A Trip To Peru

[merlin]

I spent 3 weeks with Lisa in Peru last month and here are some photos:

An interesting welcome

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The view from the window, it's in a residential area near the airport...

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The main square in Cuzco our first stop after flying into Lima.....

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Here is a KFC are on the main square

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Lisa in happier time drinking a coca tea infusion (which sadly didn't work) a few hours later the altitude sickness began...

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Our junk food meals of the day....cheeseburger and lasagne...

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[merlin]

Here are a few snapshots I took of Lisa, the wedding and the lunch, which we had at a restaurant directly opposite the church ...

The view from the bell tower of the church which we had to climb of course

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The Lunch

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Alpaca kebabs

Stuffed peppers with a dark beer which was lovely, I know alcohol is not advisable at high altitudes, but I thought it worth the small risk...

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[merlin]

We spent a night in an old Inca town called Pisaq, this is our place for the night:

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The view from our bedroom window..

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These women are apparently collecting seeds from what look like corn on the cob

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We passed an alpaca/llama farm on the way here....

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Here I am feeding some

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The important Inca site here which is vast, we only walked on a small part of it:

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The approach road.....

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[CeeCee]

Great pics! You just don't go on a vacation, you go on an adventure.

My neice was in Ecuador this summer for a biology class credit....she took lots of photos of the Galápagos Islands...maybe I'll post them one day.

i was born in South America but never had the chance to go back...wish I had.

 

[Jackie22]

Wonderful photos, I enjoyed very much.....thanks for sharing.

 

[merlin]

It become a real Peruvian adventure here,

due to teachers protesting, they had blocked all the roads into Ollantaytambo (the town where we were staying ready to take the train for Machu Picchu, but because the track was blocked with stones all services had been cancelled for two days.

The only other way to get there is take a taxi from here to Santa Maria in the mountains, then walk the train tracks for around 3 hours to reach Machu Picchu

We had to walk the last couple of miles to our hotel on this day because of the blocked roads ....

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....anyway we spent a great day in the end climbing the ruins here right to the very top, which was a lot easier than it first looked..

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[merlin]

We took the taxi into the mountains and walked to the town at the foot of Machu Picchu, it has no road to it only a rail link....

The start of our 10 mile trek....

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A few stopped off for a dip in the river...

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I felt sorry for these porters taking some peoples luggage the whole ten miles in wheelbarrows

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One of several snack bars on the route, a lot of backpackers walk the tracks to save the train fare

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[merlin]

Here are a few photos of Machu Picchu which though unfortunate for many was special for us in that it was virtually empty. nearly 7,000 people a day visit but because of the train stoppage only those that walked made it.

It is an amazing place, impossible to capture on a photo really, we did hire a guide who gave us a lot of information about the history of the place, and the current situation regarding religion etc.

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This carved stone reflecting the outline of the mountain is interesting..

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A couple of rodents sunbathing..

 

[Falcon]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, For all the beautiful photos and the story. What a vacation ! Merlin

I learned a lot.

 

[NancyNGA]

Amazing scenery, Merlin. Thanks for posting your pictures.

 

[terry123]

What an adventure. Thanks for posting!! One question, why were the teachers protesting? Great to see things I will never get to experience!

 

[debbie in seattle]

Great pics, thanks for sharing. We took a cruise through South American and spent a few days in Peru. A lot of folks took a side trip to Manchu Picchu, we chose the Galapagos. Loved the entire trip.

 

[Skyking]

That was great! Good pics! While I've spent many weeks in Peru never made it to Machu. Thanks for getting me there nthego:

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

Beautiful photos,food looks delicious and the Alpaca's look like they are smiling.

 

[jujube]

WOW! Great pictures! Loved the smiling Alpaca. What an adventure you had walking down the tracks......I can't imagine 10 miles at that altitude.

I've tried the coca tea....I couldn't get past the taste. I took Diamox, too, which helped with the altitude in the Andes but the side effects were unacceptable.

