Day 16; Sunday, September 22nd in Lima

We both had good sleeps which for certain was needed. The usual grey skies hang over the ocean below and not sure if temperature inversion/foggy like San Francisco or partly due to the smoggy conditions in this huge city by the ocean? Nope, this is what I find online to explain: This mysterious sea mist is caused by the interaction of warm inland desert winds (don't forget Lima's a desert!) and the cool water streams of the Pacific Ocean.

We had great news last night as we got a phone call on the hotel phone confirming they had made a reservation for us at Restaurant Sonia for 14:00! This was one of our key foodie destinations for this trip. It was a restaurant visited by Anthony Bourdain many years ago and he loved it. It opened in 1979 so 45 years ago. The background story to the humble restaurant's beginnings is very cool so worth opening the link. It is supposed to have some of the best ceviche in the city and the city is known for the best ceviche in the world. It is an eleven (11) minute drive south or a walk of 70 minutes. 

Sunset outside our hotel tonight (last night in Peru).

This will be a long day given our first flight out of Lima is scheduled for Monday morning at 02:55 to Bogota, Colombia. Lana has a late check out with our hotel for 16:00 which is much appreciated. Plus, we will be able to use all their facilities until we leave for the airport. One challenge is yesterday and this morning we cannot check in with Avianca Airlines as their webpage is not working for check-ins. There is an error message and when Lana phoned both Avianca and Air Canada yesterday they were not able to assist. She was told to head to the airport prior to the flight and check in directly with the airline there. Ugh!!!

We head down to the breakfast buffet and a table beside the window overlooking the ocean. We have a leisurely breakfast given we are in no rush the entire day. Usual excellent choices and service. We will miss this free feature! Lana checking on a lounge at the Lima airport and she does have access to Sumaq VIP Lounge through her Visa credit card. So we can at least be in this lounge until 2 AM when our flight will likely board!

We have our lunch reservation and Lana is good with giving it a try to walk to Restaurant Sonia. It is 5.1 kms and Google Maps indicates a 70 minute walk although we don't begin until 13:00 so we are cutting it close as you lose your reservation if more than 10 minutes late. Another beautiful day for a walk as it is not too warm, sun hidden by the misty skies and similar walk to last night except much longer. Lana is pretty good as we make it by 14:05 and our table is ready for us. 

We are looking forward to more Peruvian cuisine and at this particular location given how long it has been in business. On our arrival it is very busy with very few empty tables. The menu has Spanish titles to the dishes, but includes an English description. Very lively atmosphere and lots of families. Our server (Junior) is friendly and his English is pretty good which is helpful for us. There is a 10 Sol cover charge for each table. Our total bill was 209 Sol inclusive of the cover charge. We added 10 Sol cash as a tip to our server. 

Front of the restaurant with Lana in the foreground with the fellow is kind of a valet managing parking on the street for customers. He doesn't speak any english but Lana figures out he's asking if we drove a car there and need assistance with parking. Lana does the "walking" sign with her fingers and he understands. 

Very eclectic interior. This is a phot of the piano player. The music reminds us of an old Western saloon from the movies. 

When we sat down and Junior came very quickly his first question was to bring Pisco Sours? We need some time to figure out what we want first. The drinks are 29 Sol each. Both tasty and very strong alcohol. Lana's order is a Maracuya Pisco Sour (orange drink) which means Passion Fruit. Lana can't finish her drink as she is getting "tipsy"... 

Usual complimentary salted corn nuts (Peruvian popcorn) that can be addictive.

Our order of the House Ceviche for 68 Sol. Lots of seafood being Octopus, Squid, Crab, Flounder, Shrimp, Seaweed and the usual orange Squash. Another brilliant ceviche! This house ceviche included the Peruvian corn called Choclo. It was much more tasty given it was doused in the lime juice. I think the ceviche reminds me of Sashimi. The lime juice and red onion makes the ceviche "refreshing" according to Lana. Maybe the squash is a pallete cleanser?

Our order of Chicharrón Mixto. Fish, Squid and Octopus for 48 Sol. More yummy and the green dip was fantastic! Lana thinks it was some type of mayo with an unknown herb mixed in. 

The original owner Fredy comes on 'stage' and gives some type of speech. There is lots of applause and most of the patrons went up for pictures with this local icon. He had 3-4 fresh sole fish hanging from a line (huge fishes) that you could hold and take a picture with him. 

We know that we need to be back to our hotel by 16:00 so we finish by 15:30 and Lana organizes an Uber pickup for 20 Sol. I was thinking of dessert, but the only dessert was Picarones (sweet potato donuts which we've already tried) and not keen on them. 

The views from this side of the bay are spectacular and you can see our hotel (tallest building on the horizon with a black edge on either side/partially covered in front by other buildings) in the distance! This area has beaches that are easily accessible.

