Goodbye Peru, Hello Ecuador

Goodbye Agua Calientes

Thursday-Saturday, March 31-April 2, 2016 WTRD 83-85

Thursday, March 31 - WTRD 83

We returned last night from Agua Calientes, and are now back in our hotel in Cusco.  Today is mostly free with a short tour of the artisan quarter and a demonstration at the Coca Museum.  Now that Holy week is over, the city streets are filled more with locals than tourists, and they are busy with people going about their business.

Our guide tells us there are only half a million people here, but it looks and feels like more.  We are approached every two minutes by a street vendor wanting to sell the same thing as the vendor who approached us two minutes before.  It's a hard way to make a living.  We empathize with these folks, and at the same time growweary of saying "no gracias," and have pretty much shortened it to a head shake, no eye contact, and keep on moving.

After our morning tour, Russ and I visited the Inca Museum which was very interesting; finished up our shopping for last minute items; ate lunch at nice little cafe, and returned to our hotel for an afternoon of rest and readiness for our flight out in the morning back to Lima.

Our group, minus 1 who has a bronchial infection, meets for the last meal with our guide Reny.

Left back and around to Right: Gary, Lorraine, Dianne, Peter, Pete, Marguerite, Janne, Roz, Russ, and Reny (Anna not pictured)

He will take us to the airport tomorrow and make sure we are on the plane, but will stay in his home city of Cusco with five days off before the next tour group.  We've been a good group, but a sickly one, so he has had his hands full and will no doubt be relieved to no longer have us as his responsibility.

Friday, April 1, 2016 - WTRD 84

Everyone, but our guide is up and ready to go by 6:00 am.  Our plane for Lima leaves at 7:30.  Reny is running late and has some difficulty contacting the bus driver at the bottom of the hill to pick us up.  If you remember from previous blogs, this is the hotel that has little to no parking space on a narrow street, and when the bus is summoned,  we all have to jump on and off quickly with luggage as if our pants are on fire. By the time we are loaded and rolling away it is nearly 6:20.  Our group is checked in already, but still have to make our way through traffic to the airport, drop our bags, clear security, and board our plane in the next hour.

My stomach starts to knot up.  I hate being late. Russ and I try to give ourselves plenty of time at airports so that if there are any snags, we can flex easily.  We make it to the airport at 6:40.  It is a small airport and not busy, phew.  We grab our bags off the van, check in, drop our luggage, clear security, and make it to the gate by 6:55.  The plane started boarding at 6:45 and the line is already pretty short.  We are in our seats by 7:00.

The plane is not fully booked, but everyone is onboard by 7:10, so we take off early!  I finally exhale.

When we arrive in Lima, it is only 9:00 am.  We are met by a local day guide.  The 10 of us board a private bus intended for 30 people and are whisked away to the hotel where we started the tour 2 weeks ago.  Of course the rooms are not yet ready, with the exception of one that is available for the person with bronchial infection.  We drop our bags, and half the group who are ill or just tuckered out or not interested in a city tour.  It is in the high 80's F, and staying in the cool hotel looks appealing, but we push on.

Five us re-board the big bus that takes us down town.  Once we are in the downtown area, we are on a 2 hour walking tour that takes us from one beautiful square to the next through a pedestrian only shopping area.

The fountains and buildings were built and rebuilt due to earthquakes in 19th and 20th century.  I am glad we saw these buildings, as it gives us a little nicer opinion of the metropolitan area of Lima.

Converted Train Station to Cultural Center

The public schools here are on triple session.  Middle school kids go in the morning (4 hours), followed by elementary students in the afternoon, and high school students in the evening.  The streets are filled with students coming from school.  Public schools are free but the education is abbreviated. What can students really learn in 4 hours a day?  Our guide tells us that private schools start at 1,000 soles a month and can run up $2,000 USD a month.  The average salary in Peru in 770 soles per month...that's about $250.00 USD.  Can you imagine that?  No wonder all of these folks take to the streets to sell stuff.

Our last stop is at the Franciscan Monastery.  Built in 1643, this edifice has also been built and rebuilt after earthquakes.  It has a Moorish flavor with beautiful carved dome ceilings and decorative ceramic tiles.  The library looks like something out of Harry Potter movie, very impressive two story room with spiral wood staircases to the second level.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photos of the Monastery interior.  The most interesting part of the monastery were the catacombs beneath, filled with the bones of an estimated 25,000 people.

We returned to the hotel late in the day, checked into our room which was on the second floor with a lovely balcony right outside our door.  With our new friends, we sat on the balcony, drank wine, ate appetizers and said our final goodbyes.

We leave tomorrow for Ecuador.

Saturday, April 2, 2016 - WTRD 85

We leave this morning at 9:00 this morning for the airport, headed for Quito Ecuador.  One other couple from our group is continuing on with us to the Galapagos.  Four of our friends, left this morning at 2:00 am to head back to Australia.  

If anything exciting happens today, I'll update this blog later, but suspect, we will arrive in Quito, meet-up with our new group, repack our bags once again into something small for the boat, hang out and go to bed.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's Saying Goodbye to Peru