Buenos tardes! It's actually Shawn's turn to write, but he's being lazy! So, maybe if I start writing it'll motivate him to take over.
So...our friend, Rob, met us in Cuzco on Nov. 3rd and on Nov. 4th we had to hit the road towards Machu Picchu! We took a bus to Ollantaytambu and then took a train to Aguas Calientes which is the closest town to access Machu Picchu.
The next morning we woke up and had a nice breakfast before taking the bus up to Machu Picchu. It was cool because halfway up we saw MP from the bus and everyone was tripping over each other trying to get pictures while the bus is doing switchbacks up the mountain. It was daunting because we saw Wayna Picchu soaring above MP, and Shawn and I were minutes away from climbing it.
Oh, it worked! Here he comes!
Hey everybody! Steph touched on this, but didn't really paint the whole picture of how convoluted it was to book the trip to MP and how many steps were involved. Cuzco is thought to be the jumping off point for MP, however you can't actually go directly from Cuzco to MP using one form of transportation. We had to walk a little more than a mile to a side street in the middle of a Cuzco neighborhood that was not near any of Cuzco's major attractions. The bus ride was 1.5 hours to Ollantaytambo. Then we had to take a train for 1.5 hours which took us to MP's closest town, Aguas Calientes (meaning hot water in English because of the hot springs located there). Are we there yet? No. We then had to take a bus another 6 miles to get up to MP.
MP was great (check the pics). It was understandable that it remained hidden for centuries after it was abandoned because it was located between higher peaks on all sides. Several other travelers that had previously visited MP had told us that it was raining a lot up there and it made us a little nervous about the weather. It turned out to be a perfect day and we had a great time wandering around MP and climbing WP. Our return journey was a repeat from above, however due to train availability we were forced to start at 9:30pm from Aguas Calientes and didn't arrive back in Cuzco until 1am.
After sleeping in and relaxing (I was nursing, yet again, another stomach problem) the next day we were ready for our trip into the jungle. We took an 11 hour overnight bus ride from Cuzco to Puerto Maldonado. Groggy from the practically sleepless night, we stepped of the bus and were greeted by Tony our tour guide and blazing hot and humid weather. PM is close to the amazon region in Peru, but not quite there so we took a 5 hour boat ride upriver to our rustic jungle lodge, El Gato. El Gato was nicer than I had imagined and boasted running water and decent sleeping lodges. The electricity was provided by a generator that powered a fridge and a few lights, but only for a couple hours in the evening. Our jungle activities began later that evening with a freaky late night hike in the dense amazonian jungle. We heard several noises and I didn't really care to know where they were coming from or what was making them. I was smart because Tony and Rob were up front and Steph was in back, leaving me comfortably in the middle of the pack.
Our second day was full of activities including a very early morning hike to see hundreds of parakeets and a few macaws gathered at a clay lick. After breakfast Tony, Steph, and I went piranha fishing while Rob had his turn with a stomach problem. Our competition ended in a stalemate as all three of us caught one piranha. The piranhas didn't seem as monstrous as they're made out to be, but they do have some seriously sharp teeth on their lower jaw and a saw like device on their bellies so that they can saw their prey into smaller chunks for easier devouring! After lunch and some hammock time, we took the boat downriver to tour the organic farm that provided all of our lodge's food along with 10 other lodges within the Baltimore community. After dark and before dinner, we got back on the boat and headed out on the river in search of caimans which are reptiles in the alligator family that grow up to 8 feet long. Our crazy guide had the bright idea of trying to catch a caiman with his bare hands. He almost got one that looked to be about 3 feet long. He finally gave up after a couple hours with the excuse that the moon was too full for catching them and took us back for dinner. The next morning we boarded the boat and headed back for PM so that we could catch our flights to Lima.
We hadn't heard many good things about Lima and were happily surprised with the Miraflores neighborhood we ended up staying in. Our hostel overlooked a nice park area that was lined with restaurants and shops. We were anxious to get to the beach, so after one night in Lima we took another overnight bus ride up the north coast to the beach town of Mancora.
We searched for about an hour for a nice hotel that would fit our budget and ended up at Costa Blanca which was a treacherous 20-30 minute tuk tuk ride on Vichayito beach south of Mancora. We were lucky because it was the time of year when humpback whales were passing through the area. Our top floor rooms/balconies provided us a perfect place to view the spectacular whale shows the first 3 evenings. They were slapping their fins, jumping out of the water, and smashing their flukes (tails) on the water. Steph evened up the score on stomach problems at one each when she got sick on the 3rd day at Costa Blanca. Other than Steph getting sick, we thoroughly enjoyed our 5 days of beach time and our time with Rob.
We parted ways with Rob on November 16th and Steph and I headed for Ecuador. Three bus rides and 18 hours later we found ourselves in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. Our hostel in Vilcabamba was more like a resort set on a mountain hillside that had incredible views of the town. Steph had been waiting for the perfect place to go horseback riding, and that perfect place was Vilcabamba. We went on a 4 hour horse ride through the mountains and realized the next day that we should have only gone for about half that time. We could barely move the next day because we were so sore and we just ended up nursing our sore muscles back to movable condition. I didn't have a problem with that because I got the opportunity to watch Iowa beat Purdue online. I don't think Steph had too much of a problem with it either because she used the down time to get a facial in the hostel's spa.
We're getting excited for another visit as Kevin Henry will be joining us on the 25th for a 10-day vacation around Ecuador. Well, I should say a 9-day vacation because if you've been paying attention the chances of Kevin having a stomach problem for a day is about 100%. Before he arrives Steph and I will be visiting the village of Salinas which is known in Ecuador for producing good chocolate and cheese. Yum.
