Grand arrival at Easter Island

[Monday, January 27]

Easter Island is almost completely de-forrested 

It's amazing what a private jet can do. On the flight in,  we passed over Easter Island at low levels to see the sights of the islands (twice, so that each side of the plane could see the sights!)    

15 moai statues stand in a line at the top of the V-shaped bay (you can see them from the air)

Volcanic crater that served as the quarry site for all the moai statues

Volcanic crater that served as the center of the Birdman Cult for the Rapa Nui people

At the airport on Easter Island we were greeted with bougainvillea leis.  

Hangaroa Ecolodge and Spa -- great place to stay on Easter Island

Bathtub and sink carved from lava rock

We had a seafood buffet dinner on the beach at sunset.

Happy Birthday to Charlie!

Happy Birthday Charlie!  We miss you lots and lot!  Have fun today.

Macchu Picchu: City of the Gods

[Sunday, January 25]

The book I purchased on Macchu Picchu calls it the City of the Gods.  It's clearly a spiritual place - still felt strongly after 500 years.  But there is some controversy about it's true purpose: religious center, summer retreat for the elite.  No matter,  the setting is majestic and the best part of being here is finding a place to oneself for some reflection and contemplation.

That said, we had excellent tours.  Mike hiked up to the Sun Gate, the entrance to Macchu Picchu from the Inca Trail.  I toured the complex with guide Miguel and learned about the three major areas (agricultural terraces, urban and religious) and the main building sites (the temples of the Sun, Condor, and Three Windows, Mausoleum, Watchman's Tower.

Mike and I met up at the Temple of the Three Windows at the plaza/altar area used for worship and sacrifice.  We wandered a bit on our own and then met the rest of the group at 4 PM for tea and refreshments at the Sanctuary Lodge.  We took the bus from Macchu Picchu to Aguas Caliente to return to the train.  The ride up and down was bone jarring in the extreme.  However, we were treated to a double rainbow between the mountain peaks on our way down.

We had dinner on the train, singing and dancing to the music of a 4 person Peruvian combo.  Their closing number?  If you're old enough you guessed it, "El Condor Pasa,"  without the Paul Simon lyrics.

Final leg by bus got us back to the Monasterio hotel by 10:30 - every mitochondria in my calf muscles was fried from the 17,000 steps we did today.

The Hiram Bingham train to Macchu Picchu

[Sunday - January 25]

We traveled to Macchu Picchu via the Hiram Bingham train.  It is beautifully appointed with wooden panels,  brass details, fresh flowers and white linens and crystal for our brunch on the way to the site.  

 The train also has 2 bar/lounge cars - everyone's new favorite drink is the pisco sour - and a glass viewing car at the end.  

The ride takes about 2 hours and follows the Urubamba River past sheer cliffs raising straight up from the river base.  The rapids on the river are suicidal with standing waves and boulders the size of small cars.  The sides of the mountains were covered with bromeliads and orchids along the way.

 And this final photo is especially for Elizabeth and Sally -- train photos!! (I have lots more, if you like this one....>smile<)

Urubamba River

Ollantaytambo, the Urubamba River and the Sacred Valley of the Inca

[Sunday, January 25]

We started early today, at 6:45, for an optional tour of  the Ollantaytambo Fortress – a 2 hour motor van drive through the Sacred Valley of the Incas of Urubamba River.  Along the way, we saw rich agricultural areas, primarily growing potatoes.  The local residents use terraces for farming that climb the hillsides – built by the Incas and dating from the 1300’s

Hillside terraces and storage warehouses build by Incas

Photographer Jay Dickman and Peruvian girl

Farming in the sacred Urubamba River Valley

Ollantaytambo is an active village in the Urubamba River valley, but it was also a very important archaeological site in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.  It served as a fortress, with an agricultural area, an urban area and a religious temple.  The current town is built on the foundations of the urban plan of the Incas.  Agricultural terraces climb all the way up the hillside.

The complex was known as a fortress because Manco Inca successfully fought the Spanish conquistadores here in the 1500’s – one of the last places the Inca were able to resist the technology of fire arms, horses and armor.  But the location was really used as a temple and community complex– with the highest part being the Sun temple.  It's walls and terraces demonstrate the same incredible stone building skills as seen in Sacsayhuaman and Cusco – stones cut to fit like puzzle pieces and are dry stacked and the stone joints are so tight that one is not able to slip a knife blade between any of the stones.

Incan complex at Ollantaytambo with agricultural terraces 

Climbing the stone stairway to reach the temple

Stone wall construction at the temple area

Ollantaytambo viewed from the Temple of the Sun

Walking up to the top of the temple was hard (!) – a few more days of altitude acclimation would have helped.  In the town, we saw a 5 year old boy who sang us a song in Quechua – about a goose that has lost it’s mate – in exchange for 1 soles – about a quarter in US money.

Quechuan singer

Incan foundation stones at the base level of houses in the town

Faces of Cusco

While we were in Cusco, we had many, many opportunities to shop -- the vendors came to you (repeatedly).  They would read our name tags (which we are asked to wear at all times) and would say "Hey Susan, remember me, you promised to look at my paintings" - or gourds, or dolls, or jewelry.  Also, children are dressed in colorful local clothing and will pose with their pets or sing a song for a "propina" (tip).  

It was great fun.  And fortunate for me, because I forgot my sun hat at the hotel in Lima and I was able to purchase one from one of the vendors at the airport.

Susan without hat -- oops! Forgot it at Lima hotel

Susan with cool Macchu Picchu hat - on bus from Cusco airport

Lovely lady selling Macchu Picchu hats for $10...