Emma went to Peru (and so did we)!

On May 21 we had a pretty busy day. Not only did I get offered and accepted a new full time job, but we left on a 22 hour journey to get us to the first leg of our two week trip to South America - Peru! Per the normal we never like to make things simple, so our day and route of getting to Peru looked something like this:

Ready to start the adventure in St. Louis at 4 pm!

10:00 am: Receive new job offer
10:30 am: Pack last minute necessities, weigh suitcases repetitively, contemplate job offer, get Emma to nap
1:30 pm: Drive to MetroLink stop to park car
2:00 pm: Ride light rail to the airport with 2 large suitcases, 2 large backpacks, and Emma's backpack
2:45 pm: Arrive sweaty at the airport
3:45 pm: Call and accept new job
4:30 pm: Depart on flight to Miami
8:30 pm (ET): Arrive in Miami, eat dinner, get Emma to fall asleep in Ergo, kill time reading

6 am in Lima airport, feeling a little sleepy!

11:45 pm (ET): Depart for Lima, Peru. Emma wakes up and has one of her worst flights as the cabin lights were not dimmed until about 2:30 am. Strangest flight ever when we were served dinner at nearly 1 am.
May 22, 5:00 am (CT): Arrive in Lima. Despite the fact that we have gone further east than Miami, we are back in the central time zone (still trying to figure that out). Tried to rest and get on earlier connecting flight (all unsuccessful), load up on bottled water and hydrate in preparation for next flight that will arrive at nearly 12,000 feet.
9:30 am: Depart for Cusco, Peru in stormy weather and moderate turbulence. As we prepared for landing after 1.5 hours of flying, the pilot warned that we would potentially have to turn around as the landing was going to be too difficult in bad weather at high altitude. Steve and I both thought we would have a word with the pilot if he dared try to turn around the plane now.
11:00 am: In heavy rain the pilot managed a safe landing in Cusco. All of our luggage arrives and Steve immediately puts his Spanish to use to quickly get a taxi to our hotel.

We were all so thankful just to arrive. It seemed so strange to us that there was no time change to adjust for. Never before had we traveled so far just to stay in the same time zone! Yet, there was plenty of jet lag from a sleepless night and headaches from the altitude quickly followed. Luckily, we had all done as much as we could in advance to hydrate ourselves and were well stocked on various over the counter remedies from the U.S. Steve also tried a little of the Peruvian natural remedy, coca tea, while I skipped it (it does come from the same plant as cocaine, and while the leaves only contain a tiny percentage, I figured that might not be the first impression I wanted to make with my new job's drug test when I got back!).

Day one sights in Peru in the village of Pisac

So with all of those factors and a rainy, cold day we took our time settling in and having a relaxing lunch at our hotel. Our hotel, the Cusco JW Marriott, did not disappoint. I'm not going to lie, it was quite possibly one of the first things Steve spotted when we started researching Peru and he said, oh that looks like a pretty good place to stay. It turns out he was right. It was a gorgeous Incan style building with outstanding service. And we quickly started to see how traveling in South America would be different than Europe - no drinking the tap water, no flushing toilet paper, and we played it extra safe to start when it came to avoiding fresh fruits and vegetables, juices, and under cooked meats. Especially with Emma we didn't want to take any risks. And I'll go ahead and say it paid off. At the end of the trip all of us felt extremely fortunate to say that we didn't get sick from any of the food and by playing it slow to start we adjusted pretty well to the altitude after just 24 hours.

Beautiful hotel courtyard

With an afternoon still ahead of us we had plans for a little more travel time. We headed to the village of Pisac, which is about a 45 minute taxi ride from Cusco. While there is public transportation in Peru, it can be very busy and unsafe at times. If you take taxis from reputable companies, they can be extremely inexpensive and an easy option to get places, so this was how we opted to get most places on our limited schedule. Pisac is known for not only having some amazing Incan ruins, but also an outstanding market. We lacked the energy to visit the ruins (we could still see them in the distance) but we had a great afternoon bargaining at the market and coming home with some fun souvenirs. The bright, vibrant market was a mix of old and new cultures. Women dressing in traditional Peruvian garments and posing for photos compared to others dressed in typical modern day jeans and t-shirts. The taxi drive to and from Pisac allowed Steve and Emma a little time to catch up on their sleep, while I took in some beautiful scenery in the Andes. From views over parts of the Sacred Valley, to alpacas, llamas, baby pigs, and dogs chasing our car down the dirt roads it was a unique ride!

