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 …