This is the awkward situation that we are still in our room yet we are past the late checkout of 16:00. Lana taking the opportunity to have a nap. We have done everything we wanted to do in Lima so more tourist stuff is not needed. We are figuring to leave the hotel around 23:00 as we should be at the airport by 12 Midnight in order to check-in as we can't do it online. We will have access to the second floor area and access to the executive lounge and later in the day it will have some food/goodies. I did some research and La Lucha is a casual place open until 22:00 so that may be an option for later. The address Jose Larco 999 is within a short walk. 

We agree that around 17:15 we should leave our room as we are feeling like squatters. We have a long time before we should leave for the airport using Uber. Relaxing can be a good thing?   😏

Sunset tonight from our Hotel.

Online funny ad courtesy of Lana. She said when she was suffering from heat stroke she felt like the sick Llama below. 

OK, we are lounge area on level two. Comfortable seating by the window. We have an electrical outlet close by so we can power up our devices. Lana did ask the hotel if we could keep our room until we left around 22:00 tonight, but they have the room booked. It is a long wait. I did take advantage of the food in the lounge and some Peruvian Sauvignon Blanc so at least I had dinner. Lana's knee acting up so no chance of leaving the hotel to try the Peruvian sandwich place. The background music is techno-beat and slowly driving us both batty. 

It is almost 20:30 so we have about 2 1/2 hours before an Uber takes us to the airport. Across the street from the hotel and down about 30 metres is a KFC! Yup, there are some KFC in Lima and Pizza Hut as well. And they have "auto rapido" = drive through! The lounge is pretty loud right now as there are a lot of guests and the bar is close by. Lana:  Who knew the bar in the hotel was so happening? Clearly we were missing out when we were in our hotel room in the evenings watching the news and updating our blog LOL. 

Overall, we have loved our time in Peru. We did not rush the trip and taking our time turned out to be a good thing. Lana getting sick in the jungle and then carryover in terms of lack of appetite for the remainder of the trip not good as she really wanted to be enjoying Peruvian food but just couldn't eat anything. Her knee was not too bad except for this afternoon. For certain, Machu Picchu and the Amazon jungle were the highlights giving us awesome memories. 

We both have bug bites on our arms and in Lana's case additionally her legs. Yup, in the jungle you get bit quite often even with spraying bug deterrent. If everything is bigger in the Amazonian jungle why didn't we ever see those bugs? Super itchy and red for days. Oh well, maybe a reminder that the jungle is not for us civilized humans?

Not to forget that one of us did a good job of eating our way around Peru. I love Peruvian food and their culture. There are a few authentic Peruvian restaurants in Vancouver. Although, I don't think they serve Alpaca and Guinea Pig....      😏

Basically, tomorrow being Monday is a whole day of travel. Our plane from Lima to Bogota departs we hope at 02:55 and arrives in Bogota at 06:05. We leave Bogota on AC099 for Montréal at 09:00 and arrive Montréal time 16:35. Then we leave Montréal at 18:10 and arrive at YVR for 20:39. We decided we will check in our luggage as it is easier than hauling it around with us between flights if carry-on especially if a flight is delayed and we have to run through the airport to make our connection. Let's hope our check-in late tonight works well and we have uneventful flights.

Stats for walking today about 11,500 steps. 

Day 15; Saturday, September 21st: "I think this Ceviche changed my Life"

Our alarm went off at 05:30 as we need to catch our Uber just before 06:00. Our fancy hotel had two large bags for a snack box to take with us as their breakfast service begins at 06:00 and we will miss it. Lana asked if they could pack us a snack box instead and they were happy to oblige. In our white takeaway bag was a large bottle of water, small juice box, apple, crackers, a loaf cake and a ham/cheese sandwich and a few small candies. It is about a 12 minute ride to the airport for 36 Sol. Yesterday our hotel quoted a price for a taxi to the airport at $16USD which is around 65 Sol! Yup, fancy hotels attract expensive rides. No thanks, we take an Uber.   👍

We need to get to the Jet Smart counter as we have no boarding passes. I did check us in online, but to get an electronic boarding pass you need to pay extra given I booked the flight through CheapOAir. We realize this costs us though at the counter. The agent looks at our luggage and I need to see if I can fit either into luggage sizer. Ooops, nope. We have been taking our luggage onto the planes in Peru no problem, but we have had boarding passes that take us right to the gate. It will cost us each 165 Sol to check in each luggage which is outrageous! 

Head up the stairs to Security and get in the left line which is for "Special Assistance" being disabled persons (Lana!) and a senior citizen like me. Nope, there are all sorts of passengers in this line that are young and more than capable. Either people don't read signs or just don't care. We have learned in Peru it is mostly chaos and nobody pays attention to the signs anyway. Kinda like their driving....   😏

We have our physical boarding passes and passports. Wow, the Security line moves very quickly. I am so impressed. You can bring water and fluids through Security no problem. Plus, you don't take off your shoes, belts nor do you take out your laptop. Our flight to Lima does not show a gate, but soon enough we are flying out of Gate 5. We have lots of time as our flight is scheduled for 07:28 and we were through Security about 06:45. This area is full of people even this early in the morning. Our plane is loaded by 07:20. We happen to start talking to a younger woman behind us in line and she is from Ottawa! 

