MAPS OF THE TOUR

Hi:
I've finally gotten around to posting maps of our trip.  Here they are - you can see our route with all of the overnight stops that we made.  There are a few spots where there is no track - these are the times we rode the lunch truck or took a taxi (to get into Lima for example).

I've also added up all the cycling.  I pedaled just under 3100 kilometers and, to really make you tired, pedaled uphill for a total of about 37,000 meters (puff, puff, whew!).

This is the last post for this blog.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Ecuador - starting in Quito August 12 and crossing into Peru August 24th.  (Click on the map photo to get a slightly enlarged version).

Northern Peru - along the coast was low elevation and not too hilly.

Southern Peru - after turning east at Nasca there was lots of uphill!

SEPTEMBER 26 - FLIGHTS HOME

Hi
Just in case you have a look at our blog again, I'm putting down some notes as we are sitting in Lima airport on the way home.

First, I have to add a few photos.  This is another one of Celestina, as she was coming up to see us after we bought her table runner.  She has a big smile on her face.  We really hope we helped make her day by buying her beautiful handiwork.

So, this is the day we have to get our flights home.  The boxes and bags are packed and down at reception.  We have a couple of hours to kill, so we heading for Mercado San Pedro, the market down the street.









The place is a complete madhouse.  Vendors everywhere, all hollering at you and wanting you to buy stuff.  We stayed away from the textiles and looked about in the food aisles.  Here are some photos.

Here's a veggie display.  One lady was displaying many (20?) types of corn, but plunked right in the middle was a sign "Photo for Tips" so we passed by.

   
They group the vendors together.  Here's part of the bread aisle.

 On to the cheese aisle.  I bought a piece of cheese. It was good, but was a soft type.  I was hoping for a hard, ripened cheese.

Another veggie display.





I missed the meat aisle.  The way they process and display their meat is a bit scary, so its just as well we missed it.




Off to the airport and right into another "adventure."  We are at the check-in counter at 12:30 for our 5 pm flight.  The attendant suggests we take an earlier flight as it will ensure we miss the possible afternoon fogs in Cusco.    We agree - now the adventure starts.  Something is 'goofy' with our tickets and she can't change them.  She fights with her computer for 1/2 hour, then disappears for another 15 minutes.  When she comes out she is victorious, except the flight we now have is boarding and we are late.  Rush about, find out they have changed the gate without telling us and we are last to board, with 5 minutes to spare after being paged by the gate attendant.

Did our bags and  bikes  make it?  An hour later we find out.  YES!!!!  Everything, including us is in Lima.  

So, we are sitting in the airport hotel bar, sipping (very yummy!) Pisco Sours, killing time for another 3 hours until the Air Canada check-in opens.

My last photo.  I took a stealth photo of an apron with a Pisco sour recipe on it.  I  promise to translate it an practice until I master the art of the Pisco Sour!

SEPTEMBER 24 - 26 - AROUND CUZCO

A couple of pictures, taken from the bus, as we travel down from Machu Picchu.  The majesty of the landscape is mind boggling, even for a BC kid.










No pictures from the rest of the trip back to Cuzco as it was dark.  Long slow train trip to Poroy.  Then we were picked up by a car and driven smartly to our hotel.  We have nothing but praise for the tour company we booked our Machu Picchu trip with.





Next morning.  We get up to have one last breakfast with the riders as they prepare for a 160 km day on a drizzly morning.  Here's a group of them outside the hotel just starting out.








The courtyard of our hotel, now that all the tents and other stuff has been removed.   A very pleasant place to stay.

A procession in the Plaza de Armas.  There seems to be one or more every day.









Now this is interesting.  There were weavers set up in the Plaza.  Apparently, they were from various different areas and were here for a week.  I'm guessing they are part of a cooperative, as there was a tent behind selling their creations.

Laura and I bought a table runner.  Here is the lady who wove it.  We have her name and village, but the info is packed away with the table runner in our luggage.  We exchanged big hugs and smiles.  It was a very special moment.

I remembered later - her name is Celestina.





We did a little more touring around Cuzco.  The last archaeological site we visited was Saqsayhuaman, atop the hillside above Cuzco.  To get there, hop in a taxi and say "Sexy Woman" to the driver and 10 Soles later you are at the entrance.  The buildings on the site have been mainly destroyed, only a few foundations left.  

