Cusco back to Toronto, Collingwood

Sacred Valley to Cusco. Hotel: Anany Quinta San Blas.
Cusco to Lima to Toronto to Collingwood

Breakfast this morning consisted of some leftover fruit and juices and a significant amount of leftover dinner from last night. Our final dinner at the house was sensational with beef and rice and potatoes. Before we got on the bus, Gary threatened us with death if any of us needed to have a pee during the hour and a half drive to Cusco so we joked we were in danger of being so dehydrated that we would probably pass out. Our pickup time was 10 o’clock which gave us a chance to finish packing and for Lee to go for a walk down the very bumpy road we have travelled in and out on, to visit a cemetery and take some interesting pictures. The bus we hired holds 15 passengers, so it would be more comfortable than some of the taxi/vans we have been in and we could spread out for more personal space.

Of interest, all of us have downloaded an app which translates English to Spanish and Spanish to English. We can even use it when we are not connected to Wi-Fi. It proved to be very beneficial to all of us. One of our drivers used it on his own phone and would often dictate to it in Spanish and show us the English translation of what he was trying to tell us. Along the way the vendors were selling everything from souvenirs to food and slices of a barbequed full side of pork. They also sell corn and those that do, madly wave a handful of corn leaves at the traffic, signalling that you could stop and buy the corn there.

The speed signs both in town and in the rural districts are largely ignored. It was particularly noticeable in the cities where the drivers we’ve had, do at least double the speed limit of 35 km an hour. In both the cities and the towns, they have huge speed bumps to help control the speed and it’s necessary to come almost to a complete stop to negotiate these and that does help somewhat. Our route took us into a huge park which is part of the park around Sacsayhuaman, the Inca fortress in Cusco. Just as we were arriving in Cusco our driver advised us that he could not get closer than seven blocks to our hotel because of his license restrictions. With all our luggage, the extremely narrow streets and the fact it was seven blocks uphill, there wasn’t a chance we could’ve made it to the hotel. Fortunately, Gary went into a nearby hotel where the attendant happily called two taxis. When they arrived, we threw in the luggage and Karina jumped into one to tell them where to go and Gary in the other. The two cars drove right up to the hotel and we followed by walking up behind. By the time we arrived Gary had already unloaded all the luggage and paid the taxis.

At about 2:00 pm, as we were sitting in lovely sunshine in the courtyard waiting for our rooms to be ready, I noticed that there was a message on my phone from David asking us to call as soon as possible. We learned the terrible news that Lee’s girlfriend, Peggy Shaw, had died suddenly the day before. Total shock followed by many tears. We discussed all the choices and with the help of Gary and Karina and the support of Mike and Judy, decided that we wanted to fly back home. For about two hours Gary and Karina and Lee were searching online for available flights and by 4 o’clock after Gary spent over an hour holding for Air Canada, he was able to book one going out the same night. The front desk called a taxi for us and at 5:30pm we headed to the airport for our 8:00 pm flight to Lima. The only way we could get to Lima for the first leg of the trip was to fly business class with Avianca which we did happily, and we were very pleased to have the extra comfort when we were so tired and upset. We had a 5-hour layover in Lima and then back to Toronto on a 7 ½ hour flight that left Lima at 3:15am and arrived in Toronto at about 10:00am. Thankfully, an Air Canada attendant in Lima gave us a complimentary upgrade to Premium economy which made that leg slightly more comfortable. David graciously picked us up and drove us home.Läs mer