As I have mentioned before, one of the reasons I work hard is to enjoy the ability to travel. Annie is a planner and we booked this trip a long time ago to Peru. I never wanted to visit South America, but this is my second trip, the former was to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands and this one was primarily to see Machu Picchu.
Growing up in England I read Paddington Bear, who of course came from Deepest Darkest Peru, I also read the story to my boys as they grew up. So, it was a delight to discover a statue of Paddington with his Union Jack coat and suitcase, obviously for his marmalade sandwiches, on the waterfront. Annie took another photo of me raising my hat like Paddington, but I did not have access to that for this post.
The trip was fabulous,, it was not a vacation as we did so much traveling it felt like hard work some days with very early starts, getting up at 4.30 or 5.30 and being busy all day. The food was delicious, ceviche, wonderful fresh fish cooked in lime juice, different Peruvian dishes with chicken and beef. I had the opportunity to try Alpaca and Guinea Pig but after a look from Annie and having looked in the eyes of an Alpaca the day before I skipped the chance. We drank Peruvian wine which was excellent, deep red, lots of big bold red fruit flavor and little to no tannins, young but tasted like it would age well.
It is the rainy season right now, but we were lucky with the weather and most days were sunny and warm. We spent the beginning of the trip in Lima, where on our second day we managed to rack up walking eleven miles. I deserved my beer that evening.
When we visited Mach Picchu it was foggy/misty and raining to start the day, but that gave it a rather ethereal feel as you felt any moment now an Inca would walk out of the mist, but it did clear and we were able to get some great views of the complex. Interestingly, experts still do not agree on why Machu Picchu was built, so research and exploration are still ongoing.
Above is a view of the Sun Tower, the two windows align with the Summer and Winter Solstice and this allowed the Incas to know when to plant and harvest. Amazingly, many of the stones are cut to hold each other tights, it is quite amazing the techniques used, no mortar or anything between them. See the photo below for an indication how they made this happen. Quite amazing when you realize what tools they were working with. Machu Picchu was built around 1450-1480 roughly. Whilst there were many workers over the year, everyone had to give time to the Inca, four months, there was no pay and no taxes, only bartering for goods and food.
Back in Cusco, actually higher than Machu Picchu we visited a couple of museums to learn more about it. It was 1911 when it was discovered by an American Hiram Bingham from Yale, then he went back in 1912 with an expedition to uncover the remains and clear the site. Whilst, he travelled by mule train, we were able to take Inca Rail and enjoy the views over the very fast rushing river as we travelled.
The heights was an issue for me and I told Annie we are not going on any more vacations that involve such high locations, so no Nepal base camp or climbing Kilimanjaro for me in the future.
There are many ,more photos, but I think you get the idea. The trip was seven nights and eight days so we packed a lot in a short time, hence the amount of traveling that made it a trip not a vacation.
We also got to see how the Alpaca wool is made, colored and bought way to many gifts and souvenirs. I like this photo we got of the ladies in traditional dress with Annie and I.
Comments(21)