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Peru May, 2017Peru May, 2017
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A 9-day adventure by Linda Read more
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  • Linda KohlPeru May, 2017
    Day 1

    Real Day 1 part 1

    May 17, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Day 1 Lima (Wed. May 17) (La Castellana Hotel)
    • I did my own personal adventure for Day 1. First I changed $220 into 708.4 Soles. Then I had a walking tour that I got off google. I also spent a lot of time just sitting and reading and conversing in Kennedy Park (named after JFK), aka Cat Park.
    Walking Tour: MIRAFLORES –an upscale, very nice suburb of Lima.
    1. Huaca Pucllana. This is the “Temple of the worshippers of the sea”. For 12 soles (about $3), I got an hour tour as well as entrance to the museum. It is billed on Google as “Remains of a clay & adobe stepped pyramid from the Lima Culture (200–700 A.D.)”. At this pyramid one is exposed to 3 different cultures that inhabited the pyramid. The most significant attribute of the Lima people’s belief system was the importance given to the sea. (Remember, Lima is on the ocean.) The tour included a demonstration of how the bricks for the pyramid were made. Farming was explained with the growing of a variety of vegetables and the raising of livestock, most notably llamas and alpacas and guinea pigs, a favorite meal. Pucllana is a flat top pyramid and the tour took us to the top. It was built between 600 and 700 AD. The site was abandoned for ceremonies when the Wari empire (650-1000AD) took over who eventually did use the pyramid for the elite. This empire collapsed and the Ychsma, a local society, took over.
    2. Miraflores Indian Market Bustling outdoor destination with vendors offering souvenirs, antiques & regional handicrafts. Checked it out and bought my wall hanging.
    3. Miraflores Central Park and Kennedy park. Triangular urban park offering trees, landscaped lawns & paths, plus an amphitheater & a playground.
    4. Salazar Park Park atop the coastal cliffs, with walking paths, contemporary art, shopping & views of the bay. I got directions to the ocean and the parks. Watched surfers for a while.
    5. Amor Park Landscaped park overlooking the ocean with a huge kissing sculpture, mosaic walls & a snack stand.

    After the long morning/early afternoon of walking and sight-seeing, I then went to Kennedy/Cat park to relax and enjoy cats. I was sitting on a bench below a tree and after a long time I became aware that there was a cat in the branches above me. Then a gentleman sat down with a clear glass bowl with his lunch – rice, veggies, beef. He bent down and fed cats, which came from all around. (It turns out more cats come out at night, though – so I only saw about 6-7 different cats.) We started a conversation but it was limited b/c he spoke no English and I tried my best. He was a bank guard who had retired from the policia. I told him he looked like “jefe de la policia”. It was at that point that I noticed he had Kevlar vest on. Boy, Linda, you aren’t very sharp. He comes to that bench everyday for his lunch hour to eat and enjoy the cats. He was really nice and people came by to watch him feed the cats.
    Pictures:
    1-4 Lima: Huaca Pucllana, "Inca Temple of the worshippers of the sea"
    5: Huaca Pucllana, tomb-people buried in fetal position but standing
    6: An entrance to Kennedy Park    Read more

  • Linda KohlPeru May, 2017
    2
    Day 1

    Day 1 - part 2

    May 17, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Group members met with the G rep (G Adventures tour company, Canadian based) at 6 pm and were given the schedule for our departure the next morning. People introduced themselves and some went out to eat but I didn’t. We met most of the group then. The full group of 16: 3 from Texas, 2 solos from Texas, 1 solo from NYC, 1 solo from CA, 1 from CA or NY, 3 from Vancouver/WA, 2 brothers from Vancouver, me from MI, 2 from London, UK. 5 of us were not doing an overnight trek, 1 was doing the Lares Trail, and rest were doing the Inka Trail. I was the oldest by far with my roommate probably late 50’s. There were about 5 in their 20’s and rest in 30’s to early 40’s.
    About 3:30 am loud banging on the door and was told my roommate was here. I wasn’t aware of getting a roommate. Cindy was from Texas and flew Aeromexico through Mexico City. She was traveling with her niece Andrea and grandniece, Rebecca – about 20 yrs old and was exhausted. Went to bed but snored very loudly. In the morning she apologized saying she couldn’t find an outlet for her cpap (sp?). It turns out it was next to my bed. It wasn’t a big deal since we had to get up at 5 am anyway. Once she could use her machine, there were no problems with her snoring at all.
    Pictures:
    1-3 Lima: Kennedy Park and Cat Park
    4-6 Pacific Ocean, surfers area, Kiss park    Read more

  • Linda KohlPeru May, 2017

    Day 0

    May 16, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Arrived Lima Tues, May 16 at about 11 pm
    I flew from Detroit to Miama and then Miami to Lima. Flight problem: MIA-LIM. Got on runway but couldn’t get up enough speed to take off. They tried a fix without going to the gate but it didn’t work. So then to the gate but we couldn’t get off plane. Took off about 2 hours later (after the 2nd flight already left). I had paid G adventures $40 for an airport pickup and I was glad for the convenience, even though it was a total madhouse coming into the arrivals area looking for the sign. SOOOOOO many signs and drivers.
    I checked into hotel, made water and went to bed.    Read more

