Week 40: The Road to Macchu Picchu… and Beyond

When my husband and I started traveling, I finally had a chance to cross off some of my travel goals. The first one that I was able to cross off was Greece (and I have a T-shirt to prove it). Before my marriage, I went to China with my friend (also have a T-shirt to prove it). Third on my list was Russia – to see Beautiful St. Petersburg and Moscow perhaps through a cruise. But I decided to change it to a Peruvian experience.

Russia is still on my list, but my priorities changed. It’s okay to change your goals. As the years pass, one changes and evolves and your tastes and goals may change with that. At first, I was hesitant to change, but I went back to my original intent – budget, prioritization, and enjoy.

Authentic Incan T-shirt (not really)

I first heard about Peru from an officemate who wonderfully described their adventures and the fabulous Incan ruins. I decided, long ago, that I wanted to visit the influential centers of the world. With that, the center of the Incan Empire should be on my list. So I knew I had to go!

We found a really great trip through Mountain Travel Sobek. It was a pretty long trip of about 12 days, I believe: starting at Cuzco and ending in Arequipa. It was the perfect trip – What would have made it more perfect was including a side trip to the rainforest and Nazca, but our allotted time and vacation times would not allow it.

We had an excellent guide, Rosa, and a really friendly driver, Raul, which made all the difference. We also had a really great group of people on the tour; most of them were very, very seasoned travelers. The tour was a lot of fun and we explored a lot of places, some of them very close to Cuzco. The biggest challenge that we had was adjusting to the altitude. Cuzco is over 11,000 feet (Yes, that is three zeroes). Our first day there, we walked four blocks to the town square, and our legs turned into putty. The coca tea helped (yes again, that is legal in Peru), but don’t drink too much, you’ll stay awake all night!

We travelled all over, explored Cuzco Cathedral in Cuzco, Sacsayhauman, Temple of the Sun (which was actually near our hotel), hiked the ruins of Pikillaqta, we went to & hiked in Pisac (one of the scariest hikes I’ve done in my life – some ancient, very narrow trails at almost 10,000 feet), visited a Quechan village at 14,000 ft (and danced the hokey pokey – long story), enjoyed sunrise at Lake Titicaca (and our barge was driven by Jesus, we can’t be in better hands), enjoyed visiting Colca Canyon and admired the flight of the magnificent condors (rising up from the canyon floor, riding the thermals) and ended our trip in the beautiful city of Arequipa (surrounded by some 14,000 foot majestic volcanoes). Through the trip we stayed in beautiful hotels and enjoyed delicious meals, even in the middle of nowhere (and that half of the time!).

Of course, no trip to Peru is complete without a trip to Macchu Picchu. We traveled to Macchu Picchu via train. Not counting the commuter trains, I believe it was my first train ride and thoroughly enjoyed it (I took lots of pictures). We stayed in nearby Agua Caliente in a gorgeous hotel with a beautiful garden that almost looked like a rainforest. We enjoyed our downtimes exploring the property.

We visited Macchu Picchu for two days. Our first afternoon there, we just chilled out and enjoyed. Some of our group was feeling a bit under the weather, so it was good just to sit and enjoy the sites. I meditated for a little bit. Day 2 was exploring. We walked all over the site. Some of the younger girls wanted to hike Huayna Picchu, but it reached maximum capacity.

Macchu Picchu was probably my most favorite spot! It was really quite ethereal - It was very calming and you could feel the serenity of the mountains around you. I was very amazed of how huge the compound was. After a day of walking, I was exhausted. We rested for a little bit, and some of the girls did yoga. I chose to borrow one of the ladies’ walking stick and did some Aikido Jo Kata. The group was impressed with my demo. In fact, one of them was so inspired as to take up some martial arts training.

When it was time to head home, my husband gave the ‘”farewell thank you speech” to Rosa and our driver Raul for the group; it was very touching; we all got teary-eyed.

Our trip to Peru was truly a trip of a lifetime. Much kudos to Rosa, Raul, and Mountain Travel Sobek for making that possible. My husband and I still fondly reminisce about our adventures. We acquired a taste for Peruvian food (Quinoa especially, which is now a staple in our diet) and Inca Cola. Most importantly we met great people (some of whom, we have exchanged letters with over the years) and experienced a wonderful adventure! We can still hear Rosa saying “Vamanos muchachos!”

BTW: I apologize for another long post. It is really difficult to summarize a trip like this in a page or two. But, it does give me ideas for a future project… Stay tuned.