Well, all good with the loading of the plane, but then we sit on the tarmac going nowhere for close to 30 minutes before we taxi to the runway. Lana upgraded to Row 2 and I am in Row 6 so pretty much front of the plane. Uneventful short flight. Interesting that there are three flight attendants yet zero service provided so why more than one attendant? Dumb question? We land at Lima at 09:00. I believe Lana napped for some time during the flight. No video screen on this plane. 

Of course, despite the plane landing right near the baggage carousel it takes a long time for our baggage to show up. Lana wants to check with Avianca for our flights scheduled for very early Monday morning, but discovers their airport office does not open until 11:30 so we decide to get to our Hotel in Miraflores neighbourhood. In my negotiations with an accredited taxi guy we can pay 60 Sol which is a better deal than Uber and with the taxi sourcer inside the terminal. Off we go and the fellow pulls our luggage to his parked car so that is appreciated.

Good driver as he is fast and like to change lanes. Traffic heavy as usual and he indicated that weekends can be more busy than weekdays depending on the time of the day. We arrive at the JW Marriott Hotel in Miraflores which is the same hotel we stayed at when we first arrived in Lima September 7th. Awesome hotel! We are checked in and Andres get speaking with us and takes us up to our 1214 corner suite room and it is beautiful. We are just in time to race downstairs to Level 2 in time to get some breakfast before it closes at 11:00.  

Online stock photo of Lima, Peru from Miraflores neighbourhood where we are staying. 

We both had a good feed at the huge and varied buffet. Lana says "the first proper cup of Earl Grey tea was a moment of pure happiness." Back to our room and we need to figure our priority restaurant options for the next two days. We are here tonight and then Sunday night we won't need a hotel reservation as we need to be at the Lima airport for our plane departure around 03:00 AM early Monday morning. Our first priority is Sonia Restaurant for one of the best Ceviche plates in Lima. There are other restaurants we are keen on visiting during our short stay in Lima. Plus, Lana is eager to book her seats for our upcoming three flights. She encounters issues with Avianca Airlines as they won't book her seats and Air Canada cannot get involved either.   😒

The oceanside is it usual grey and misty/foggy skies with no sun coming through. Same as when we were here previously. Lots of surfers down below. We were looking out our huge oceanside facing windows when we saw Paragliders drifting along high in the air and it seemed like they were so close to our hotel. This is Lana's VIDEO of one of the paragliders. As they are floating by, we can see their self-sticks, that's how close they are to our hotel!

Lana pretty beat from all our sightseeing and travel over the last two weeks. I was thinking of attending the top team in Peru's top football division that is playing tomorrow night at Estadio Monumental de Lima, but she's not really interested. Better for the both of us to take it easy over the next two days. We have not received an email reply from Sonia Restaurant so we will try to get a reservation for Sunday. We are at the front desk and Christopher approaches us to help and we ask if he can call Sonia Restaurant on our behalf to get us a reservation for Sunday afternoon. He can do that and will call us to confirm. When we return to our room around 18:00 there is no message from Christopher.

We thought you might enjoy Lana's VIDEO of a pedestrian traffic walk light. Pretty funny. The traffic lights and pedestrian lights will show a number countdown. It reminds Lana of Ampelman in Germany--the beloved green walk symbol that's got a cult following in Berlin. Our friend Thom Q. told us that people were up in arms when Ampelman was going to be removed as the universal walk symbol. 

It is a beautiful day for a walk. Sunny, warm and not hot with a slight breeze. Followed Google Maps to Canta Rana restaurant very easily. We have a reference book called "Where Chefs Eat" and it covers various cities around the world. Basically, well known chefs in those cities are asked where do they eat and that produces their listings. This is their description: "located in a Bohemian neighbourhood and known for ceviche/seafood and is budget friendly. Reviews rave about friendly atmosphere, service and quality food. Octopus dish raves."

This afternoon, I confirm it is open and open quite late to 22:00. We are getting peckish and ready for a walk. It is about 2.5 kms with no real elevation gain. It is a pretty hip area and not too busy with cars and people. If it is 1/2 as good as its ratings then we will have scored big as foodies.

The restaurant we are walking to is in the Barranco neighbourhood which is south of Miraflores.

On the way to the restaurant we see a Grocery store. Lana buys two packets of AJI AMARILLO PASTE. She indicates it is super expensive to buy online back in Canada (she had already done some research) and impossible to find in our grocery stores. We pay about 10.50 Sols for two packets which is an incredible savings. She will use it to make the Peruvian dish Lomo Saltado. 

Side story from the grocery store that we gave the Cashier a 50 Sol note and she did not want to take it as there was a teeny tiny hardly noticeable tear on the top edge. She consults with another cashier and she takes our note. By the way, we got that bill from a Peruvian ATM....  😏

We find Canta Rana on the corner and off the main drag. Very unassuming family type place and on our arrival, it is very busy. I think we get the last table? Yup, they know we are tourists and get an English menu although the title of each dish is in Spanish, but the description in English. Our server is very friendly and helpful and speaks a little English.

Interior of the restaurant. 

Menu.

Other side of the menu. 

