Blogs from Peru, South America - page 18

My poor body felt broken after sleeping on a bed that was like a rock and listening to noisy traffic while in our 3rd floor hotel room that faced a high traffic road. After some much needed early morning coffee and an Asian influenced breakfast at the Tanuki Japanese Restaurant, included at Hotel Allpa, by 8 AM we asked to change rooms and to have more comforters to sleep on doubled up on the bed to make it more possible to sleep on. I felt like I was acting out the story of the Princess and the Pea. The very nice staff were understanding. Our new room, 502 on the fifth floor, was much larger than room 303 and because it was farther from the road traffic, seemed quieter. By 10:30 AM we had changed rooms, ... read more

Sandra from Kaypi Tours met our now expanded group of 22 people at the Hotel Allpa for our included guided tour of Lima. Our bus was late so we began by walking 6 blocks to the Huaca Pucllana Temple built around 2,000 years ago. Lucky for us Sandra used to be a docent here so we ended up with an unexpected private tour. The entrance fee is only $1.80 US per person for senior citizens and since most of us were in that category we were moved in quickly. Little is known about this early culture, but we do know it was built before Machu Picchu by a culture headed by women, the first people of Lima, the Peaceful Lima People. They believed the gods controlled their environment and it is now believed that this place ... read more

By 7 AM, after a quick breakfast, (mine was coca tea and toast with honey, I could barely eat a thing due to altitude sickness) we were back on the bus on the road to Cusco, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, via the high Andes mountains. Cusco, at a purported 11,000 feet, those of us struggling with altitude sickness were looking forward to this change in elevation! As our bus progressed north through the grassy plateaus I could see some very big mountains on the horizon. Although I had done my research and printed a chart of all the major destinations and their altitudes, I did not record the “minor” stops along the way. After drinking plenty of water over the two hour bus ride we arrived in Pucara (elevation 12,664 feet…we were climbing!) for a ... read more

Dave and I enjoyed an early morning farewell breakfast (I finally got my avocado!) at Hotel Polo in Cusco with Celia and Larry, and Kathy and Bud, before we bade our new friends farewell. Since the six of us had been separated from the rest of our Kaypi group, we were unable to say goodbye to our other new friends so if you are reading this blog, we enjoyed meeting you all and sharing this wonderful journey and we look forward to hearing of your future travel adventures. Still nursing some symptoms of altitude sickness, we were whisked to the airport, where, while waiting for our plane to Lima, Dave sipped tea and I canvassed the elegant airport shops selling expensive and beautiful baby alpaca items, confirming my good decisions to buy from Andean Colors where, ... read more

Lima ist grau, laut, hektisch, unübersichtlich und immens groß. Es wuselt vor (relativ kleinen) Peruanern, im Vergleich wirken die modernen Stadtbusse (Metro) und breiten Straßen riesig. Und obwohl oftmals alles gesteckt voll ist, wahren die Peruaner eine unaufdringliche und kaum bemerkbare Distanz, das Individualdenken der Städter ist hier angekommen. Wer sich mit dem Strom bewegt und rasch, ohne zu zögern, die gefährlichen mehrspurigen Straßen überquert, fällt hier kaum auf. Die meisten Städter schauen ohnehin auf ihre Füße oder aufs Handy. Willkommen in der Hauptstadt Perus, willkommen im Concrete Jungle! Doch gerade dann, wenn man im Gedränge unterzugehen scheint, die Orientierung verliert und etwas hilflos von Links nach Rechts blickt, eröffnet sich eine ganz neue Welt: Die generelle Hilfsbereitschaft der Leute ist auch hier präsent. Vielleicht etwas besser verkleidet, hinter einer ... read more