And let the excitement begin.........
http://www.weather.com/news/central-peru-earthquake-20140824
Seems like there was a pretty big earthquake Sunday in south central Peru. Pretty near to where we will be going in a couple of weeks. Not any damage to speak of anywhere in the cities or outlying areas. This should allow plenty go time for the aftershocks to subside as well.
What fun is travel without some adventure?
Flying into Lima the first night just in time to sleep at a hotel right at the airport. The next morning we get up, eat breakfast and take a 1 hour flight to Juliaca which is a 27k bus ride to Lake Titicaca. We will be acclimating ourselves at 12,000 feet for the first 10 days or so at Lake Titicaca (3 days) , Cusco (3 days) and The Sacred Valley (3 days). There is also a 10 hour train ride from Lake Titicaca to Cusco on day 4. The first 7 days will be at around 12,000 feet and the last 3 in The Sacred Valley is a bit lower. Hopefully, all will be successfully acclimated to the high altitude by the time we are ready for our hike. We have plenty of meds to take to counter any bad effects.
Then we begin a six day hike to Machu Picchu that should be quite "interesting". The "highlight" will be day 3 of the hike where we must go over a mountain pass at 15,213 feet (don't forget this last 213 feet)! Then it's all downhill (almost) to Machu Picchu which is around 8,000 feet. I expect it to be pretty cold at the top so we will have to prepare with layers.
I am really excited to see this after almost a year of thinking about it!
Just finished a very interesting book "The Last Days of the Incas" which talks of the Spanish conquest of the Inca's in many of the places we will be visiting. The Spanish were pretty barbaric in their treatment of the Incas - to say the least. Now when we are seeing various places along the way I will have some historical context in my head. Now I just have to remember them. I will have the book loaded on my iPad so I can refresh my memory as needed.
So, as usual I will try to post to this blog as often as I can. I may also post an image or 2 on Instagram as well. Have aloof if you have the time or the interest.
http://www.weather.com/news/central-peru-earthquake-20140824
Seems like there was a pretty big earthquake Sunday in south central Peru. Pretty near to where we will be going in a couple of weeks. Not any damage to speak of anywhere in the cities or outlying areas. This should allow plenty go time for the aftershocks to subside as well.
What fun is travel without some adventure?
Flying into Lima the first night just in time to sleep at a hotel right at the airport. The next morning we get up, eat breakfast and take a 1 hour flight to Juliaca which is a 27k bus ride to Lake Titicaca. We will be acclimating ourselves at 12,000 feet for the first 10 days or so at Lake Titicaca (3 days) , Cusco (3 days) and The Sacred Valley (3 days). There is also a 10 hour train ride from Lake Titicaca to Cusco on day 4. The first 7 days will be at around 12,000 feet and the last 3 in The Sacred Valley is a bit lower. Hopefully, all will be successfully acclimated to the high altitude by the time we are ready for our hike. We have plenty of meds to take to counter any bad effects.
Then we begin a six day hike to Machu Picchu that should be quite "interesting". The "highlight" will be day 3 of the hike where we must go over a mountain pass at 15,213 feet (don't forget this last 213 feet)! Then it's all downhill (almost) to Machu Picchu which is around 8,000 feet. I expect it to be pretty cold at the top so we will have to prepare with layers.
I am really excited to see this after almost a year of thinking about it!
Just finished a very interesting book "The Last Days of the Incas" which talks of the Spanish conquest of the Inca's in many of the places we will be visiting. The Spanish were pretty barbaric in their treatment of the Incas - to say the least. Now when we are seeing various places along the way I will have some historical context in my head. Now I just have to remember them. I will have the book loaded on my iPad so I can refresh my memory as needed.
So, as usual I will try to post to this blog as often as I can. I may also post an image or 2 on Instagram as well. Have aloof if you have the time or the interest.