Complimentary dish of Canchita. These delicious goodies are Peruvian popcorn and tastes similar but better than Corn nuts!

This photo is to capture the portion sizes. Gigantic plate of baked rice.

Specials of the Day and we have found that food does not translate well.

Our order of Mixed Ceviche comprised of shrimp, octopus, fish (unknown), squid, red onion, scallop and a piece of Pumpkin Squash. There was a delicious seaweed are garnish on top--we ate that too LOL. Eating this dish led to Lana's comment which is the title of our blog. Yes, this ceviche was that good! In case you are a newbie to ceviche it is usually seafood cooked in lime juice and thinly sliced. There is an acidic reaction and it leads to such a clean feel to eat. This was refreshing and retained the natural taste of each component. 

Our order of Grilled Octopus. Wow, this was amazing in every way. This is one of the restaurant's signature dishes. It comes with avocados, tomatoes, potatoes, capers and some ahi (yellow pepper--which Lana just bought at the grocery store) sauce and also what Lana thinks is some soy sauce. We both love octopus and this was one of our best ever. Lana actually ate some food tonight which is a good sign--although a lot of tomatoes and avocados to be honest. 

Aprés meal photo. Two very content and amazed diners who are both totally full from the meal! We barely finished and then waddled out of the restaurant. Check out the eclectic decór. We are so full we have zero room for dessert. Big happy smiles!

On our way back to our hotel, we walked by this Chifa Vietnam restaurant. We have not seen any Vietnamese restaurants so far in Lima or in Peru. Maybe another day we could check this out?

When we returned to our room around 18:00 the larger dessert below was a gift from the hotel to Lana. They value her 'trust and loyalty' given she is a lifetime Platinum member of the Marriott chain. One of the perks of her business travel over many years. Hey, travel has its rewards. 😃

We are both exhausted from getting up so early this morning and then the travel to Lima. We love this city by the ocean and its energy and helpful, honest people. Despite being relatively slow in terms of activities today we have enjoyed this day back in Lima. My stats for the day are 11,300 steps. Finished the blog before 19:30 which is a record on this trip. Probable I will try to go through our blog and try to do Trip Advisor reviews given they are helpful to other travellers. 

 

Dary 14; Friday, September 14th: We were Derailed?

Yes, this small hotel is noisy early in the morning as the guests are probably all heading for Machu Picchu and the bus lineups. When we returned to our small room yesterday our bed had been made and fresh towels/bathroom cleaned. We are in no rush this morning as our Peru Rail train does not depart until 08:53. Our hotel is situated pretty close to the train tracks and regardless in this small town everyone is pretty close to everything. We head down for breakfast but no bread for Lana to make us a couple of small sandwiches for the train trip.  

We both agree it was a good decision to either not rush to Aguas Calientes or rush back to Cusco. Better to take our time and enjoy the town before Machu Picchu and after our big day versus trying to catch a train. 

The remainder of our trip is really connecting to Cusco and then onto to Lima. We are open to whatever occurs in both Cusco and Lima. I am hopeful to continue to enjoy Peruvian food and that Lana's stomach improves...

Train route for Machu Picchu <-> Cusco although we stop in Ollantaytambo.

We are looking forward to spending some more time in Cusco and our 5 Star Boutique Hotel. We have some restaurant recommendations and our guide Victor was wanting us to go the Museum of the Incas which is close to where we will be staying. He gave us directions. Supposed to be a warm sunny day in Aguas Calientes. The irony....

Signage on the side of the tracks as we are leaving Aguas Calientes..Lana saw this on the way into town the other day so wanted to make sure she didn't miss getting a photo (nice sandbag decorations eh?)

We arrive at the small train station at 08:20 and first in line to board Car C. We are eager to board first to ensure our two pieces of luggage find a home in the storage bay. Great, as we find two spots so all good. The process is we take a train to Ollantaytambo and then transfer to a waiting bus for the ride in Cusco. Both tickets are with Peru Rail. We will arrive in the central area of Cusco so that will be an advantage. Both our seats are facing forward so Lana very happy. 

We notice very quickly the train is full and it is super noisy. Lots of American accents and at least two loud males who don't stop talking for the duration of this trip. One of the loud talkative males was a minor tv celebrity named Edwin Barnhart who is an expert on shows like "Ancient Aliens". Yup, the guy can talk....I think lots of the passengers are still excited about their Machu Picchu experience. Lana here--when we say loud, it's SO loud that my noise cancelling headphones cannot cancel out all the voices! These headphones work so well that when a flight attendant asks me if I want something on the plane, I can't hear them speaking to me. Seriously!!! It's THAT loud! Who knew men could talk incessantly like that?!??!!! (just saying, . . . )

We leave on time for 08:53. Beautiful sunny and very warm day. The announcer indicates a 1 hour 30 minute trip. Famous last words!!!!

