Favorite Places: Easter Island, Machu Picchu, Cusco Best Memories: 1. Getting to Tongariki on a moonlit night along the ocean cliffside of Easter Island using a 50cc scooter. 2. Enjoying an Alpaca steak on an old colonial balcony in the main square of Cusco, to the sound of light rain. 3. Fog lifting and revealing …
Mishap in Cusco This morning I woke up in Cusco. I had scheduled a taxi at 5:30 am and had a flight departing for Lima at 6:55 am — or so I thought. I got to the airport on time, but something was wrong. The airline I was flying with had no one at the …
Cusco is a spectacular city. It sits at over 3,400 meters. Although many points in the city are higher than that. It’s a maze of narrow one-lane cobblestone streets. The churches and buildings are built in an old style and many sit on top of Inca structures. Several squares can be found in the city, …
This morning I had arranged for a taxi to pick me up from the hotel and drive me to the Pisac ruins and Cusco. It was with Juan, the taxi driver that I had met yesterday. He doesn’t speak English, so I decided to sacrifice my plan to see nearby ruins in order to download …
Ollantaytambo is a good place to be if one wants to see The Sacred Valley. I arrived here in the morning by train from Aguas Calientes. Immediately after I checked in, I went exploring. There are several ruins right in Ollantaytambo. One is a bit Inca site overlooking the town. I headed there first, but …
The weather wasn’t as great on my second day to Machu Picchu. There was a prolonged fog and it even rained a little. On the plus side, the fog does add to the mystery of the place. Soon after I got into the site, I met Scott and Karissa, a couple from Arizona that were …
Would you believe I was the first one to enter the Machu Picchu site? I beat over 2,000 visitors to the gate! Mainly, I wanted to be first so I could get pictures of the sunrise without anyone in it. Unfortunately, the fog equalized the playing field. By the time the fog lifted, there were …
The last time I woke up was on Nov. 25, 4:00 am to get the star photos I posted earlier. I then boarded the plane on Easter Island around 6:30 pm and arrived in Lima just before midnight. My next flight would be to Cusco on Nov. 26, 5:40 am. I stayed up all night …
Earlier in the week I had met Dano Grayson, who has taken some amazing photos for the likes of National Geographic. He went out several times to get photos of Moai with the night sky, and this morning I decided to do the same. That meant getting up at 4:00 am! The moon was still …
This is my last full day on the island. I was hoping to get a really early start, so that I could not only get a sunrise photo, but perhaps a photo with some stars in the background. However, I didn’t go to bed early enough and when my alarm went off, I just hit …
My alarm woke me up quite a bit before sunrise. My plan was to get to the Hotuiti moai site, a fair distance from town, for some sunrise photos. It had rained during the night and I could really feel the damp air. My body shook for warmth while I was managing to keep the …
This morning was challenging. I woke up pretty sore from the bike ride and sun burns. The shower was cold, but I didn’t mind that too much. Morning light makes for good photos, so I wasted no time getting on the bike and peddling along the south coast. The road isn’t too bad and is …
I landed on Easter Island with only two or three hours of sleep on the plane. I knew the hostel I was staying at was not far from the airport, so I opted to walk rather than take a taxi. With some directions from the locals, I found my hostel quickly. After checking in and …
Today went better than I thought. With a last minute booking, I managed to get a spot on a bus to the Pachacamac ruins. The tour also included a walk around Barranco, a south district of Lima known for preserving the older houses. After the tour, I asked to be dropped off in Miraflores, a …
My first impression of Lima was not that good. I don’t know if it’s smog, but you can definitely feel a difference in air quality. The taxi ride from the airport reminded me that many countries don’t follow North American driving habits. A marked two-lane road quickly turns into three or four lanes, if the …
The Plan So Far I land in Peru, spend two days looking around, then fly to Easter Island. There I have four days before I go back to Lima, fly to Cusco, take a train to Aguas Calientes and a bus up to Machu Picchu. After that I may have enough time to check out …