Peruvian ladies at the Pisac market

Although it was quite early in the evening when we arrived back at the hotel, Steve and I could have gone to bed at anytime. Somehow Emma still had the willpower to find the hotel pool. However, she only needed a quick splash in the pool and a little room service for dinner and we were quickly in bed. The first day's cuisine was pretty boring (pizza, chicken, and vegetables), but we vowed to do better on the second day.

Pool time!

Friday morning arrived much too early despite the 10 or 11 hours of sleep we got. However, we all still felt much better than the day prior. After carefully enjoying the Marriott's buffet breakfast we headed out for a full day of exploring Cusco. The first thing on the agenda was to grab a taxi and explore the sites of four Incan ruins that sit atop the Cusco valley. We were very impressed by the structures and Emma looked well prepared with her "Indiana Jones" satchel as we explored and wandered the ruins. Our favorite was without a doubt Sacsaywaman, which afforded beautiful views over Cusco and showcased its use as a military fortress in the 1500's.

Our little Indiana Jones with her satchel!

Exploring some of the ruins

At Sacsaywaman

Impressive fortress walls at Sacsaywaman

We were back in they city center by lunch and found our way to a very funky, small, child-focused cafe (although Emma was only the child of the 7 or 8 people eating there) they had lots of fun decorations, stuffed animals, and games. Steve tried the alpaca tenderloin and I ate some wonderful mushroom risotto. Despite the fact that Peru is one of the places where quinoa originated we were surprised to learn that locals rarely consume it as it is too expensive and valued more as an export.

Our afternoon centered around a self-guided walk around the most famous religious sites in the bustling, chaotic small streets of Cusco. We made our way through the Qorikancha (temple) at Santo Domingo, Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus, and La Catedral del Cuzco. We also relaxed in the beautiful Plaza de Armas with views of both the Iglesia and Catedral and plenty of pigeons for Emma to chase and street vendors to say no to.

Pigeon chasing in Cusco!

Our favorite was the "plaza grass security man" who would blow his whistle when people were caught on the grassy areas of the plaza. I didn't know whether to be amused at how nice they kept their grass or saddened that the money wasn't being spent in many other areas of the city that badly needed to be better kept or measures taken to reduce petty crime. What I know I was amused by was just like most everywhere else you go these days, there was a Starbucks and KFC on the Plaza de Armas. So after a somewhat rainy and cold day we succumbed to the tourist trap that Starbucks is and grabbed a cup of coffee to warm up while we watched the sun set in the plaza and headed back for another early evening at the hotel. We had some great elderberry BBQ salmon for dinner before making another trip to the pool with our traveling toddler.

Beautiful Qorikancha

Enjoying a rest on a park bench in Plaza de Armas with a backdrop of La Catedral

 Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus

We were thankful for the relatively early night at the hotel. There was still a lot of packing and repacking to be done as we would be headed out early on Saturday with just a backpack carrier and a backpack to make our way towards Machu Picchu, leaving the rest of our luggage behind at the hotel. In the morning we enjoyed a quick breakfast and conversation with some other Americans who were shocked to see us headed to Machu Picchu for the weekend with a toddler and so little gear in tow.

Another view of Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus

There are many ways to get to Machu Picchu from Cusco, which is the largest nearby city with a major airport... trains, buses, taxis, hiking, and "combis" are all commonly used transport routes for tourists and locals. While we originally planned to take the bus between Cusco and the village of Ollantaytambo, we had a last minute change of plans and took the method more used by the locals - a combi. A combi is basically a 16 passenger van. They line up at one end of town and wait until enough people come for one to leave. It seems that many locals make this trip regularly and therefore when we arrived at 7 am on Saturday morning it only took about 10 minutes for a combi to fill up and the driver headed out on the 2 hour drive. It was certainly a unique concept, but one that was very inexpensive and made us feel like a local!

As we made our way out of the Cusco we went through many poorer areas of the city. It became quite clear as we drove past stores and markets why it was good to be taking so many precautions with our food as we saw many less than sanitary conditions.  Throughout the drive I couldn't help but feel how "unregulated" everything was when it came to their roads, traffic, buildings, etc.