Hasta Luego!
So...our friend, Rob, met us in Cuzco on Nov. 3rd and on Nov. 4th we had to hit the road towards Machu Picchu! We took a bus to Ollantaytambu and then took a train to Aguas Calientes which is the closest town to access Machu Picchu.
The next morning we woke up and had a nice breakfast before taking the bus up to Machu Picchu. It was cool because halfway up we saw MP from the bus and everyone was tripping over each other trying to get pictures while the bus is doing switchbacks up the mountain. It was daunting because we saw Wayna Picchu soaring above MP, and Shawn and I were minutes away from climbing it.
Oh, it worked! Here he comes!
Hey everybody! Steph touched on this, but didn't really paint the whole picture of how convoluted it was to book the trip to MP and how many steps were involved. Cuzco is thought to be the jumping off point for MP, however you can't actually go directly from Cuzco to MP using one form of transportation. We had to walk a little more than a mile to a side street in the middle of a Cuzco neighborhood that was not near any of Cuzco's major attractions. The bus ride was 1.5 hours to Ollantaytambo. Then we had to take a train for 1.5 hours which took us to MP's closest town, Aguas Calientes (meaning hot water in English because of the hot springs located there). Are we there yet? No. We then had to take a bus another 6 miles to get up to MP.
MP was great (check the pics). It was understandable that it remained hidden for centuries after it was abandoned because it was located between higher peaks on all sides. Several other travelers that had previously visited MP had told us that it was raining a lot up there and it made us a little nervous about the weather. It turned out to be a perfect day and we had a great time wandering around MP and climbing WP. Our return journey was a repeat from above, however due to train availability we were forced to start at 9:30pm from Aguas Calientes and didn't arrive back in Cuzco until 1am.
After sleeping in and relaxing (I was nursing, yet again, another stomach problem) the next day we were ready for our trip into the jungle. We took an 11 hour overnight bus ride from Cuzco to Puerto Maldonado. Groggy from the practically sleepless night, we stepped of the bus and were greeted by Tony our tour guide and blazing hot and humid weather. PM is close to the amazon region in Peru, but not quite there so we took a 5 hour boat ride upriver to our rustic jungle lodge, El Gato. El Gato was nicer than I had imagined and boasted running water and decent sleeping lodges. The electricity was provided by a generator that powered a fridge and a few lights, but only for a couple hours in the evening. Our jungle activities began later that evening with a freaky late night hike in the dense amazonian jungle. We heard several noises and I didn't really care to know where they were coming from or what was making them. I was smart because Tony and Rob were up front and Steph was in back, leaving me comfortably in the middle of the pack.
Our second day was full of activities including a very early morning hike to see hundreds of parakeets and a few macaws gathered at a clay lick. After breakfast Tony, Steph, and I went piranha fishing while Rob had his turn with a stomach problem. Our competition ended in a stalemate as all three of us caught one piranha. The piranhas didn't seem as monstrous as they're made out to be, but they do have some seriously sharp teeth on their lower jaw and a saw like device on their bellies so that they can saw their prey into smaller chunks for easier devouring! After lunch and some hammock time, we took the boat downriver to tour the organic farm that provided all of our lodge's food along with 10 other lodges within the Baltimore community. After dark and before dinner, we got back on the boat and headed out on the river in search of caimans which are reptiles in the alligator family that grow up to 8 feet long. Our crazy guide had the bright idea of trying to catch a caiman with his bare hands. He almost got one that looked to be about 3 feet long. He finally gave up after a couple hours with the excuse that the moon was too full for catching them and took us back for dinner. The next morning we boarded the boat and headed back for PM so that we could catch our flights to Lima.
We hadn't heard many good things about Lima and were happily surprised with the Miraflores neighborhood we ended up staying in. Our hostel overlooked a nice park area that was lined with restaurants and shops. We were anxious to get to the beach, so after one night in Lima we took another overnight bus ride up the north coast to the beach town of Mancora.
We searched for about an hour for a nice hotel that would fit our budget and ended up at Costa Blanca which was a treacherous 20-30 minute tuk tuk ride on Vichayito beach south of Mancora. We were lucky because it was the time of year when humpback whales were passing through the area. Our top floor rooms/balconies provided us a perfect place to view the spectacular whale shows the first 3 evenings. They were slapping their fins, jumping out of the water, and smashing their flukes (tails) on the water. Steph evened up the score on stomach problems at one each when she got sick on the 3rd day at Costa Blanca. Other than Steph getting sick, we thoroughly enjoyed our 5 days of beach time and our time with Rob.
We parted ways with Rob on November 16th and Steph and I headed for Ecuador. Three bus rides and 18 hours later we found ourselves in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. Our hostel in Vilcabamba was more like a resort set on a mountain hillside that had incredible views of the town. Steph had been waiting for the perfect place to go horseback riding, and that perfect place was Vilcabamba. We went on a 4 hour horse ride through the mountains and realized the next day that we should have only gone for about half that time. We could barely move the next day because we were so sore and we just ended up nursing our sore muscles back to movable condition. I didn't have a problem with that because I got the opportunity to watch Iowa beat Purdue online. I don't think Steph had too much of a problem with it either because she used the down time to get a facial in the hostel's spa.
We're getting excited for another visit as Kevin Henry will be joining us on the 25th for a 10-day vacation around Ecuador. Well, I should say a 9-day vacation because if you've been paying attention the chances of Kevin having a stomach problem for a day is about 100%. Before he arrives Steph and I will be visiting the village of Salinas which is known in Ecuador for producing good chocolate and cheese. Yum.
Hasta Luego!
Manana!
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