We have a long stop at the Hydroelectric dam apparently for an oncoming train. At 09:27 there is an announcement "Train Derailed, do not leave the train, please await Instructions". So Lana is thinking that our train has derailed!! But the Peru Rail attendant comes by and clarifies it's another train that's detailed--whewww. At 09:44 the train is now rolling forward which feels great. At 09:58 we are stopped again and in fact rolling backwards for a bit. At least the a/c is working. Lana listening to music off her iPhone. There are about 25-30 people milling about beside the train tracks. Uniformed train employees are there as well with walkie talkies. 

At 10:23 a Peru Rail train going the other way picks up these people heading toward AQ. We are still not moving and they turn up the music on the train speakers pretty loud. At 10:41 another train going the other way, but we are still stationery. At 10:44 our train jolts forward. We are not moving very quickly though. For a good period no internet and the ride is now super jerky.

Lana's VIDEO of our train just passing by the walls of a tunnel. It's THISCLOSE.

Into another train tunnel.

One of the places our train stopped. 

This mountain was just behind the snake statue and we think it has some significant but need to do some research on this in this.

.

We finally arrive at Ollantaytambo train station 12:20 (about two hours late!) and it is mass anarchy outside as we all depart the cars. We need to find our bus and there is a lady carrying a sign that we need to follow. Very hot here. Lots of hustlers trying to convince departing passengers to take their taxi or tourist van to Cusco. Hot, dusty, sweaty, Pandemonium. 

We board the bus as the first persons and our luggage is stowed below. The first row of seats is RESERVED. We find out the Peru Rail uniformed girl is taking all those seats. Harrumph! Lana is trying to pick the side of the bus that will get less sun. Unfortunately the last girl on needs a seat and Lana needs to shift over to sit beside me. We definitely put our seat belts on. During our bus trip to Cusco the driver more than once stops the a/c causing Lana and other passengers to open the side windows. 

At one point the bus pulls into a rest stop where passengers can use the toilet for 1 Sol. The route we are taking is mostly familiar to us as we drove our rental car to Ollantaytambo. We arrive at Wanchaq bus station at 14:46 so it was a two hour 10 minute bus ride. According to Google Maps it is about a 25 minute walk to our Hotel so we decide to grab a taxi. The driver starts at 30 Sol and I negotiate him to 15 Sol. He is a great driver and carries our suitcases into the hotel so I give him 20 Sol so we both feel better. He was appreciative of the gesture. 

I booked a five star boutique hotel called Aranwa Cusco Boutique Hotel and it is located near the main plaza where all the action is. We are greeted by Guido and complete our sign in and providing our passports. Guido covers some hotel details and takes our bags with us up to our room. We are in Room 302 across from the elevator. This is a beautiful hotel and a great treat for the both of us. We are checked in by 15:10 and Lana wanting to nap. Our room is really classy. King size bed with vintage table and mirror. Large bathroom and lots of storage space. The internet/wifi is super fast.

Courtyard of the Aranwa Cusco Boutique Hotel.

We have some logistical tasks before Lana can lay down. Lana did online check in for our Lima hotel especially given we have an early arrival in Lima as Jet Smart dramatically changed our flight to a 07:28 start time from mid morning. Yikes, that is early and means we have to leave the Aranwa super early. We are told it will be a 20 minute ride to the airport at that time of the morning. Plus, for whatever reasons we have not received our online boarding passes. We have checked into our flight, but no passes. You need to be at the gate at least 50 minutes prior to plane departure. Our decision is to leave the hotel at 06:00. 

Lana tries to nap in the comfy bed, but no luck. She showers and we figure out where we are going for dinner tonight. We did not eat lunch due to the train delays so getting hungry. Plus, we are wanting more Peruvian food. Arturo from Refugio Amazona mentioned Pachapapa as an excellent restaurant in Cusco. We do our research, check the menu and it is a 14 minute walk. The link I provided is to Trip Advisor given their webpage is inclusive of other restaurants under their umbrella and then connected to Instagram. 

Given Lana's ongoing stomach woes she won't be having much to eat, but this place has a list of various soups. I do have a chance to update our blog and Lana in no rush. Current temperature is 16 degrees Celsius. Did I say our room is pretty fantastic especially in regards to the super modest room we had the last two nights in Aguas Calientes. 

Nice night for a walk. We walk through two plazas inclusive of the very large Plaza de Armas. Unfortunate for Lana, but the last part of our walk is up a very steep and narrow street. She is out of breath with the elevation in Cusco. We find the place fairly easily. Walk in the door and it is a small room with a large bar and the fellow indicates with his hand the restaurant is through the lower door.  

We are first asked if we have a reservation? No.... we are taken to a table in a far corner pretty close to the huge wood fired oven and a handy outdoor heater. We are outside under giant umbrellas and it has a good ambience. Very extensive menu with the dishes in Spanish, but explanation in English. Lots of decisions if you are looking for wine, drinks, starters, soups, mains, pizzas etc.

Takes a while for the server to return to take our order. Lana trying to figure out what her stomach can handle. She orders a Mix Quillabamba drink composed of mango, ginger and passion fruit. 

Randy's wine order of a 2023 Peruvian Sauvignon Blanc from Ica, Peru. Excellent nose of crisp green apple. The taste is fresh and the classic Sauvignon Blanc profile. A good pairing with my dinner.

