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I can't believe that this long awaited trip has come and gone. Jenn and I had a lot of fun, we met a lot of nice people, and learned a lot from this trip.
Machu Picchu by far was the best part of this trip. It's so amazing that we actually saw one of the new Seventh Wonders of the World!



By visiting Machu Picchu this just makes us want to explore the other 6 Wonders of the World. I'm thinking the next will be the The Roman Colosseum in Rome, Italy

Day 8 - Last Day in Peru

Another early flight from Cusco to Lima started our day.

We were out of our hotel by 5am heading to the airport to fly to Lima so we can get our flight back to the United States, only thing is... that flight doesn't leave till 11pm. So when we landed in Lima we hopped onto another bus that took us to the hotel we stayed at the first two nights so we could nap, freshen up, and to store our luggage. Some people are hanging in the hotel napping all day and some are going to shop.

Jenn and I took showers and relaxed for awhile. Now we are heading out to walk around Lima, maybe find a nice little coffee shop (cafe). We have to be back at the hotel by 7pm for dinner and then we leave at 8pm to go to the airport for our flight home. The flight is about 8 hours so we will arrive at Newark, NJ around 7am. I hope we can sleep on the plane. Jenn and I both are very tired from all of the traveling and look forward to sleeping in our own beds. :-)

We saw a lot of interesting places and met a lot of nice people on this trip... where to next?

Can't wait to see you all manana!
Adios Amigos!

Day 7 - Back in Cusco

We actually got to sleep late today...till about 7:45am. Then we headed out in the pouring rain to go horseback riding. Weather aside, it was a lot of fun. I had a white horse named Prince and Jenn had a black horse named Tornado. We trekked on horseback up winding paths in the mountains of Cusco and made two stops to see the Incan Moon Temple and a bunch of Incan caves. I'm really glad we decided to do the horseback riding, and Jenn is now officially over her fear of riding, since being thrown from a horse in Ireland the last time we rode.


Next we headed back to the hotel to change our wet, muddy clothes and went out to lunch. Two girls from the group ordered a Peruvian specialty...Guinea Pig! They actually cook it with the full body intact and serve it to you that way -head, teeth, body, arms, legs- the whole thing! It looked gross!


Jenn and I were definitely happy with the chicken dishes we ordered. After lunch we shopped a bit at the market and then crashed at the hotel for a much-needed nap. Then we were off to the spa where we each got a massage and a pedicure. We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant and then it was back to the hotel. Knock on wood, we've been really lucky not to get sick, because a bunch of people from our tour group have been getting sick to their stomachs yesterday and today. We've been really careful not to drink anything with water or eat anything that was cleaned in the water, so hopefully we'll be good to go. Well we have to wake up early again to get a plane back to Lima for our last day in Peru.
Buenos noches amigos!

Day 6 - Machu Picchu: 2nd day

Today we got up at 4am to get ready to head back up to Machu Picchu to try and catch the sunrise on the mountain. We had a wake-up call at the hotel, but if for some reason we hadn't there was a rooster outside that definitely would have woken us up! The line for the bus up the mountain was long - I guess a lot of other people had the same idea about catching the sunrise. When we made it up to Machu Picchu the weather was so foggy that you couldn't even see any other mountains or the ruins! 

We were saying how lucky we were that we also went yesterday and had great weather - because a lot of tourists were there just for today and could hardly see anything. Luckily for everyone, the clouds finally rolled away and most of the view was visible.



We walked up a different trail for part of the way on the mountain of Machu Picchu and then explored parts of the ruins we weren't able to get to yesterday. One of the women in our group is a technology education teacher from California, and she has been testing the water throughout the trip so she can share the results with her students back home. So today we were with her in the Incan ruins and we helped her test the water that was flowing through Machu Picchu. It was really interesting.

On our way back down the mountain we stopped off at the Machu Picchu Museum and got to see lots of artifacts that have been discovered from the site, ranging from jewelry to tools to pottery. Then we walked back into town which took about 30 minutes and we were exhausted from all of the walking and were really hungry. So Jenn & I went out to lunch with the group and ate a large cheese pizza and papas fritas (french fries) between the two of us. It was really good!



After that we headed uphill (this trip has been all about uphill!) to the Hot Springs. They were basically 6 or so hot tubs filled with spring-fed water and enhanced with minerals. It sounds really nice and spa-like, but it was kind of dingy with all of the tourists and local folk piling into the pools and after about 10 minutes Jenn and I decided we were definitely more than done with being there. So we headed back to town and had a cappuccino at a local cafe. Then we boarded the 5pm train back to Cusco, and after 3 1/2 hours on train and a 1/2 hour on the bus we were finally back to the hotel. We had pizza for dinner and then headed to bed to get ready for the next day. Horseback riding up to another Incan site tomorrow!

Day 5 - Machu Picchu

Amazing Day!!!!!!!


