Today at Machu Picchu we got up early to catch the sunrise. The early morning sky was clearer with clouds and mists distant glaciers were visible. We hiked uphill quite a ways to a place called Inca bridge which is built on an immense cliff, the bridge crosses an intentional gap in the trail. On the way we heard a large noise like gunfire, somewhere along the cliff the was a rock fall.

After returning to the lodge we had breakfast and rested in our room. We had lunch and then returned to the site. Our legs were tired so we took it easy. I tried to use a variety of my lenses to capture some of the details of the city. We stayed until five when the place closed. More rest, toured the orchid gardens behind the lodge. They also have a hot tub in the gardens in a sort of grotto with a view of the mountains and Machu Picchu. Very cool. Tomorrow we check out and take the Hiram Bingham train back to Cuzco. As I mentioned last time most of my pictures can be found at Flickr at the following address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/72616513@N00/

Today we set off to one of the major spots on our worldwide itinerary, Machu Picchu. We got up early at the Hotel Monasterio and too took cab to where a bus was waiting to connect us with the Hiram Bingham train. The rainy season had made some of the track problematic, formerly we would have take the train all the way from Cuzco. The bus drive was nice our guide was able to tell us about the agricultural area around the Sacred Valley where we connected with the Hiram Bingham train. Hiram Bingham was the American who first "discovered" Machu Picchu. There are number of ways to get to Machu Picchu, the Hiram Bingham train is certainly the most posh.

back of the train

You get a gourmet meal, "free" beverages, and entertainment. The train arrives at Agua Caliente from where you take a bus to Machu Picchu. For lodging you can stay in Agua Caliente or you can stay at the Sanctuary Lodge, which is at the entrance to Machu Picchu. Since we are trying to spend the most money possible we are staying there. The bus ride up is interesting because there have been some land slides, most have been cleaned up, but he biggest one remains. It is at the end of a switchback and is still blocked. Everyone needs to get out of the bus, climb some stairs and then get another bus to take you to the top. At the top at Sanctuary Lodge we check in to our room which is nice but not that fancy and then immediately begin our tour of Macchu Picchu.

 It is pouring rain, it's the rainy season. Our tour group is our guide and two gentlemen from Britian. We brought ponchos which keep some of us dry. The Brits are a little less covered. The tour gives us a good overview of the site and its history. The Brits, unfortunately bail about half way through the tour, so it is just us and the guide.

dressed for the wet at Machu Picchu

view of the river from Machu Picchu

We return to the Lodge where they have a high tea. One of the reasons the place is so expensive is that it is all inclusive and the level of service is very high. Later, we had an excellent dinner and were joined by our new British friends. Excellent food, Peruvian entertainment, good conversation.

five day old llama

Tomorrow we will attempt to get up before sunrise to catch the early morning rays and hopefully some better weather, then back to the lodge for breakfast and then some more exploring of the site. Hoping it all works out. Linda is sleeping as I write this, it has been a long day. We are doing much better regarding the altitude. Oddly enough, the Machu Picchu about two thousand feet lower than the city of Cuzco.

I am taking many more pictures than I can post here . If any are interested, I almost am posting almost all of them, un edited,  on flickr at this address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/72616513@N00/

On the last blog I made a slight error. Instead of going to Machu Picchu tomorrow we will have one more night  Cuzco (local spelling Cusco). This is not a bad thing, today Linda is doing quite well and I woke up feeling like crap. I think my heart isn't enjoying the reduced oxygen supply. In the late afternoon we walked down to the big central square near here. Once there, we opted for a city tour, which is dominated by cathedrals mostly built in the 1600's, but it also made a loop that took us to the tops of the hills that surround. If Cuzco is 11,000 feet then this was probably 1200.  The statue of Christ up there overlooks the entire city.

After the tour it was around 7:00 so we had dinner in a very nice authentic local restaurant. This was doubly nice because we could sample some local cuisine and avoid paying more than three times as much at the hotel. We saw lots of other options for tomorrow, even a Starbucks.

Hotel Monasterio is quite grand. As the name implies, it was once a Jesuit monastery built in 1690. All the art work in the halls and the rooms was painted by local Incas under the guidance of
the Jesuit monks.

Our voyage has begun! Flight from Seattle to Houston was uneventful, nice to use the posh airport lounge and first class seats. Houston to Lima got even better, seats that convert into fully flat bed, gourmet meals (air craft gourmet).

Unfortunately our flight arrived in Lima at an inconvenient time, 11:30 PM. After checking our bags through customs we had to recheck them to Cuzco. That flight was at 6:00 AM, their booth wouldn't open till about 3:00. We couldn't go through security till we checked our bags so we sat on a window ledge for several hours until they opened up and checked our bags. Then through an empty security and more sitting at the gate, quite a contrast from the lap of luxury to a sleepless night in an airport lobby. Flight to Cuzco was separate from our round the world ticket and so it was coach (Are those tears I hear you shedding?), good seats by the exit, half empty plane, two hour flight to Cuzco.

Cab to the Hotel Monisterio, joked with cabbie, he said it was a great place in fractured English, and I joked in reply in equally tortured Spanish "mucho dinero" to which he heartily agreed. The hotel is amazing, the whole staff poured out on to the street to greet us, schlepped our bags, gave us coca tea (hope I don't have to pass any drug tests) and got us registered as we sat in the magnificent lobby area. The fact that we were checking in at 7:30 AM didn't faze them they got a room ready for us (an upgrade) which was really welcome. We both needed sleep. Linda went right to bed and I walked around the hotel a bit taking pictures, some of which are included here. Then bed for me too.

A word about the altitude. Cuzco is around 11,000 feet. Both of us are feeling it quite a bit. Climbing a flight of stairs leaves you huffing, headaches are constant, Linda has been feeling nauseous. We had an early (for here) dinner around seven. After that I am writing this, Linda is sleeping, dinner helped her feel a bit better. We want to acclimatize for our two day excursion to Machu Picchu the day after tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow and a good night's rest will have us both feeling a bit better.

Introduction and Itinerary

When my mother passed away a couple of years ago she left us some money. The question was, spend it now… or leave it to our kids? Sorry kids.

The following is a rough itinerary of our trip:

Jan 25 - Jan 31 – Peru, Lima, Cuzco, Machu Pichu
Feb 1 - Feb 13 – Ecuador, Quito, crewed sailboat charter in the Galapagos Isalnds
Feb 14 - 28 – Argentina, Buenos Aires, Iguasu Falls, Ushuaia
Mar 1 - Mar 11 – Antarctic cruise
Mar 12 - Mar 21 – South Africa, Johannesburg, Kruger National Park safari, excursion to Victoria Falls
Mar 22 - Mar 31 – Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Arusha, safari
April 1 - April 24 – Australia, Perth, rail to Sydney, sailboat charter Whitsunday islands, Cairns
April 25 - May 8 – New Zealand, Christchurch and South Island, Auckland and North Island
May 9 – Return to Seattle

There are details we are still working out, but the major flights have been booked so the basic structure will not change barring emergencies. Another fun note, Linda and I have never flown anything but coach/economy class, but when you buy the special round the world ticket we are using, business class is offered at a very large discount. Since some of the flights are quite lengthy we went for this option. A great opportunity to see how the one percent live (well, at least the ten percent).

This blog offers the opportunity for you to leave your comments. We look forward to hearing from you!