Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Day 9: Nazca lines and a day of rest

We started our day waking up to this guy next to our luggage. ;) 


Since we arrived after dark we decided to  explore the little city near our hotel before we left for Nazca. It looked really charming in the dark, but less so in he light. 

Oh and this was the front desk at our hotel...but we didn't get to do this. :(

Then it was off to the bus again for a 2 hour bus ride to Nazca. This time we were upstairs in 2nd class. No where near as nice and it smelled funny! Thankfully it was only 2 hours. Before we boarded we saw this nice church in Ica:



We arrived in Nazca and went straight to the airport to board our tiny plane for our flight above the Nazcs lines. These are lines carved into the rock that don't necessarily have an explanation. Maybe like crop circles? Anyways, Michael and I were unimpressed. Maybe that was the Dramamine talking, but really...don't do this if you're in Peru. Not that exciting. See if you can find the figures in these pics! 

Then it was to the hotel for a late lunch and nap time. After that we walked into town and had some dinner at a Tripadvisor recommended place. Then we bought a little bottle of local wine to take back to the hotel. We thought it'd be fun to sit at the pool, have some wine and look at the stars. Well, the stars wer great, but the wine wasn't. Ick! Plus it was a real comedy act getting it open. The guy at the store had started to uncork it for us, but the cork broke half way when we tried to pull it out, so we just ended up pushing he cork in, I don't think that made the wine any better or worse. Speaking of wine, look where they grow these grapes! Maybe that explains the taste! 


Another slow day, but maybe that's what we both needed after all the craziness of the jungle Inca trail. My calves are still killing me!

Day 8: no bueno.

Today's plan was to travel from Cusco to Lima and then to board a bus for a 5 hour journey to Ica where we were going to go sand boarding and ride in dune buggies. However, not much really happened and we still don't know why. 

We boarded our 6am flight on time. Arrived in Lima around 730 and headed out of the airport around 8am. Traffic was horrid as it was Monday morning rush hour. It took us about 1.5 hours to get to the bus station where we thought we'd be boarding a bus pretty soon. But, it turns out that our tickets weren't until 1:30 which would put us in Ica at 6:30... after dark so no rime on the sand dunes. Plus we were not at a bus station with nothing to do for 4 hours. :( 


Thankfully our data on our phones was working and Michael find a nice pastry place to go called San Antonio. The cab ride was only $5 so we thought why not go explore the city a bit more. We had some yummy snacks and then walked over to the coast to check out Larcomar, a shopping mall right on the water. It was just opening, but we strolled around a bit, used their fancy bathrooms and got some snacks for the road. 


After an hour or so it was time to take a taxi back to the bus station. We walked up to a taxi stand and asked how much it cost. It sounded like 15soles to us which made sense because the ride out these was 16soles. It turns out when we got to the station they wanted 50 soles. Ridiculous!! Highway robbery. And lesson learned. Michael was frustrated and turned into Cookie Monster. 



We finally boarded the bus and settled into our fancy reclining seats with blankets and tiny tvs. Great stuff! 


We got to Ica in time for dinner. We were going to go to Tripadvisor's recommended Desert Nights, but it was packed, so we are at our hotel instead. It was good and we had some local Ica wine that was nice. 

Total bust of a day. 

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

More Machu Picchu pics!


Panorama:
Incoming clouds:

Compass rock: 

See how the rock is shaped like the mountain in the background? Cool!
Inside a cave during our hike:

You can make it, Michael:
SU friends:









Monday, July 6, 2015

Day 7: Machu Picchu day aka the day of so many steps

The Today we rose early to have a quick breakfast at the hotel before we met our guide at the line for the buses to Machu Picchu at 515. We rode the bus for about 20 minutes before arriving at the site. Craziness to get in as the place was just opening. Then our guide rushes us past almost everyone and books it up these stairs. I'm struggling to keep up, but I figure he has a plan. His plan was two-fold: get to the top before all the tourists to get pics of Machu w/o people and get pics before the clouds rolled in. He timed it beautifully and I'm so happy he ran us up those stairs, but seriously...I wanted to strangle him on the way up!! 




