Day 1 & 2:
We flew from Miami to Lima, Peru.
It was a 6-hour flight. We stayed in a hotel next to the airport.
Next day we took a flight from Lima to Cusco. From Cusco we took a taxi to Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is a village in the sacred valley of south Peru. On the way we saw local markets and shops which resembled shops in India.
We kept most of our luggage in the hotel where we will stay 2 days later. We toured around the area. Saw their organic farm and went to the City Center where we saw some local dance performances and shops. Then took a 1.5 hour train to Aguas Calientes and reached by 7 pm. It was interesting to see the ticket collectors in the train change costumes to enact a nice Inca story. It was a story about an Inca warrior and a princess with a dance performance. The views from the train journey were also nice.
In Aguas Calientes, we are staying in a hotel named Jaya and the hotel staff met us at the train station and brought us to the hotel. It was a short walk on a steep road. There is a river and small waterfall which we could see from our hotel room window.
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Day 3: We hired an English speaking guide at Aguas Calientes and took the 30 minute bus ride to Machu Picchu with him. It is at about 8000 ft. We had reservations for only Circuit 2. It was educational to hear about the life and culture of Incas. They were very advanced in Astronomy and had built temples so the sun rays would pass through windows on solstice days. We saw steps used for terraced farming also. Our guide took lots of pictures. In the evening we had dinner at a Iskcon vegan restaurant named Sattva by Govinda. We enjoyed the delicious food and met the cook and owner who has been an Iskcon devotee for many years.
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Day 4: Next day we went to Machu Picchu ourselves without a guide. We had reservations for Circuit 1 and 2 with Inca bridge. We first walked up to the Inca bridge. The path was narrow at many places. The bridge is closed but we learned that the Incas would cross the bridge and remove the wooden logs so that enemies couldn't cross over. We then walked through the ruins and saw more points of interest like the guard house and Condor temple. They constructed their houses taking into account the seismic activity in the region and most buildings are still intact.
In the afternoon we took a train back to Ollantaytambo where we met a music teacher from Guatemala and enjoyed his company on the train ride.
We reached Ollantaytambo and stayed at the hotel El Albergue, which is inside the train station. This is a historic hotel which has their own organic farm and also supports a non-profit school.
Day 5: We saw Inca ruins in Ollantaytambo with a guide. They have Sun and Condor temple. She played a musical instrument called Ocarina. In the evening, we reached our hotel Tambo del Inka in Urubamba. The walk around the property and views of the mountain were very nice. We participated in a bread making activity there. We saw an Alpaca at the hotel.
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Day 6: We went to Salt mine of Maras which has been there even before the Incas. They still produce salt here. From there we went to Moray where there are circular terraces which were used for agriculture. We then had our packed lunch and visited a local weaving outlet. They demonstrated how they make the yarn from alpaca wool, clean and dye it all with natural items. Baby Alpaca wool items are the most warm and expensive items. We then saw the ruins at Chinchero and returned. In the night we attended a very nice stargazing event where we saw amazing celestial objects in the telescope.
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Day 7: We went to Pisac ruins and Cochahuasi Animal sanctuary where we saw rescued animals including Condors and Vicuñas. Animals are rehabilitated and then released into the wild there. During our tour of the sanctuary we were told that the products made from Vicuñas wool are expensive. After visiting the sanctuary, we continued to Cusco and reached our hotel at the Hilton Garden Inn.
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Day 8: Cusco ruins
We went on a half-day trip to see few of the Cusco Ruins:
a. Sacsayhuaman - from the top we saw nice views of the Cusco city
b. Qenqo - here we walked through some cave formations
c. Pucapucara ( Red lookout fort)
d. Tambomachay, this town is thought to have been used as a Temple to the Water.
After we finished the tour we went to the main City area and had dinner at Green Point Vegan restaurant. This restaurant had a nice courtyard with a lot of plants and greenery.
Day 9: Vinicunca Rainbow mountain
We left from Cusco around 7:30am. It was almost a 3.5 hour drive to reach the base of Rainbow mountain at an elevation of 15000 feet.
We took the motorcycle to go to the top which is at an altitude of 17,000 feet.
The rainbow mountain was a glacier about a decade back. Since then the glacier has melted and the minerals have left the amazing colors.
For emergency we had carried a small canister of oxygen also. We limited our exposure at that altitude for about 20 minutes only. The other options were horse riding or walking. We had packed our lunch to eat on our way back and we reached back to Cusco by about 4pm. On our drive back we also saw some Llamas and Alpacas.
In the evening we went for a walk to see a beautiful sunset and Aqueduct.
Day 10: Lima
We landed in Lima in the afternoon and had lunch at the airport.
The taxi driver was waiting to take us on a City tour of Lima.
We first went to the Plaza de Armas (main square) in Lima and saw the Palace with guards. There was also a Lima sign in the main square and an old bronze lion post box.
Next we went to the Magic Water Circuit which is the world's largest water fountain park.
We saw a few of the different fountains in the Magic Water Circuit. The Surprise Tunnel where you could walk through a water fountain tunnel and the Dream Maze were interesting.
From the Magic Water circuit, we then went to Miraflores where we saw a Lighthouse and beach. The Maria Reiche park had reproductions of the Nazca Lines made with flowers. We then spent a little time on the beach before heading back to the airport.
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