All good adventures start off with something going wrong. Harry’s parents were killed and he was sent to live with the Dursley’s. Princess Leia sends R2-D2 to Tatooine as she is being captured by Darth Vader. Mr. Bluth missed the updated flight status and therefore we missed the first leg of our three leg journey to Peru.
Thanks to the diligence of a couple of booking agents, we were quickly back on track and actually managed to drop one of our legs. So on Sunday April 9, we flew to DFW in the late afternoon. We were feeling good and optimistic. We had prepared for this trip and brought everything we thought we might need. Mrs. Bluth had been especially diligent in baby-proofing this trip and we planned to have a blast.
So from DFW we took an overnight flight to Lima Peru. 7 hours in the air was...not too terrible. Adaline kind of slept most of the time on one of us. We were trying to make this trip on a budget so we hadn’t bought her a seat of her own. Neither of us got much sleep though. But we were excited to be there.
We got off the plane sometime after 5am and instantly felt the heat. Somehow we had not been expecting this nearly equatorial country to be so warm. But jackets are easily taken off so we hopped in our ride’s car to stay with one of Mrs. Bluth’s friends.
Pedro’s beautiful home was just over an hour from the airport and our primary caretaker, Estephania, was off dropping her daughter at seminary so we started wandering around the neighborhood a little bleary-eyed. Eventually we got in and settled and Adaline immediately charmed our hostess. We tried napping a little bit but decided to go out and start visiting our first destination - Miraflores.
Miraflores is located on the cliffs just south of downtown that look over the Pacific Ocean. The neighborhood is full of parks and we started walking along the Parque del Amor. A few minutes of exploring took us to a cliff where some Peruvians were running a little paragliding operation. After some pressuring from Mrs. Bluth, and signing a form that declared that he was aware that the pilots were not licensed paragliders, Mr. Bluth strapped in and took a 15 minute ride high above Lima and the ocean. Pretty neat.
We continued walking until we reached one of our food recommendations, El Pan de la Chola. We spent some time looking for and exploring some ruins right there in Lima and had a small impromptu water fight in a park. Sometime during the day Adaline managed to sneak in a nap in her stroller. Eventually we ended up at a downtown children’s playground in a park named for President Kennedy (why? did he ever even go to Peru?).
Estephania prepared us a delicious breakfast the next morning and we were on our way to the Centro Historico. There was so much to see. We wandered to the Plaza de Armas to appreciate the architecture and buildings. We even watched a half hour military band and changing of the guard in front of the President’s Palace.
Eventually we found ourselves eating sanguiches (every Spanish-speaking country seems to spell this common creation--defined most commonly as two pieces of bread containing some filling--a little bit differently). Pork rinds and yam for Mr. and Andean ham for the Mrs.
Soon we had wandered to the cathedral of San Francisco where we took a tour of the catacombs located below. Lots of bones. Usually when Adaline drops her pacifier, we just pick it up and give it back. Felt kind of weird to do that since there might be HUMAN dust on the pacifier. So I put it in my pocket until I forgot and gave it back to her without cleaning off the maybe HUMAN dust.
Then we found ourselves resting in another park and then looking for the Chifatown. We never found out while they spell China with an “F”.
Tuckered out we headed back where our now very good friend Estephania had made us the traditional aji de gallina. Adaline ate with gusto and we had a great evening.
The following morning Wednesday, April 11, we jumped on a flight to Cusco Peru to begin our explorations of the Sacred Valley. It’s only an hour and a tad flight so it was still morning when we arrived. Since Cusco is north of 10,000 feet, we had planned to head down into the valley right away in order to mitigate any altitude sickness. On the way down we stopped to see some pretty incredible sites. The first was a few enormous auditorium-looking rings that were built into the side of the mountain. We were told that there were enormous growing laboratories where the Inca could test how certain crops grew at different altitudes and other conditions.
Our next stop was an enormous salt mine built directly into the walls of a canyon. Made for some great UIKEYINPUTDOWNARROWpictures and Adaline, who loves running water with a passion, loved the little streams that filled each miniature reservoir.