Randy's order of Cusco-Style Chicharrón at 55 Sol. Soft and crunchy fried pork belly made with grilled potatoes and creole sauce. This was simply delicious. The pork belly was perfectly cooked. 

Lana's order of Chicken stir-fried Spaghetti with soy sauce, yellow chilli, tomatoes and onions. Funnily enough it tasted like Chinese noodles!!

A good stroll back to our Hotel. So many people in the streets and in the huge main plaza. It is good to be around crowds again and the energy of a city. We know we have a very early get up tomorrow of probably 05:30. In addition to completing today's blog, I want to update our word document itinerary and maybe do some Trip Advisor reviews. Stats for today 7,500 steps and 12 floors. 

Day 13, Thursday, September 19th: Our Machu Picchu Day!!!

We both decide to get out of bed around 06:20 as we are awake and we can hear noise from people downstairs given breakfast begins at 04:30. While our guide told me yesterday not to rely on weather forecasts here the forecast is a high of 22 degrees Celsius with mostly cloudy conditions. As long as there is no rain and we have good visibility up top, we'll be fine. We both got a good sleep last night so that is a good start. 

What we think is our best picture of the two of us above Machu Picchu. We were soaked. 

This is our intrepid English-speaking guide Victor Hugo. Yes, that is his real name. The total cost for us inclusive of a very generous tip was $100USD. Worth every penny!

This is a photo of our return Bus Ticket that will be scanned at least twice both ways. We were closing in on the front of the line to board the bus when I got frantic as I could not find my bus ticket which eventually showed up in my jacket pocket and not in my backpack as I was trying to keep it dry from the rain. Yikes, high anxiety for about 2 minutes!

This is a photo of our Machu Picchu entry ticket that I purchased through a reputable Peruvian third party months ago. It will be stamped by a fellow while we are standing in line in Aguas Calientes and then scanned with our passport as we are at the entry point up the mountain. This is Lana's ticket as she kept her ticket pretty dry. 

We went downstairs for our complimentary breakfast and ensure we had some food in us. We were down before 07:00. We both had scrambled eggs and then choices from breads, fruit, cereal, juice, pastries and ham/cheese. Lana had a great idea to use some sliced bread and add avocado, cheese and ham so we could eat something if needed during our Machu Picchu experience. 

From this point onwards I will try to use MP for Machu Picchu. 

We have our backpack, Lana's umbrella, our tickets, passports, my journal and we hope the right footwear and clothing. You line up/queue based on your entry time for MP. Our entry time is 10:00 and we arrive at that sign around 07:40 and are the first in line! That sounds great, but is very misleading and we know that already. The 08:00 and 09:00 lines are monsters with many hundreds of people already in those lines and they will have priority over our 10:00 queue. In other words, they will load the buses with the earlier times first no matter what time you show up for your particular queue. We knew that in advance courtesy of friends and our guide. 

We are the very first in line for 10:00 entry! Dry right now too.

Yesterday, when I asked Victor about the weather forecast today he went into a diatribe about how you cannot count on forecasts in these mountains and just hope for the best. Much like our BC mountains and I am certain all mountains around the world. 

Interesting when people watching these incredibly long lines is they are comprised of all ages, body shapes, footwear, clothing, makeup, skin colours and I am certain persons from all over the world. Around 08:10 the rain/drizzle begins and out come the locals selling ponchos. What a great way to make an easy profit and help us out as the forecast was not for any rain. Also, it happens that where our line starts the locals start sorting garbage/plastic/metal/glass etc. right in front of us in huge bags. Not so bad except for the rotting organics!

By 08:52 the last person in the 08:00 line passed by us, but we are 1/2 way up this super long hill. Yikes, not too optimistic to make our 10:00 entry at MP. At 09:05 a fellow grabs our 10:00 sign and marches down the long walk to place it in the 09:00 slot as that line has moved over and is hundreds and hundreds of people long nowhere near the bus pickup. A fellow scans our bus tickets and another fellow stamps our MP entry tickets. Light rain now and I don't mean drizzle - this rain by Vancouver standards!

Poncho city! Money to be made here! Plus, check out the garbage bags in front of us.

We get speaking with a couple and their eight year old son from Santiago, Chile. They are from Argentina originally. The guy was a former Argentine Naval officer and has been around the world. They all speak very good English, inclusive of their boy. Plus, the wife gives me their extra poncho as she gave her son a better poncho. It is raining pretty good so I need the poncho and am trying to protect my backpack from being soaked. Fortunately, there is a stone wall that we could sit down. Lana has an umbrella and is fine and adamant that she is NOT buying a plastic poncho that makes everyone look like they're wrapped in jello!

OK, just to lead into Lana's video this is one of the buses that goes to and from MP. It carries 32 passengers.

Lana's VIDEO of the buses that transport Machu Picchu visitors up and down the mountain. They drop passengers who have done Machu Picchu lower down then drive up the street to turn around and head back to pick up the next batch.