The main feature is the size of the blocks on the walls.  Some were dragged here on rollers from as far as 30 km away.  The largest block is over 100 tons.  The walls on one side of the plaza








The other side of the plaza

A shot of the lower wall.  One theory behind the notches in the bottom of the blocks  is that they were notches for tree trunks which supported the block above the wall while the workers fit the blocks together.









Look at the fit if these blocks

The foundations












Some natural slides that the school kids were having fun on.

Carved blocks - not sure of the purpose.











We walked down from the site back to the Plaza de Armas.  Here's a view looking back up.  The site is just to the left of the statue at the right of the picture.

That's it for photos and for our trip.  We have to pack up the last of our stuff, trundle it all to the airport and hope they take the bicycles.

One final item.  For dinner last night I had a Peruvian delicacy - Guinea pig.  I won't tell you his name.

SEPTEMBER 23 - MACHU PICCHU

First, I'll clear up a minor misconception most of us have about Machu Picchu - the altitude.  Here's some info:
-Cusco altitude:  11,000 feet
-Agua Calientes:   6,700 feet
-Machu Picchu:     7,800 feet
You are more likely to have issues with altitude when you fly into Cusco.

So, today is the big day.  After dinner we had a note from our guide for the next day.  In order to avoid the crowds we were to be at the bus station at 0500.  Groan!
This meant getting up at 0400; and we thought 0430 was early when we were camping.

Up, get going, breakfast at 0430, and off to the bus station, believing we were early.  Ha!  There were hundreds there already.  We stand at the back of the line and are found by Jian, our giude.  We join up with the rest of our group and onto the bus for the twisty trip up the mountain to the site. Its 6 a.m. and the skies are lightening.  Another crush at the gates, but we get in shortly after 0700.

First, we climb up to the guard house toget the classic view of Machu Picchu.  The mountain you see is Wayna Picchu










A closer view of the central plaza from above










The guard house












The western agricultural terraces

A view from the western side showing the terraces and the precipitous drop below

Here's our whole tour group.  The others were a group of young professionals from the eastern US.

And, our leader Jian

The high priest lived in this area (upper centre of photo), residences and the ceremonial baths to the right 









Closer view of the area

















One of the gates to the city.  The photo below shows how it was lined up with Waynu Picchu.




















You can see the hinge points for the wooden gate door.






This is the Sacred Plaza.  You can tell it was an important place because the blocks are all very carefully shaped and close fitted.








A closer  view.  The spaces in the blocks are a result of centuries of foundation settlement.










A wall with 3 windows on the right side of the Sacred Plaza












The corners of this stone are aligned with the 4 cardinal points and the whole stone is in the shape of the Southern Cross









Still near the plaza, this is the Sundial Stone.  It was carved in place.











A view from above of the residential sector, with the industrial sector out of the picture to the right.  The estimates for the number of permanent residents of Machu Picchu range from 500 to 1000








I believe this is taken from in the residential sector.











This building was used for astronomical observation, with the windows aligned with the sun during some of the Solstices or equinoxes.

The main Agricultural Terraces 











The Central Plaza from the east side.  Note the resident lawn mowing crew.











The Central Plaza from the other side.  It has very good acoustics.










Last shot from the Central Plaza, looking towards the Guard House, where the first pictures were taken from.












We're over in the Industrial area now.  These rock bowls were originally thought to be for grinding grain but, when filled with water, the reflections in them were thought to be used for astronomical observations.










You can see Laura's reflection.  Jian showed us a very cool picture he had taken of the moon at night (he didn't explain how he got the shot when you aren't allowed into the site at night).

One of the cleansing showers











A view roughly off to the east.  The views in all directions were magnificent.














One of the few two level houses.











A shot of the city as we get near the exit.














The teaming humanity at the exit and this is the low season.  We were glad we got there early - a lot of our later photos were showing many more people than are in the ones I've shown you.

That's it for  our short tour of Machu Picchu.  It is a very exhilarating and overwhelming experience.  We were told so much in a short time that it is impossible to take it all in in one session.