One of the most common sites in Peru was unfinished buildings. This way the Peruvians don't have to pay property taxes. It is also a Peruvian tradition to have a big celebration and it is a sign of wealth every time a new floor is added onto someone's house, so some people never "finish" building their house!

While I was enjoying taking in everything around me I failed to realize that Emma was not. Instead she was occupied with her activity bag and sitting in a warm, bumpy, bus ride. So you guessed it, she got car sick. While Steve and I both had a quick panic attack wondering what had made her sick, whether it could have been food, altitude or both she luckily quickly felt much better and we came to the conclusion that it was simply the car ride. And Emma being the trooper she is hardly seemed to acknowledge it and quickly started to feel better! Lucky for us of everything that could have gone wrong on our trip, that was the only thing that really did.

Ollantaytambo is in the heart of the Sacred Valley and is known as the starting point of the Incan trail hike and home of many Incan ruins. We used it as a starting point to do a half day tour with Awamaki tours. We traveled another hour with a small group to the rural Quechua community of Patacancha, situated at over 14,000 feet in the Peruvian Andes. I cannot even begin to explain everything that Awamaki does as a nonprofit organization that works to empower rural Andean women. They help them sell their products internationally, they connect global volunteers to do both short and long term work in the community, and they bring in tourists to learn and experience a more traditional Andean culture. I would highly recommend it to anyone making a trip to the area - you can check it out at awamaki.org.

I couldn't get enough of this cute little girl in the village, she was about the same age as Emma!

Adorable little boy in the village of Patacancha

After our van successfully navigated most of the muddy treacherous mountain road to make it to the village (we were thankful to be in a vehicle built to navigate muddy roads as we watched a large bus trying to do the same in a very unsafe manner on the narrow mountain roads) we had to still walk the last half mile uphill as the roads were impassable due to recent rains. I was one of a few people who ended up on the ground in the mud during our walk up to the village! Luckily no one cared too much. We were greeted by 7 or 8 local women and a few children when we arrived along with some of Awamaki's volunteers and spent the rest of our morning and early afternoon learning about their lifestyle and how to weave.

Emma was intrigued while this other little girl sat so contentedly next to her mom while she wove.

Very elaborate weaving

All the women wore beautiful handmade garments. Their hats were especially impressive as each were unique and told a story specific to their family. I actually got to try my hand at weaving and quickly discovered I was horrible at it as it was more difficult than it looked. The language barrier didn't help me out either! Emma spent her time making friends with another young Peruvian girl. It still simply amazes me to think about what completely different worlds the two of them came from, but neither of them realized it as they sat side by side and Emma showed her all of her toys. Before we left the village to head back to Ollantaytambo we even got to visit one of their houses, which was simply two rooms - one for sleeping and one for eating and gathering. While it only had mud floors they had recently gotten electricity and had one light bulb on the ceiling. They had also recently gotten a small gas stove, but they still relied largely on their wood burning oven.

A terrible student...

Emma and her friend for the morning

Once we arrived back in Ollantaytambo we had a little time  to find a light lunch and take in the beautiful views of the valley and the amazing Incan terracing. From there we took the train to finally make our way to our stopping point for the night, the town of Aguas Calientes.

It was a 1.5 hour gorgeous train ride through the valley and along the Urubamba river, reminding me a little of some train rides in the Alps we had made (while we saw some snow covered mountain peaks, we also saw some tropical areas and cacti). Along the ride we had fun meeting and talking to several people around us, all in anticipation of visiting Machu Picchu the next day. We also exchanged numerous stories with everyone at just how difficult it was to purchase the tickets online for entry to Machu Picchu. Let's just say the Peruvian government regulates the number of visitors daily (for good reason), but does not make it easy to figure out how to be one of those tourists. I felt like I succeeded compared to others as it had only taken me an hour or two to obtain the tickets, while other people had taken days or weeks to secure the tickets. In other words, if Machu Picchu on your agenda anytime soon you better start your research on how to buy your tickets!

This train really made it feel like a journey to a magical kingdom

Eventually we ended in Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes is famous as a "base camp" of sorts for everyone as they prepare to go to Machu Picchu the next day. A small, somewhat dirty city filled with many hotels, hostels, and less than stellar food, it was certainly not a spot to write home about. However, it served as a great spot to get to bed early so we could wake up bright and ealry on Sunday to be one of the first people inside the gates of Machu Picchu!