While we were chatting with the couple and their son we were talking about the number of buses used to move these crowds. Victor had told me yesterday there were much less buses recently and did not state why. Well, the husband indicated that three days ago, one of these buses went off the road and many passengers were seriously injured, but no fatalities. After that occurred they needed to check on all the buses for safety and that would mean some buses were not road worthy. Hmmm, we did not catch that on the news, but we have not been following the Peruvian news sources. 

Lana's Newspaper article describing the horrific crash of one of the MP buses leaving the road and crashing September 16th!

I get a phone call from Victor on WhatsApp and he states he will send down a fellow tour guide to move us into the 09:00 line to save us a lot of time. Man, I hate queue jumpers, but here we are taking advantage of a local tour guide's moxie. We are now in the 09:00 line and it is really raining right now! Victor is with us and then he says we can walk down about 10 metres and join the same line. We think he wanted us to avoid the guy checking the bus ticket times as we would be caught. Yup, we move up and both of us are feeling pretty guilty, but happy we will board the bus much quicker.

We are on the bus at 10:43 so when you count when we were in the 10:00 lineup to loading the bus that works out to more than 3 hours. The last person on this bus is Victor who was way behind us. Obviously, the guides have pull so they can move up much faster and help their clients. First thing is take off your ponchos on the bus.

We learn this is the high season for tourists at MP. Today, they will have around 5600 MP visitors not inclusive of guides. I cannot use my journal to take notes of what I observe and what Victor covers so I use the iPhone Recordings App to speak and it saves what I say. Plus, it was my first time trying this and it worked pretty good. When we returned to our hotel room I listened to each audio and then made written notes in my journal. I guess I could have tried to type them in, but I need to coordinate with the photos.  

It is about a 25 minute bus trip to MP entry point. The road once we hit the mountain is gravel and very bumpy. So many switchbacks and hairpin turns. These drivers are amazing. There are two other options to gain entry to MP. One option is hiking from Aguas Calientes up the mountain on a path. The other option is to hike the Inca Trail with a guide. At least you avoid the incredible delays with the lineups for buses in Aguas Calientes!

We are physically through the MP entry gate and both pretty excited! It is raining so not the best weather start. As the time unfolds we are treated to an awesome day at MP! Circuit 2 is our best choice given you have great vantage points for photos and you can get access to the structures. We really appreciate this Circuit for these advantages. Plus, Victor knows all the best places for pictures! 

This is the official entry into Machu Picchu. As you can see there is nothing to see here. Bit of walk into the area and then you can see Machu Picchu. 

OK, before we share our hundreds of photos of Machu Picchu, I will provide some details we heard from Victor that won't fit with our pics below. Well, we don't have hundreds but more than fifty (50):

- Lana told she cannot use her umbrella during our Circuit 2 so she needs to get bamboozled by a fellow selling ponchos for an outrageous price 10 Sols, but she only has 8 so gets a deal. She's super miffed that she's a jello person LOL. 

- you walk for a bit and then come to some stairs and then around one corner voila you see Machu Picchu below!

- the Spanish Conquistadors had zero knowledge of this structure on top of the mountain, but for some unknown reason the Inca abandoned the site around the same time (apparently)

- nobody knows the real name for this site and it is called Machu Picchu as that is the name of the giant mountain to its South

- there are many speculations for the purpose of this place, but none are compelling in my opinion:

1.  built to house the Temple of the Sun as the temple position captures the Winter and Summer Solstice's sun rays each year in a special way so perhaps an Observatory for agricultural reasons

2. they have found a number of buried skeletons on the site with a composition of 60% female, 30% male and 10% children so they believe it was a female monastery

3. the Incan Emperor Pachacuti (1438-1471) built this for his family as a getaway from the capital of Cusco by being very remote and quiet

- on entry you get a lanyard with your Circuit # and they take it away 2/3 of the way up the stairs as their method of stopping guests from changing circuits or doing more than their paid for circuit apparently

- there is a natural spring above the site that provides fresh water 

- the famous Inca Trail runs from Cusco to Machu Picchu so took many weeks for the Incans to travel between these sites among the other stops in the Sacred Valley

- stone walkways are original Inca

- at 11:55 stopped raining and warmed up to the point I was just wearing my shirt

- many of the walls were to separate the agricultural tasks/spots from the residential areas

- simpler walls for Granary, but more complex/finely finished for residences and temples

- Professor Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu in 1911

- Incas had no writing system

One of our first photos of Machu Picchu below. As you can see it was raining and the cloud mists covering parts of the scene below. Lana is strawberry flavour, Randy is blueberry :)

There is MP!

One of the walls and terraces dropping below. 

Another angle. Unfortunately, still have cloud cover.

Granary structures.

Pic of MP below us although still cloud cover. 2430 metres above sea level.

One our favourite photos. 

This is a guard house that would protect MP from an invasion from above. Quite common in the Incan empire to have guard houses at all key points. 

This is a panoramic photo taken by Victor where he started at one point with us and then we walked around to the right to point to MP in the distance. Very clever. 

OK, the next three pictures need an explanation. Both the first two photos show how these features were expertly used by the Inca to lash a wooden barricade to the space. 