Eventually we reached Ollantaytambo. Which is the last city you can reach by car on the way to Machu Picchu. It has one road leading into town that goes by the central square and ends at the train station that takes you the rest of the way. We were making Ollantaytambo our homebase for a couple days since it is only(!) at 9,160 feet and centrally located.
The hotel staff, like everyone else we met this trip, instantly fell in love with Adaline and bent over backwards to accommodate us. We dined on flavorful quinoa soup and grilled chicken with a small personal hawaiian pizza for Adaline (c’mon Adaline! eating pizza in Peru?!).
Thursday we got up, breakfasted, and started exploring the ruins of Ollantaytambo. It has the distinction of having been one of the Inca strongholds that initially repelled and defeated the Spanish conquistadores. We found some friendly alpacas amongst ruins and played in the complex water system that ran through the fortress.
An hour and a half back up the valley were the Pisac ruins that we wanted to visit. They were located incredibly high up on the mountain and provided some of the most breathtaking views of the entire trip. We stopped at the famous Pisac market for empanadas. Then we headed back to Ollantaytambo for some rest. That evening we dined on alpaca steak (delicious! the perfect balance between mutton and beef) and aji de gallina (inferior to what our hostess had made back in Lima) and went to bed kind of early because we had a big day on the horizon.
Ollantaytambo is fascinating because it is where the road to Machu Picchu ends. You drive through the town (takes about 3 mins) and then you arrive at the end of the road where a train station sits. We got up early and walked down to the train station to board. It’s almost a two hour train ride but very comfortable. We were seated across from some honeymooning Australians that were friendly. The train had windows in the roofs so you can better observe the incredible valley you are navigating. At times we could see the highest peaks in that part of Peru and they were covered in snow.
The train arrives in Aguas Calientes which is at the base of the mountain where Machu Picchu sits. You can make a 90-120 min hike or take the 20 min switchback-laden bus ride. The line was long. Hundreds of people long. The Peruvian government restricts access to Machu Picchu to 2,500 people per day. At least half of them must have been in that line with us right then.
The bus ride is enough to make many a traveler gasp and futilely grab tight to an invisible steering wheel or stomp an imaginary brake. It’s pretty remarkable that the buses can pass each other actually. At times though, one would have to stop and back up to let another one pass. But we safely and efficiently made into the entrance of the main event.
And so we eagerly entered one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Unfortunately Adaline was also running out of energy after getting up early for a long train ride and bus ride. We started up a path to the Temple of the Sun, which has some spectacular views of the entire compound. We had to take a break in order for Adaline to eat and we spent precious minutes coaxing her to sleep. She hates missing out on anything though and so she fought to stay awake. After a decent fight she finally succumbed to sleep in the carrier. We wandered further up the path and took some pictures. It had started out a little overcast but by now the sun was out in full force and it was pretty toasty.
The place was teeming with people. Seemed like too many people, frankly. There were a couple of places and overlooks that took forever because everyone needed a picture there. There were also llamas wandering all over. We explored for a little over an hour before Adaline, feeling recharged, woke up and wanted to get out and play. From that point we took it a little more slowly so she could do it with us. Machu Picchu has remarkably little signage. Luckily we had a guidebook and had done some reading about some of the unique things to see. After about 3 hours in the park, it was time to catch the bus down so we could catch the train back to our hotel. As we walked to the back of the line, we realized that we were so far back that we were probably going to miss our train. And it started raining on us. It’s possible to walk down and that takes about an hour. We might have been able to catch our train that way, but we were nervous to walk down the steep mountain with the steady rain.
As the line slowly moved forward, we contemplated what would happen if we did miss our train and if there was anything else that could be done. Then an employee of the bus company wandered down the line and pulled all the families with small children to the front of the line to get out of the rain and to get on the next bus. Problem solved! Interestingly, this was not the first line we had avoided due to having a baby with us. Adaline was worth her weight in gold.
And so we headed down the mountain after visiting, appreciating, and worshipping one of the most incredible ancient sites in the world today.
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