The day started at 7am with a 4 hour train ride from Cusco to Macchu Picchu. The train ride was long, but we got to see a lot of scenery and farmlands. We arrived at the city of Machu Picchu close to noon, checked into the hotel and then had a buffet lunch looking out over the river. Right after lunch we got onto a bus and headed up the mountain to see the famous Incan City - Machu Picchu. To honor an Incan tradition, each bus that goes up to Machu Picchu has a little boy wearing a traditional Incan costume riding up front. When you go to leave the mountain to go back down to the town, the little boy literally runs down the mountain as you ride down in the bus and he gets down to the bottom before you and waves!


Once we arrived at the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu at 8,050 feet above sea level, we were blown away by how beautiful the scene was! The mountains and the ruins were so beautiful.
     

Following our tour guide we walked through the ruins and learned about all the different parts of the Incan city and were able to explore the temples, houses, and other structures.
          

Even though we were over 8,000 feet up, there were llamas and chinchillas roaming the mountain. Jenn almost got run over by one of the llamas who got spooked by another tourist! Another interesting part of the ruins was a large stone that is said to heal & provide energy. Jenn & I were able to go up to the stone and touch it and standing up there it was really peaceful. The weather changes very quickly up there so while it was pouring rain and misty when we first got there, by the end of our trip it was sunny and warm. We even saw a rainbow form over the mountain range.

We took lots of great pictures, but they really don't capture exactly how amazing this place is. No wonder it was recently named as one of the new 7 Wonders of the World! After leaving the ruins, we went back down to the city and shopped a bit, then had dinner while watching more traditional Peruvian music. It's funny, each group that we've seen play has always covered at least one Beatles song on the traditional instruments. After dinner, Jenn & I headed out with a few people from our group for more shopping and then we stopped at a cute little cafe and had Sangria and dessert (Flan!). Now we're heading to bed because we have another early morning ahead of us, watch the sun rise at Machu Picchu!

Day 4 - Cusco, Peru

Today was by far the best day in Peru. Jenn and I got up and had breakfast at the hotel and then back on the bus for some more touring. Our first stop was to see how blankets are woven. They showed us a step by step process, from having the wool cleaned from the root of a potato to how they spin the wool to be easier to thread and then how they dye it using different minerals such as leaves, flowers, and the blood of the bugs that live in a cactus. This was very interesting and it gives us a different perspective on how these products are made.


After that we went to another Incan temple, The Sacred Valley of the Incas. On our way to this temple we stopped and saw a festival, in honor of the last day of Christmas, The Epiphany when the Three Wisemen saw baby Jesus. The streets were filled with people dancing, music, and people carrying saints around the square. Everyone was out watching this and they were all dressed up in their traditional clothing.

After that little detour we arrived at the Incan temple. Its amazing how these people carried these large rocks all the way up the mountain. We climbed up to the Sun temple where they used to worship the Sun God. There were a lot of steps to climb up, and Jenn and I joked how we were glad we took that exercise bootcamp because it helped us out a lot.


We had a nice buffet lunch outside before we went to a market. At the market the people were selling blankets, sweaters, pottery, and jewelry. This reminded me of a flea market that we go to at home. We tried to bargain a bit, but its hard when we can't speak their language very well.

There are a lot of people following you around wanting you to buy their products, even kids that are dressed up in their traditional outfits and ask for you to take a picture with them so you can give them a tip. It's sad that the parents actually push them to approach you, but they are so cute and thats why.

The tour today was really fun, and to end the day we stopped at a restaurant and had dinner. The meal was Alpaca (they are animals that are like llamas). I wasn't so sure about eating this, but I gave it a try.

It tasted just like a skirt steak, not so bad. Here is Jenn eating it:

Now we are getting ready to go to bed. We are getting up early again to catch a train to Machu Pichu, (possible New Seventh Wonder of the World). Jenn and I are really excited about this part of the trip. We'll let you know all about it.

Day 3 - Cusco, Peru

This morning we we got up at 2am to go to the airport for a 5:45am flight from Lima to Cusco, Peru. The flight was very quick, but throughout the whole flight my ears were popping and Jenn was so tired she slept the whole flight. When we arrived at Cusco, you can tell that it is very different from Lima. Cusco is a city surrounded by the beautiful Andes Mountains. The scenery is gorgeous.

We took a tour of Cusco, and went up the mountains to the Incan ruins. Up at the top of the mountains the view of Cusco city was amazing. Here we are on top of the mountain with Cusco behind us:


Because we are at such a high altitude Jenn and I both got winded very easily. Not because we are out of shape, but because we are so high up. :-)

We also took a tour of Qorikancha Temple, and a Cathedral. At Qorikancha we got to see the remains of Incan temples, the interesting thing here was that no substance was used to keep the large stones together, each stone actually held eachother in place like a puzzle. After our tour we all went to eat dinner at a nice restaurant, and we were surprised with a group of 5 musicians (all brothers from the ages of 14 to 23) who played traditional Peruvian music for us. Here is a little taste of what we saw:



And lastly we went back to the hotel to relax and go to bed because we have another long day ahead of us.
Buenas Noches!