  • Linda KohlPeru May, 2017
    Day 2

    Day 2 Part 1

    May 18, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Day 2 Lima/Cusco (Th, May 18) Hotel Prisma Elevation: 11,152 feet
    Flight to Cusco. Our flight was at 6:40 am and we had to get up early to get to airport. It took a while for us (16 of us) to find our ride into Cusco – they did have to bring out another van for us. The Inka/Lares trekkers had a lot of equipment. At the hotel our local G rep was Victor, who was also the guide for the Inka trailers. We were immediately served Coca tea which is supposedly the answer to altitude sickness, 11,152’. You can get coca in various forms, including gum and candy.
    After we got our rooms, we then met downstairs for a quick city tour. Victor took us to the Plaza de Armas (main square) and showed us some places we might want to see or eat at. Cusco is a city of ½ million people with a total of 1 million in the Cusco area. Lima has 9 million and Peru has 30 million. Koricancha The religious complex of Coricancha (Qorikancha) in the Inca capital at Cuzco contained the Temple of the Sun which was not only the most sacred site or huaca in the Inca religion but was considered the very centre of the Inca world.
    Pictures: 1-2 View of Andes from plane
    3 Street scene, Cusco
    4 Koricancha, Cusco    Read more

  • Linda KohlPeru May, 2017
    Day 2

    Day 2 Part 2

    May 18, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We then went to a restaurant for lunch on the Avenida del Sol. I had an alpaca burger (like about 6 others) which was good. One of the group had alpaca tips but did not like, saying it was gamy. We were the only ones at the rooftop restaurant and there was one cook whom we saw cooking on the balcony. While waiting, we took some nice city pictures. The service was very slow and it took us 2 hours. We then were dismissed on our own.
    I have no recollection of what I did for dinner but it was not with the group. I probably ate leftover breakfast foods. By end of day I did have a headache. I wasn’t sure if it was altitude sickness or migraine. So I took both pills – better in the morning. So I quit taking both the next day.
    Pictures: 1-2 View of Cusco from restaurant patio
    3 My alpaca burger which was very delicious    Read more

  • Linda KohlPeru May, 2017
    Day 3

    Day 3 part 1

    May 19, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Day 3 Cusco/Ollantaytambo (Fr, May 19) Hotel Inka Paradise Elevation: 9,260 feet
    Full-day guided tour of the Sacred Valley. We stopped along the way to the statue of Christ (Cristo Blanco), gift from Arabic Palestinians who sought refuge in Cusco after WWII. It affords a panoramic view of Cusco. We saw Cusco’s soccer stadium from statue: it is the largest in Peru, holding 45,000 and 2 local teams.
    GROUP PICTURE: Left to right: Kayla, Sarah, Laura, Ben, Mike, Jana, Ethan, Ben, Nicole, Katie, Heather, Andrea, Linda, Rebecca, Cindy, Simon
    pictures: At Cristo Blanco:, including view of Cusco and group    Read more

  • Linda KohlPeru May, 2017
    Day 3

    Day 3, part 2

    May 19, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    G Adventures for Good: Ccaccaccollo Community and Women's Weaving Co-op.
    Visit the Ccaccaccollo community centre which G Adventures travellers' donations helped create in 2005, thereby enabling local women to sell traditional textiles to travellers. See local weaving and dyeing techniques used to create garments and souvenirs, and learn how the Planeterra weaving co-operative has impacted the community and those who visit it. The dyeing technique was truly interesting: they harvest cochineal bugs from cactus plants, dry them in the sun, grind them. Then they add a little water and then various other ingredients to make the colors. They demonstrated all of that. They weave from the fur of llamas (tallest), alpaca, guanacos, and vicuna (the finest wool). Both llamas and alpacas are domesticated.
    Pictures 1-6 Sacred Valley Ccaccaccollo Community: feeding llamas, the ingredients, weaving    Read more

  • Linda KohlPeru May, 2017
    Day 3

    Day 3, part 4

    May 19, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    • Pisac Ruins Guided Tour
    Tour the fascinating hilltop citadel of Pisac, an Incan ruin with plunging gorges, a ceremonial centre, and winding agriculture terracing that's still in use today. It was truly an amazing site sitting amid sweeping green valleys and mountain peaks. Explore the back of the site to see a pocketed cliff across Kitamayo Gorge, which once contained hundreds of Inca tombs. (And, yes, I did climb up there)
    Pictures: 1: some of Pisac ruins,
    2: holes in rocks are grave sites, I think
    3. Here's the place I climbed up
    4. View of the rooster who lived just outside my bathroom window in Ollanta    Read more

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