One of these days, I'm going to get there.

 

[merlin]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, For all the beautiful photos and the story. What a vacation ! Merlin

I learned a lot.

You are welcome Falcon, it was a trip I never expected to take, but Lisa suggested it so finding a cheap flight on the internet we decided to go. I will post some more photos when I get a chance...

 

[merlin]

What an adventure. Thanks for posting!! One question, why were the teachers protesting? Great to see things I will never get to experience!

The teachers were protesting about poor pay the usual issue in Peru, talking to the locals the President is disliked and of course corruption and fraud are widespread there, and in general the people seem to be long suffering. Though the teachers caused us a lot of problems, I could sympathise with them in attacking tourism, because nothing else would affect the seemingly fixed attitude of the government. It's still going on see below: LINK

Peru's Interior Minister Calls for Calm as Teachers' Strike Escalates​

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  [*=center]
  
  
  Police clashed with the teachers in central Lima, Peru, August 17, 2017. | Photo: EFE

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[merlin]

Amazing scenery, Merlin. Thanks for posting your pictures.

Thanks Nancy yes the scenery was amazing and very varied, the people were lovely generally kind and helpful

 

[merlin]

Beautiful photos,food looks delicious and the Alpaca's look like they are smiling.

Yes the food was generally good Ruth, I had no expectations so it was all a surprise, red meat is in most of the main dishes, not good for vegetarians. .....The alpaca meat is tasty and very low in cholesterol so healthy, we did try their classic dish of roast Guinea Pig once, it was ok a bit like pork, but it didn't look too appetising on the plate

Lamb stew is another of their traditional dishes.

Here is one with coriander/cilantro my all time favourite herb, it was delicious, the lamb was the melt in your mouth kind Mmmm

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Also chicken in sesame seeds with quinoa was a common dish we found, quinoa originated in Peru as did tomatoes and many vegetables, the Spanish brought them back to Europe during their occupation if Peru during the 16th century

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Here is the roast guinea pig dish

 

[merlin]

WOW! Great pictures! Loved the smiling Alpaca. What an adventure you had walking down the tracks......I can't imagine 10 miles at that altitude.

I've tried the coca tea....I couldn't get past the taste. I took Diamox, too, which helped with the altitude in the Andes but the side effects were unacceptable.

One of these days, I'm going to get there.

Yes we took Diamox as well jujube but it didn't help Lisa and I may have been ok anyway, but who knows, I don't mind the coca tea taste and bought some back with me, they hand the leaves out at the airport in Lima when you arrive, but chewing it I didn't like .... the alpacas were friendly especially when feeding them but their reputation for spitting is true

Here is a photo I took of a 4 day old Llama (according to a guide) born in Machu Picchu ..

 

[merlin]

Here are a few photos taken during our one night stay on a floating island ...... Lake Titicaca...

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The Uros islands are a group of 70 man-made totora reed islands floating on Peru’s Lake Titicaca. Its inhabitants, the Uros tribe, pre-date Incan civilization and continue to hunt and fish the plentiful land and waters they occupy.

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This is our room for the night, one of four on this island

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The room was cosy, though at night the temperature on the lake dropped to freezing point or below, but our hosts bought us water bottles so we kept warm...

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The window overlooked the lake

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Just after we arrived

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It was very hot in the sun, and sitting on a deckchair which sank into the reeds could be a challenge.. —

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Three generations of our hosts family shared the island

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Soaking up the sun...

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The dining room where we had our meals..

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Sunset over the lake from our room...

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[DaveA]

Wonderful group of photos. Thanks for the posting.:encouragement:

 

[debbie in seattle]

Wonderful group of photos. Thanks for the posting.:encouragement:

ditto!

 

[Katybug]

I love your pictures. Thank you for posting these interesting photos.

 

[SeaBreeze]

What a wonderful experience you had there, such interesting and colorful photos, you and Lisa looked great, I enjoyed seeing the animals and the sunset photo was just gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your adventure!