Days 8 and 9 – 3/23-3/24/12 – Cusco; Lima

The Ubiquitous Alpaca Picture

Dear Reader, our voyage is coming to an end, and thus is this round of blogging.  Friday and Saturday were travel days, with Friday seeing us head to Lima from Cusco and Saturday seeing us head back to the ATL.  While in many ways my favourite days of this trip due to a lot of solid leisure time with my family, there is little to tell of interest to anyone other than ourselves so I will wrap up this travelogue.  I must say, however, that this trip wildly exceeded expectations.  Peru is a hell of a lot more than just Machu Picchu, with parts of Lima like Miraflores and San Isidro being as beautiful as any urban areas that we have visited.  I did not realize the degree to which Lima has rebounded from the awful civil war and terrorism of the 1980s and early 1990s to become a truly thriving regional economic engine.  Given a reason, I would very seriously consider living here.  Cusco was something else entirely – far more of the Andean capital / Spanish colonial city that I expected and much more in line with places like Quito and Panama than with Lima.  Despite the obvious Andean and Spanish connections, however, the vibe of the town reminded me most of Kathmandu, which really took me by surprise.  I will leave you, dear Reader, with one last though on Peru:  this country has done something that none of the other 30 or so that the Lady and I have been to this century has accomplished.  During this entire trip, we did not hear a single rendition of Hotel California.  Congratulations, Peru – you have broken a streak well over a decade long!  And thus, Dear Reader, I bid you adieu until our next journey.  Until then, I hope your life is well and your travel is smooth!

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Day 4 – 3/19/12 – Sacred Valley

Typical Chinchero View

Dear Reader, I’m pleased to report that today was exactly what I hoped this trip would be.  After a leisurely wake up and breakfast (hah – I was up at 4:30 for a conference call and worked until 7:30), we loaded into the van and headed to Chinchero, an Incan village at roughly 12,5000 feet on the Anta plain, to visit a local weaving project/workshop/museum.  Chinchero had several interesting features, the most pervasive being that it is one of the 12 Andean communities that keep the traditional urban design and social structures from Incan times.  This means a very winding urban layout following the natural contours of the hills on which the town is situated.  It also means a church built by the Spanish in the 16^th century on top of an Incan plaza.  Unusually, this church was an incredible example of syncretism at work. 

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Day 3 – 3/18/12 – Lima; Sacred Valley

What awaited in the Sacred Valley

Sunday was largely a travel day for us, starting in the morning in Lima and heading for Cusco, one of the major Andean cities located roughly 12,000 feet above sea level , and the historic heart of the Inca empire.  While the ride to the airport was uneventful and our time at the airport was memorably only for the remarkable number of Chick Taylors’ on display, the flight to Cusco was one of the most challenging of TBJ’s young life.  For the first time, TBJ had a truly bad flight.  The good news is that we were surrounded by families, other than two poor souls with window seats in rows in which all 5 other seats held at least one kid and to old, well, assholes, in the first row.  For most of the flight TBJ had no issues whatsoever.  However, we could not get him to take a bottle once we started our descent about 25 minutes out (on a 1 hour flight).  As a result, poor TBJ couldn’t equalize his ear pressure, which resulted in 20 minutes of the loudest, most agonized crying I’ve heard from him.  Making it even more difficult, there was absolutely nothing that The Lady or I could do to help the little guy.  I have never felt so helpless. 

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