Great example of the terraces. 

This is an Incan "wishing well" for good fortune. The Incas threw cocoa leaves into a small cave. 

Much finer stone and workmanship.

Victor provided this photo from the MP archives. The photo was taken by Hiram Bingham when he first discovered Machu Picchu. As you can see the entire site was overgrown with bushes and shrubs. 

This is the "after" picture showing what Bingham and his small team accomplished in clearing and excavating Machu Picchu. 

This is the Temple of the Sun structure which is not in its original condition. As described earlier it captures both Solstice's in a unique way. 

Mostly residences. 

More steep terraces. Steep drop below. 

Mountain to the West of MP. 

Other mountain to the West of MP.

Residences. 

This is the stone quarry where our guide indicated all MP stones originated. The stone quarry is on the site itself. 

Coca plant in the new garden on site. There are wild orchids as well. 

These Inca stones are simply massive! Not sure of their weight but many tons and hard to imagine how they were fashioned with Incan technology and then moved into place? Plus, fit perfectly together. 

You can see the stones on the right are disordered and Victor indicated the story has to do with Hiram Bingham. He wanted to know the foundation and asked workers to started digging as deep as he needed to discover the foundation itself. As a consequence where he dug, the stones sank with the dirt foundation disappearing so he immediately stopped the digging but it was too late. 

The Temple of the Three Windows. Yes, there are three 'windows'. More beautiful work. 

OK, there is a long story to this green tent and what is inside. I will give you the Coles notes version. Some years ago the Queen and King of Spain wanted to visit MP but arrive in a helicopter. There is a large open field but the local authorities decided to lower the tall obelisk that stood there so the helicopter could land. Then following years, wealthy people hired helicopters to arrive as well. Now the project is to put the obelisk back in place. Earlier photos of MP do not have a bright green tent in this area LOL. 

Hey tuck that paunch in and stop pointing! Pointing to the top of Machu Picchu mountain to the south of the site. 

Another photo of Machu Picchu mountain. We did not realize that the actual MP mountain is actually south of the site. 

The story here is that the Inca shaped the front stone into the same line as the mountain behind. 

The stones sticking out are to attach the thatch roof onto the structure. 

This is Huayanapicchu Mountain which is part of Circuit 3 where you climb to the very top from MP. 

I finally got Victor Hugo to pose for a proper picture! This is a typical Inca residence for one family with a kitchen, dining area and bedroom. Of course, this is all speculation. 

Randy took this photo as I thought it was a great shot from the doorway out to the Happy Mountain. 

View of MP from a different angle as our tour is almost over and we started in the bottom left corner and will do a loop around (Circuit 2). They estimate that with the residential areas there were up to 70 individual homes and maybe 600 people to be housed. 

Our last picture of the site. 

We finished our tour with Victor around 13:25 so about two hours on Circuit 2. We decided to give Victor a very generous tip and he was so appreciative so we felt even better. He deserved it. Not only was he knowledgeable, but he saved us at least 75 minutes being in the long bus queue. We are at the back of the bus lineup to return to Aguas Caliente. It takes 26 minutes before we are on the bus. Much shorter than this morning! 

We arrive back at Aguas Caliente at 14:20. Lana decides to approach two ladies in the bus queue going up to MP and offer our two ponchos for free. At first they think Lana is a street vendor, but realize it is a free offer and accept the ponchos. 

Back to our room in great spirits as we saw and experienced Machu Picchu! Time for Lana to figure out which photos to save and then email me. I had a few photos and then need to follow process to load the pics into our draft blog. Eventually Lana had a nap while I am working on the blog.

Eventually, I am hungry for dinner. I put my hiking pants in the dirty laundry as I won't be needing them any longer on our trip. I can start wearing my blue jeans again with proper socks and a decent shirt. Lana showers and we are on our way to dinner. Usual long lineup at our side street for locals waiting on the nightly Peru Rail train. 

Our guide asked what we were doing for dinner tonight. He recommended Chullos for great food. Plus, we needed to mention his name and the name of the owner of the restaurant and we would get two complimentary Pisco Sour drinks. Probably our guide gets some type of monetary consideration for this? No problem for us as I wanted to go to this place in Cusco. Easy to find as we ate close to this place last night. We will let the pictures do the talking. 

OK, these are our free Pisco Sours and probably the smallest drinks ever?

Lana's order of Four Cheese Taglatelli although the menu reads Chicken, but she doesn't want the chicken as her stomach still isn't wanting meat right now. But at least she's eating and she did finish this plate. 

Randy's order of Grilled Churrascon which is grilled tenderloin with a house chimichurri sauce, accompanied by native potatoes and salad. Wow! This steak was brilliant. Perfect medium rare and juicy and very tasty. Yummy!

OK, my stats for the day are 8,500 steps and 48 floors. When I think of the time to do the blog today it might have been more time than the actual tour itself?  😊

The Machu Picchu experience was more than I/we could have imagined. It is a special place and full of mysteries. An incredible place on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Yes, our blog today is a long one, but it will assist with our memories years from now.