Traveling Alpaca Visits the Mother Country!

The Traveling Alpaca was so excited to return to Peru. We flew into Lima on Lan Chile after our original flight on Continental was canceled without warning (but since we went from having a stop to traveling nonstop, we were fine with it, although it did take some doing to get the reservation agent to understand that we were with a tour group and would need to arrive sooner than the flights she wanted to give us would allow... then it took some doing to make sure the travel agency understood there was a change in our arrival time and that we would need to be picked up later as a result - thank goodness for cell phones and sisters). The following day, we made our way to Cusco with our fantastic tour group (http://traveland.com/), where at 12,000 feet above sea level, we would experience some mild altitude sickness. The coco tea (believe it or not, made from leaves of the plant that is processed into cocaine but not an illegal substance in Peru or the U.S.) made us feel better, and thankfully the hotel had a healthy supply of it.

In Cusco, we first took a city tour that took us through the city, into a monastary and to the hilltop ruins at Sachsaywaman (http://community.iexplore.com/planning/journalEntryActivity.asp?JournalID=48069&EntryID=49848&n=Saqsaywaman, where our lousy tour guide, Ramiro, inspired us with such commentary as "Sachsaywaman, okay, wasn't a fort, okay" and "this man, okay, he's a man, okay" - and would respond to questions like "What is this interesting thing" with "This thing, it is interesting, okay. It is an interesting thing, okay." No joke). At this point, we pulled out a Frommers book on Peru to get an accurate understanding of what Sachsaywaman was to the Incas. It was there that we learned that Sachsaywaman was, indeed, a fort, and that it was an effective way for the Incas to keep watch over their city and learn of intruders long before their arrival. In short order, we learned to ignore Ramiro and instead relied on Arthur Frommer for our history and tour. That night, we explored Cusco on our own, walking through the streets of downtown. For dinner, we ate at Granja de Heidi (http://www.cuzco.info/restaurant.htm), a fantastic (and fantastically inexpensive) restaurant a few miles from our hotel. We were impressed that the taxi to Granja de Heidi was $.50, and even more impressed when the bill for our delicious three-course meal came and it was ... wait for it ... $17 per couple, including tax and tip, for some of the best food we'd ever had and a cup each of the heavenly tea (proprietary, so all he told us was that it was a blend of 17 flavors, herbs and spices). Granja de Heidi is owned by a German couple who immigrated to Peru years ago, and who run their own organic farm where they raise the meat and vegetables they serve at their restaurant. It was delightful, and a huge hit. We made our way home through the city, via several touristy shops and a number of kids selling alpaca finger puppets. And that is when the Traveling Alpaca found us.

We next visited the Sacred Valley and the Ollantaytambo compound (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollantaytambo), where we climbed to the top to marvel at the Incas' architectural prowess. We enjoyed lunch at a wonderful little oasis with outdoor dining, gardens and gazebos. The remainder of the tour was through various towns and sites located within or around the Sacred Valley. That night, we had a traditional Peruvian feast with music and dancing at a restaurant in Cusco. The ceviche was delightful. The local delicacy of cuy (guinea pig) was bland, but we were happy to have tasted it. We also tried llama and alpaca, neither of which tasted much different than dark chicken meat. After dinner, when the performances began, the Traveling Alpaca couldn't help but to join in on the fun, and danced to the William Tell Overture (if by "danced" you mean raced from one side of the table to the other, while being caught on video tape). Very fun.

Next, we headed to Aguas Calientes on an atrociously early train. We settled into a lovely hotel that backed onto the river, and each room had its own balcony overlooking same. We spent the day exploring the city and taking a plethora of photographs. At lunch, we went with our tour group to a disgusting buffet, which resulted in 1/2 of the members of the group falling ill by the next day (likely due to improper handling or temperature of meat items or other contamination). Dinner that night at local organic restaurant Indio Feliz (the "Happy Indian") was wonderful, but was overshadowed by the horrific lunch.

The following day, we visited Machu Picchu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu) with a terrific guide, Max. He was so good, in fact, that he made up, okay, for useless Ramiro, okay. Although Traveling Alpaca made it to the top of Machu Picchu, others were not so lucky. He considered himself lucky to, as it was an amazing sight to see. The history recounted by Max was equally fantastic.

The trip ended with a return to Cusco, another day of sightseeing (including a visit to the Monasterio (http://monasterio.orient-express.com/web/ocus/ocus_a2a_home.jsp), which is a converted monastary that now operates as a five-star hotel) and several churches and a walk through the city, then a return to Lima and a Lima city tour the following day. We returned, Traveling Alpaca in hand, to the US the following day, with new friends, great stories and fantastic experiences.