Wake up early we did. Around 4 am we got ready to and walked to the bus station where the first buses would depart around 5:15 am for the 25 minute steep bus ride up 2,000 feet to Machu Picchu. There was already a decent line when we arrived at 4:45 am, but we quickly secured a spot on the second bus and in the dark of the night wound our way up the mountainside to the gates of the national park. Riding up in a coach bus certainly wasn't the way the Incans did it and while I am still curious about one day doing the actual Incan hike, the bus ride worked pretty well this time considering we had Emma strapped to our back.

Acting goofy at 6 am!

Once our bus arrived it was still a few minutes before the gates would open at 6 am so we waited in line with another hundred or two hundred people for the gates to open to the magical kingdom of Machu Picchu.

When the gates did open we breathed a sigh of relief that our tickets and documentation were all correct to get us inside. Once we got inside it felt like a race as everyone else was in a hurry to get to the best vantage points before the sun rose. The first glimpses upon entry were surreal and amazing, I simply could not believe I was there. It was serene and peaceful. The views of the Andes, the impressive architecture, and rays of sun poking through the mountains. Just when we thought it couldn't get any more picture perfect the llamas started to wake up and poke their heads out to come greet us. It seemed they knew it was 6 am and time for the visitors to come for the day!

The terracing was simply incredible.

A view from inside the city

Just her size! Wonder if this was the original intention?

The "residential" area of the city

We spent the first hour or so hitting all of the classic angles and just taking in the impressive views before we headed towards one of the two hiking trails. Not only does the government regulate how many people per day can visit Machu Picchu (in a conservation effort, although many still believe too many people are visiting on a daily basis), but they greatly limit the number of people on the two trails (just due to their size and accessibility). We at first had considered doing the Huayna Picchu hike (this is a hike up the mountain that juts up directly behind Machu Picchu in all of the photos) we decided against it simply because it is quite treacherous and narrow in spots and we heard that the views from the top were not all that impressive. So instead we had reserved tickets to hike the "Montana," otherwise known as "Cerro Picchu," which affords hikers better views over all of Machu Picchu and isn't quite as difficult.

Tremendous views!

Taking in the morning view as well

Well, hello llama!

We did our best, but Emma was not in the mood to be carried for long periods of time in the hiking backpack so we made it almost halfway up before deciding to stop. We found a small overlook point that ended up being great and enjoyed a morning snack before heading back down to explore the grounds and the city of Machu Picchu more closely.

The classic photo

Pretty cute dad and daughter

While the morning had been quite chilly, it quickly got quite warm and the sun was intense as we wandered the ancient city. Emma had fun climbing and seeing the llamas as well. It's difficult to fathom how it was built and how difficult and dangerous it must have been to build as parts of it are literally built into the side of the mountain. But one thing for sure is that the Incans knew how to pick a location for their city, everywhere you turned the views were stunning.

Just Emma and Machu Picchu

The first Incan slide?!

By noon we were all exhausted of spending six hours exploring the city. While we no doubt could have spent longer, it was getting extremely busy and hot and we were thankful for the early start we got. We decided to enjoy a nice Peruvian buffet at the hotel located just outside of the park's entrance before heading back down to Aguas Calientes. We were glad once we safely arrived back in Aguas Calientes as the bus ride down the mountainside was a bit harrowing at times. We tried to see if we could get back on an earlier train to Cusco as our departure time was not until the evening, but all the trains were full for the day so we spent our remaining time wandering Aguas Calientes. While at first we wondered what we would do with the time, we then wandered past the artificial turf soccer field in the middle of the city. It seemed so strangely placed, but it clearly served a purpose for both organized soccer games as well as an open play area for children of the town. It didn't take long for Emma to make friends with 4 or 5 local girls and have an impromptu play date chasing each other around the field and playing with all of Emma's toys. Steve did a great job translating and talking with the little girls too!

Emma playing with her friend on the soccer field.

Emma's friends just kept wanting me to take their photo!

By the time our 6 pm train was ready to depart we were all more than ready. It had already been a long day and we still had nearly 4 hours of train and bus riding to get us back to Cusco. We eventually made it back to our hotel and had just enough time to repack and get a few hours of sleep before our early morning flight out the next morning to the next stop on our trip, the Iguassu Falls!

Pretty good spot for a family photo! Once in a lifetime!