Thank goodness for remembering toilet paper and hand sanitizer - albeit last minute. It's amazing how something seemingly so small can make or break an otherwise fabulous adventure. Fortunately, we packed plenty and so we were able to thoroughly enjoy the ruins outside of Cusco today. :)
We arrived in Lima on Saturday, 10 December around midnight after a long 13+ hour day of traveling, only to be met with a never ending line of bags coming off the plane - none of which were Nando's. Big sigh. I stood in line (I use line loosely since it was more like a mob) with the other 30 or so people who's bags hadn't made it out of Houston. After correcting the girl who took my information about 6 times on my phone number, the name of my hotel and it's address she finally told us the bag would be delivered to our hotel on Monday morning - right about the time we were supposed to be headed back to the airport for our flight to Cusco. Bigger sigh.
Lima was a lot of fun! We roamed around the San Francisco Convent - including a tour through the catacombs, but we both agreed that the library was by far the coolest part. It's been pretty much preserved as it was built 500 years ago. Many of the books stored there are still from the original collection. We both thought Chinatown would be sort of kitsch, but we figured we should check it out anyway. We were presently surprised to find absolutely delicious dim sum and a more than crowded market filled with Christmas decorations and blaring Latin music. A short cab ride away is Parque del Amor (Lover's Park) in Miraflores which overlooks the ocean and is the launching point for many a hang glider pilot. We finished our romantic day with dinner at La Rosa Nautica, a restaurant built out over the water where you can feel the waves crash underneath you while you dine on gourmet food and quaff delicious Peruvian wine - all for well under $100 USD.
Hooray! They found Nando's bag and actually managed to call our hotel on Monday morning before we left for the airport so we were able to get them to keep it for us until we got there. Two hours later we landed in Cusco!
We arranged for a private driver (Awesome way to go - not very expensive and nice to be able to beat the tour bus crowds) to take us to several of the archaeological sites outside of Cusco today. We visited Sacsayhuamán (Sexy Woman!), Q'enqo, Pukapukala, Tambomachay and Pisac. We really enjoyed all of them, but highly recommend Pisac which was a last minute add on suggested by our driver. It was absolutely stunning and is only a slight second to Machu Picchu.
Tomorrow we are headed on to Aguas Calientes at the base of Machu Picchu and then Machu Picchu on Thursday. *Note to anyone looking to go to Machu Picchu - their new online system is great for reserving your tickets. Not so great for actually paying for them. I'd suggest making the reservation online and then heading to the INC office in Cusco to pay for and pick up your tickets - SO much easier and it will save you a lot of frustration and hassle with their online payment system.
Sorry for the massively long blog post. That's what I get for waiting too many days. :)
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