Peru

arrieve

I don’t really have many pictures from Cusco, so this is the final set.

Like Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo was built by Pachicuti, the ruler who established the Inca Empire in the mid-1400’s. (After he wiped out the original inhabitants, of course. It’s easy to admire what the Incas created without having any illusions about them being Good Guys.) It’s about an hour’s drive from Cusco, and was both a ceremonial and agricultural center and Pachicuti’s royal estate.

After the murder of Atahualpa, this was used as a fortress by Manco Inca, and was the site of the only victory of the Inca army against the Spaniards.

In some ways these ruins were more surprising than Machu Picchu. It’s a fortress sitting in the middle of a village (where some of the houses and streets were also built by the Incas). You just pull into a parking lot and suddenly you’re in the 15th century.

On The Road – arrieve – Peru, Part 6: OllantaytamboPost + Comments (17)

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One of my favorite experiences on this trip was a visit to one of the weaving cooperatives in Chinchero, a small town in the mountains about an hour from Cusco.

Chinchero is famous for its textiles, and is a center for using and promoting traditional techniques. The cooperative we visited, Sara Textiles, was formed by a group of single mothers. Our visit began with meeting (and feeding) the alpacas and llamas who supply the wool, and ended in the adjoining shop, where scarves, coats, hats, and wall hangings in every color of the rainbow are for sale. (In addition to many gifts, I bought a short cape made from felted baby alpaca that is the softest fabric I have ever owned. I didn’t intend to buy it but once I took it off the hanger it was never going back. I can’t wait for fall so I can wear it.)

 

On The Road – arrieve – Peru, Part 5: ChincheroPost + Comments (13)

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I made it to Machu Picchu! The day before, when I’d been lying on a bed in a clinic in the Sacred Valley sucking on oxygen, I’d been resigned to missing Machu Picchu. I hated to come so far and not see the main attraction, but I didn’t see how I could keep going.

But here I was. And, since I apparently couldn’t go 24 hours without any drama,  my digestive system had chosen this particular day to throw a tantrum. Since there are no bathrooms inside Machu Picchu I decided not to take any chances, and so while the rest of my group did the long circuit of the ruins, including the top levels, I stayed below, closer to the exit, just in case.

On The Road – arrieve – Peru, Part 4: Machu PicchuPost + Comments (23)

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There are no roads to Machu Picchu. You either take the train from Ollantaytambo, or you hike the Inca Trail.  (Spoiler alert: We took the train.)

This is where it’s very helpful to be part of a tour, as Machu Picchu tourism is becoming more regulated all the time.  You’re only allowed one carry-on sized piece of luggage on the train; the rest of our luggage was stored for us and was waiting at our hotel when we got back to Cusco. You need a timed ticket to visit the site, and they sell out, so having all of the train, bus and entry tickets taken care of for us was very helpful.

On The Road – arrieve – Peru, Part 3: Heading to Machu PicchuPost + Comments (20)

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After Lima we flew to Cusco and then drove north into the Sacred Valley, where we stayed for a few days.

On The Road – arrieve – Peru Part 2: The Sacred ValleyPost + Comments (16)

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I’ve been lucky enough to travel to many of the places I used to dream about visiting. One of the last places I had never seen and still dreamed of was Machu Picchu. I thought that was never going to happen; it was too far, too difficult, and too expensive, and after the Covid years I’m not as adventurous as I once was.

But I saw that Road Scholar had a ten-day trip to Peru that wasn’t too expensive and after mentally hemming and hawing for weeks, I signed up. Going to Machu Picchu wasn’t going to be any easier on my knees or my back next year, or the year after, and if it was really now or never, I decided to choose now.

And Peru made me fall in love with travel again, despite some bad altitude sickness and a few of the typical misadventures that scholars of the travel genre may someday refer to as arrievesque. There’s a lot more to the country than Lima and Machu Picchu, and I only saw a small part of it, but I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

On The Road – arrieve – PeruPost + Comments (14)

Dorothy A. Winsor

Our second stop was Lima, Peru, where we took a tour called Civilizations of Peru that was great.

On The Road – Dorothy A. Winsor – South American cruise–PeruPost + Comments (20)