Such a busy start, early mornings  long flights  for several days, starting with our  LATEST morning being grande prairie to Edmonton. 5a.m.   Checked in at Vancouver international at 4 a.m for the flight to Lima, via Los Angels, 5  hr lay over and off to Lima, Peru.   Arrive Lima at 1:30 am.  Taken to our hotel, where friends had Peruvian caesars waiting!   Off to bed for  2.5 hours,  then downstairs where we had breakfast with our travel partners, Maureen and Derick, and back to the airport for our short flight to Cusco!  On arrival in Cusco we were picked up by our guide Raul, And off we  went on our first tour to the Sacred Valley.  Pisac was the first stop, where we toured the ruins. We stopped then for lunch, with different kinds of food, and my first for alpaca stew, which I have to admit was pretty tasty!  Outside patio (on grass) listening to the birds and enjoying the beautiful flora! After lunch and a few cervaza, off to the town of Ollantaytambo, where we toured a religious, astronomical, and Military complex.  Ancient Peruvians moved boulders from one mountain to the next, boulders weighing nearly 60 metric tons.

We stayed in a fabulous hotel in  Ollantaytambo that night, which made the FAIRMONT airport in Vancouver seem like a motel 6.  Unreal service everywhere!  Next morning, 7a.m. Transfer to the train station, and a 1.5 hour train ride to Caliente.  Someone did fail to mention that our luggage could not go on the train with us, so after being assisted by another tourist, we left our baggage at the train station in hopes that it would arrive at our hotel when we did! Of course this negotiating took some time, so had us running the last couple blocks to catch the train!  What a beautiful trip “down hill” (2800 to 1500 meters) to Caliente! We follow the Ollantaytambo River, which is white water from start to finish. Our new guide, Mr.Wellingtin met us, and after a brief orientation, we boarded a bus to continue up the hill to MACHU PICHU! We were so lucky, we had such a beautiful day, hardly any clouds, and way too warm for the jeans thar I elected to wear that morning! I cannot describe just how spectacular this city is. Pictures do not do it any justice either, although we

did take several hundred!

After our 3hr tour with our friend Mr.Wellington, we wandered the city ourselves, and made the decision to walk up to the Sun Gate!  Tough climbing around the mountain, but we were not disappointed after arriving at the top, and having yet another spectacular view of the city. It just doesn’t end!

The gate Trekkers pass through which give them their first view of Machu Pichu

We headed back down the mountain, caught a bus and found our hotel relatively easy… And what a hotel it was, miraculously all our luggage was there waiting for us! Beautiful old chalet type of hotel complete with fire place and HOT WATER bottles, that we didn’t use, but apparently our travel partners had a complete turn down service, including hot water bottles in their bed! Stay tuned for our second day on Machu Pichu, and our crazy unexpected ride back to Cusco!