After a few pictures overlooking the site, we went and sat down for a bit as he gave us s history lesson. I tried to focus, but really I was just staring at this amazing place. And was fascinated by the way the clouds would move in and out. 


After our history lesson, it was off to your the grounds a bit. He took us to the temple of the sun, the room of three windows, and this cool place where the Incan had placed a rock with four corners directly facing the four directions of the compass. These people were brilliant! 

At around 740, he dropped us off at the entrance to Waynupichu mountain which only 400 people a day get to climb. You'll see it as the big mountain in the background in this pic: 


Holy fright was this a climb! On the way down I counted approximately 1274 steps (+/- 10 steps). And these were steep stairs! One hour or so up and about the same down, but the views were incredible. Totally worth it, but certainly exhausting. My legs were shaking by the time we were done. I'm
Not sure my legs have ever been that tired! Even post marathon!!!

We also did these poses to match the guy from the map you saw in a previous post: 


We finished the mountain around 10am and started to head out of the park for a bathroom break/snack break as there are no bathrooms inside the park. As we walked through the maze that is Machu Picchu, we ran into my SU buddies and Michael's work buddies. Crazy small world again. That place is huge and to find each other that easily is crazy to me. 

After break time, we went back into the park to explore a few more things on our own, but there are a lot of stairs there and our legs were killing us. Plus, it was so full of tourists at this point, we no longer found it enjoyable. So, we decided to head out around 1215 or so. 




We had decided earlier in the day to walk back to Aguas Calirntes to save ourselves the $12 each bus fare. So we began what was a terrible walk filled with tons more steps. Granted it was all down hill, but these steps are steep and my knees/feet were so tired of the jarring motion by the time we made it to the bottom I wanted to call it quits. But, we powered through and found a restaurant (The Treehouse) to have some food/beverage as a late lunch. Unfortunately it was up more stairs. I think it took me a minute stair to get up there, but it was a nice place and less touristy than all the restaurants down on the main street, so worth it. 


After that we got me some tea because I was chilly, stayed in the square a bit, toured the handicraft market, had a drink/snack/restroom break at a bit so good restaurant with 5* bathrooms and then had dinner at an Italian place that was okay. We had planned on going back to the charming place (India Feliz) from the night before, but they were closed for the day. :( 

Then, we boarded our 2 hour train that took us close to Cusco, but not close enough. After that it was a 1.5 hour car ride. We arrived at the hotel around 10pm and were being picked up at 4am for our flight back to Lima. Exhausting, but amazing day!! 

More pics will come when I upload my camera pics.




Sunday, July 5, 2015

Day 6: RAIN, a crazy morning and a long afternoon

Happy 4th of July! We woke to the sound of pouring rain and were really not looking forward to our day of outdoor activities in the rain. Michael ventured out and got some trash bags to protect our stuff. 

Then, it was off to breakfast. After a quick breakfast it was time for zip lining! Michael had never been and this company had 5 zip lines and a sky bridge so I was excited too! The rain mostly held off during this adventure. Just a few sprinkles here and there. No where near enough to ruin our experience. I think we both loved getting to do the superman/woman  pose best! It felt like you were flying!! Loved it! 



Then it was another terrible windy bus ride to the beginning of the hike to Aguas Calientes. The only way to get there is by foot, train or plane. So after a quick lunch, we were off.

The hike stared out fine even though Michael had to carry our giant bag. At least it wasn't raining! But, by the end of the three hours, I was over it! I just wanted to sit down and enjoy our hotel! Plus our guide was moving at record pace and I like to walk fast, but I couldn't keep up! Ridiculous! 

After checking in, we went to check out the hot springs here, but realized that was a bad move as soon as we saw the pools of murky green water. So, we left and Michael negotiated a refund! Good move, Michael! 

Oh and before we went, we took our dirty, stinky clothes to the laundry mat next door and for the best $12 we've ever spent we had lovely smelling clothes in 3 hours. 

After the hot springs fail, we strolled the city, had some tea, watched bits of a big soccer game, and then found a quaint restaurant to have wine and dessert before we met our guide for dinner. 


We hope to add more in a few days! Enjoy!!