tap, so an early morning hike for bottled water was in order. Larry joined me in search of water while Dave and Celia went up to get ready to leave. Morning traffic in Cusco seems to be one dangerous bottleneck after the other which doesn’t impact pedestrians unless you want to cross the street. Then ... read more

Once again we were ready for our 6 AM pickup, this time to the Lima airport for our return to the United States. The hotel provided a box breakfast, and Kaypi provided a taxi to airport. Still groggy, we drank our hotel coffee on the way to the airport and, once bags were checked at the airport we dove into our boxed breakfast before sinking into our seats waiting for our return home. I had booked a room in Miami for both the day before leaving for Peru and for the night upon our return from Peru to give us a little more time to relax and recover. The flight from Lima to Miami was again, smooth and seamless but I can’t say the food was up to the reputation for wonderful Peruvian cuisine, but hey, ... read more