A recent comment (of course I read all the comments, who doesn't) suggested that I post more about our trip to Peru. The trip took place during the summer of 2008.
The internet is a wild place and you never know who is going to read (or copy) your stuff. As a blogger I hope as many people as possible to read my stuff. But no one want some criminal mind to misuse information you post. After joining Facebook, I would suspect anyone looking to collect info would go there but you never know. I only bring this up, to explain why real names will be missing from this story. I wouldn't want any family members reading (they usually don't) to think I have a second family on the side or something. Unlike that infamous Governor's trip, this was a trip to Peru, not Argentina.
Our Peru trip was centered around a wedding. Our daughter, Maggie, married a great guy, Bart. Bart's mom is from Peru (a coastal town). His parents met when his dad was in the Peace Corps down in Peru. Bart was born and raised in the states but has visited Peru many times. Both Maggie and Bart are world travelers.
The priest was Irish and looked like he could have been my twin brother.
It's a long flight down there from Chicago, but it's only one hour difference in time zones, so Chicagoans don't have that jet lag problem. But check your globe, this is south of the equator. We had a connections in Maimi FL, and Lima before we landed in Cusco. Anyone heading for Machu Picchu mostly likely will travel through Cusco which is a wonderful ancient city.
One warning about Cusco - altitude. Unless you're from some mountain area, you probably are going to suffer some altitude effects. Cusco is higher (11,000 ft) than Machu Picchu (8000 ft). If I were to plan a return trip I would head to the Sacred Valley first and then visit Cusco.
I believe all of the first time visitors in our group suffered some degree of altitude sickness. However, we still enjoyed seeing the sites around the city. Bart's mom did some extensive planning and arranging for the whole event. Maggie and Bart had a bus waiting for us at the Cusco airport. Tours were setup in advance. All the arrangements worked out great.
Because of the common altitude problem the tourists experience, our hotel (most do) offer their guests free herbal Coca tea (leaves contain small amounts of cocaine). I believe the tea helped. But I wouldn't want to take a drug test soon after a trip there.
One warning about Cusco - altitude. Unless you're from some mountain area, you probably are going to suffer some altitude effects. Cusco is higher (11,000 ft) than Machu Picchu (8000 ft). If I were to plan a return trip I would head to the Sacred Valley first and then visit Cusco.
I believe all of the first time visitors in our group suffered some degree of altitude sickness. However, we still enjoyed seeing the sites around the city. Bart's mom did some extensive planning and arranging for the whole event. Maggie and Bart had a bus waiting for us at the Cusco airport. Tours were setup in advance. All the arrangements worked out great.
Because of the common altitude problem the tourists experience, our hotel (most do) offer their guests free herbal Coca tea (leaves contain small amounts of cocaine). I believe the tea helped. But I wouldn't want to take a drug test soon after a trip there.
A very graphic religious statue in the hotel lobby (holding a severed head).
There was a mobile phone store close to our hotel. It appears that sex sells in Peru too.
After Cusco we took a bus down into the Sacred Valley. The Urubamba river flows through the valley and we stayed at two very nice hotels near the town of Urubamba. It was just outside of that town where Maggie and Bart tied the knot.
Colorful marketplace in Pisac.
Celebration parade (just for us??) in Ollantaytambo.
One very unusual place was Moray where we climbed down into this enormous terraced circular hole.
Here's a satellite view from Google maps (you might need to zoom in):
Climbing around Machu Picchu.
