Peru

Peru, I wish I could have come up with a more creative title. Maybe I will, but for now, I'm just going to leave it at that. The reason for this post is two-fold: I can share some of my favorite pictures with comments, AND I can re-live my trip with you one day at a time. So I'll always remember one of my favorite adventures.

I have known since I found out I was coming to Argentina that I was going to go to visit Machu Picchu. There were a lot of unknowns in there, like with whom? When? For how long? But God's hand provided just the right people and time to go. When I went to a singles retreat in January, earlier that year, I threw it out to all the ladies that I wanted to take this trip and see how many would be interested. There was a fairly good response, and as the days passed, I had three loyal friends to join. Two ladies who serve in Peru (one of whom I went to training with) and another from Mexico.

I finally decided I would take a full week trip so I could visit with my friend Misty who lives in Lima. Lima was so fun because not only did I get to see her life, but we got some much needed catching up. I also have lots of Peruvian friends in Buenos Aires so I was excited to get to know there country personally. I even got to meet up with two friends that had returned home to study! Anyway, so Misty had just visited Machu Picchu the month before us and wasn't going with us, but she was a great hostess. The whole trip was organized by a local Peruvian, Michel, who did a great job making this trip very affordable for us! Thankful for his organization, though there was a lot of communication to get there.

So, starting at the beginning... day 1. I leave BA early for my flight to arrive in Lima by lunch and take advantage of a full day. And that I did! My friend Diego came to pick me up at the airport and we went to Misty's house. We didn't stay long there because we were off to lunch and the historic center of Lima, with Diego our tour guide. Candace joined us in this moment too and we didn't get back until 8 pm! We went downtown, got money, ate lunch, souvenir shopped and did a LOT of tourism.  Diego took up us to Cerro San Cristobal which is a big hill in the middle of the city with a lookout. A thing about Lima is that it is normally very cloudy, but never rains. Well, we got some sunshine on this day!! Happy me! Diego brought us back home that night and we ordered Papa John's pizza, (woot!!) and then slept hard that night.

Cathedral in Historic Center of Lima

The next morning (day #2) Candace and I had a few hours to tour on our own before our midday flight to Cusco. So, we wanted to head to the Inca Market to buy some souvenirs because everyone told us they were so much more expensive in Cusco. We also went by some ruins that are right there in the heart of Lima. How cool! We then headed back to the apt and eat lunch at the airport. Our flight left on time and we arrived to Cusco without a hitch. It was just Candace and I because the other two girls flew out the day beforehand. So, we got the the airport and were looking for our ride... for a long time. I didn't see anything with my name and nobody was looking for us. After 30 minutes of waiting outside, a kind guy let us use his phone to call the company and it turns out there were looking for 4 girls and not two. ANYWAY... we got checked in to the hotel and rested before heading out to see the city center and eat dinner.  Oh, and everyone talks about the altitude problems in Cusco, but we drank Coca tea in the plane and again at the hotel.

Ruins in the middle of Miraflores, Lima

Fresh coca tea

Day #3 we had a city tour of Cusco. It didn't start until midday so we had the morning to wander, take pictures, and eat lunch. It was beautiful that morning and then rained for a few hours right as our tour was about to start. We went to about 5 or 6 different archeological sites there around town and the sky cleared up and it was beautiful!! It also gets chilly at night because you're in the mountains, but it was warm when the sun was out! Mainly because you're so close up to the sun.  After a day of touring, we came back to eat and pack our bags for the next morning, a trip out to the Sacred Valley and on to Machu Picchu! There's a limit on how much luggage each person can take, so we had to bring only what was necessary for those two nights. (good thing I had a big backpack!)

Day #4 We left early that morning heading out with our small bags and got on a bus to head to the Sacred Valley. We had 3 stops: Pisac, lunch, and Ollataytambo. It was so much climbing!! Not for the weak at heart. But, we saw some many beautiful sights. In O, we had to climb 250 stairs WITH those backpacks. It was so much. But, afterwards we got to the train station and just rested on the 1.5 hour ride to Aguas Calientes, Machu Picchu tour.

Pisac

Ollataytambo, at the end of the Sacred Valley

Day #5 We had a calm morning in the hotel and left without rush to the bus to head up the mountain to Machu Picchu. We stayed the night before and were planning to stay that night after, which we felt was the best choice. We got in the park about 9am and stayed until they were pushing us out at 4:30. We entered the park with a guide and were with him for about 2 hours. We bought tickets that included the hike to Wayna Picchu. Seriously, the hardest thing in my life!! Climbing straight up a cliff!! Madness.  We had to enter by 11 to get in because it was an hour climb to the top. We got up there and ate our "lunch." Then there was more hiking to be done. We wanted to take a jumping picture (goal of the whole week, #fail) but a guard saw us spreading out for it and threatened to delete our pictures if we did it. Then he told us it was already time to start getting down. But we hadn't even reached the top yet!! Some slight begging and he allowed us up and then even took our pictures. The climb down Wayna Picchu was just as long as the climb up, some how. We took one bathroom break then headed back in the park to head to the Sungate. This was another 2ish hour hike. They both had great views, and the sun came out the second half of the day, so I definitely got burned.  We left the park after that because they wouldn't allow us to wander anymore with the 30 minutes we had so we headed back to the hotel. After showering and resting, we went out for a great dinner. Dessert afterwards, obviously. We went to bed fairly early that night, as you can imagine...

Machu Picchu town of Aguas Calientes

Feeling like Champions on top!

Day #6 we started the journey back to Cusco (Lima, really) on the first train that morning that took us back to Ollataytambo. From there, we rode back to Cusco in a van and had time for a quick lunch. Since Candace and I had a later flight, we took advantage of the sunny day and walked around to some Cathedrals and museums. We headed of to the airport without a hitch, only to find out while waiting at the gate that our flight was delayed. First it was only an hour, then after that hour passed they came back and said it was delayed again, for mechanical reasons. We got into Lima pretty late, and Diego had agreed to come look for us again. I was really worried he wasn't going get my messages about the change in flights but luckily he did! So we went to dinner and had another late night while Candace was getting ready to leave the next day.

A sunny day in Cusco!

Day #7 I had the whole day to myself in Lima and was nice to not have anywhere to be. Misty and I finally got to spend time together by going to the affinity office for prayer time. Then we had lunch and ran some errands around town and wore ourselves out! Diego came back that afternoon to meet me on the coast, the Malecón with another friend of ours, Hector who had returned over a year ago. After some time on the coast, I went to dinner at Chili's (!!) with Misty, the two girls who I had just gone to Machu Picchu with, and another jman serving in Lima. We ate dinner, laughed a lot, went home to watch Minions and baked sweets. It was the perfect way to end my time, that I almost didn't want to come home.

Diego (L) and Hector (R) are Peruvians who used to live in Buenos Aires

Day #8 I left for a noon flight back to BA which was essentially a full day of travel.  That morning I had a very short visit with Misty but it was basically waiting for the taxi to come get me for the airport.