We have a great guide- PAVEL.
He is on top of everything. He sets the rules. This is what we are doing. Hands out maps and information. He arranged for the wake up calls. We were to be awake at 6:30. Luggage out the door at 7:30. He told us what is to be in our backpack. Raincoat, sun block, hat, water, heavy shirt, wet wipes as we must have clean hands at all times. What we can eat and we must drink a lot of water the next few days. We were to be wearing our hiking shoes and pants. Eat breakfast and be in the lobby at 7:50 to identify and see the luggage put on the bus. He then gave us the rules for the airport. Where to stand. Where to use the rest room. He keeps us close. Took all the luggage tags at the airport. We all have yellow ribbons for our luggage and backpacks.
PAVEL will phone the restaurant ahead with what we want to eat, so we do not have long waits. He tells us the choices and what is best to eat.
In Lima we had a local guide also. Two guides with information flowing the entire ride in the bus. Before was got off the bus for free time, he handed us the map of the area. Highlighting where we were, and the way back to the hotel.
He has told us what to buy that is good. And will suggest where to buy. I feel I can trust this man. Gave us instructions on how to handle the beggars, and sellers that will follow and hound us. Hide our money and passports, etc. He calls it the passport suffle, where you look in every pocket for it. He covered everything!
The airport -- jammed with people. The fog is still a problem and flights are still delayed. There are twenty flights a day from Lima to Cuzco and many did not make it the past two days. We moved through the airport with his guidance. There is another group from Grand Circle, part of our tour group. That guide had to take a different flight and he was in charge of her people also. Some of those people were two days delayed getting to Lima. We left 1 1/2 hour late.
Many of the houses in Lima are never finished. They leave the reinforcing rods sticking out of the roofs. Do not finish the outside of the house. And they then do not have to pay taxes on the house, since it is not complete. So many house have gated and private fronts. Not a safe city for a wealthy person. They need to protect themselves and family. Police seem to be everywhere. Two police will guard each bank. Meanwhile, they have wonderful parks and the city is jumping at night.
Cuzco is at 11,000 feet. Some people are taking high altitude medicine. We decided not to take it. Instead we will drink the COCO tea. Or cocaine . PAVEL says we will get the chance to chew CLEAN coco leafs. There is also coco candy. I should be flying high the next few days. Where we stay for Manchu Picchu is at
9,000 feet. They say, move slow to adjust to the altitude. We went from 9000 to 12000 feet today and no one is having a problem. That is because PAVEL tells us to keep drinking water.
Pictures from outside Cuzco
Drive to Pisac
This was an area of Inca settlement of about 300 others. They were each about twenty mile away from each other. The wealthy people lived in the valley and the poor people living on the hills. They farmed in terraced fields. Had storage shed to keep the produce. People were buried in caves on the hills. They also had to be fed for their afterlife. The area is now a national park. There was also a temple area.
Mountain peeks with snow
Multiple family house.
Woman sang to us and then tried to sell their stuff. I felt bad as there is nothing I wanted. The guide said not to give them money, only buy and nothing was cheap.
The people are not Roman Catholic. They say that they are Inca Catholic. They observe the traditions of the Inca. When a house is to be build. First there will be a service to bless the house. They will put coca leaves and corn beer on the land. Then if you want help building your house , you had better helped build the neighbors houses. The same is with farming and bringing in the harvest. Because the farms are small, the work is done by hand. Property has been passed down from one generation to the next and each gets a smaller plot of land. Corn is grown but most of it is exported. Quinoa also. There are 4000 different types of potato grown here.
They put religious symbols on the top of the house to ward away evil. If it is a catholic house, it will have a cross.
Our hotel is small and very quaint. The town is Urubamka and it is in a valley. We all have rooms on the second floor. The dinner was good. We had a man play music during the meal. The room is very clean, small. Firm mattress. I did laundry as we have two nights for it to dry. Our guide said we should have no problem waking up. The rosters and cows will be making a fuss in the AM. We are right in the middle of what looks to be a very poor town. Dogs barking everywhere. One other guest here grew up with Pam and Dwight Kasperbauer in Iowa. They lived on the lake together. Small world.
The people are all wearing the Peruvian outfits. Women have short skirts and tall hats. Babies are on the mothers back wrapped in a colorful scarf.
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