Photos by Nanci Blog

Saturday, December 15 Cusco We arrived late Friday night to the hotel, Taypikala Hotel Cusco. Our room faces the courtyard but also the airport in the distance. At 6 a.m. the planes taking off wake me up. Our alarm is set for 8am so I write in my journal while Jay catches up on his sleep. Sleeping in the high altitude is difficult for some people.  Our mountain travels have been like bounce diving-up down, up down. Cusco is at 3380 m Urubamba 2875 m Aguas Calientes 2040 m Iquitos-where we'll be on Sunday is 80 m We had planned a leisurely Saturday morning for our free day in Cusco. Cho-Cho left us last night after making our day trip arrangements and scheduling a goodbye dinner for Saturday night at 7pm. We'll meet him at the Inca Pachacutec fountain in the Plaza de Armas. Driving through the towns last night, I was struck by the local dogs. They are very loyal here to their people. It seems like every shop and home has one. They are friendly but t...

Friday, December 14 We're up early again today, in our day 5 of  our G Adventures trip. We want to beat the tourist rush into Machu Picchu. It's rainy season and low tourist season but it could still get crowded so Cho-Cho wants us at breakfast for 6:30 a.m. Our tickets for the ruin allow us to stay until 12:30 p.m.. Then we must leave. We pack up our small bags and deliver them to the hotel desk manager. He'll see that they are delivered to the Hot Springs II restaurant around noon for us to pick them up, rather than walking ALL the way back up the hill to the hotel. The train station is near the restaurant so it will save time and energy later in the day. We gather in the lobby, check for passports and walk down to the bus station. The buses will take us to the entrance to the ruins (or folks can hike it-but that adds about an hour to your adventure and the trail is REALLY steep.) So we take the 20-minute bus ride up the narrow winding road/path. The views are s...

Happy New Year everyone. Can you believe we made another trip around the sun? Holy cow did this year pass quickly. We’re just back from an incredible journey to Peru. We spent a week hiking around Cusco and Machu Picchu. Then a week floating down the Amazon River. I’m home now washing the mountains of laundry, editing my photos and writing my trip blogs. Blog:  http://photosbynanci.blogspot.com/ Photos:  https://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/Peru-2018 I’ve been away from the internet for the last two weeks so I have no news to report but I still have local events listed so you all can get out and ring in the New Year. Cheers to a Happy, Safe and Prosperous 2019. Get Out and About Events Scrooge, The Musical in Ascutney Dec. 27, 28, 29 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. World Under Wonder Playhouse presents Scrooge staring Neal R. Cronce at their playhouse on Rte. 5 in Ascutney. For more information call 603-381-3344. Free New Year’s Eve Celebration for Kids and Familie...

Thursday, December 13 We're up at 5 a.m. today, breakfast at 6 a.m. lobby call at 6:45 a.m.. We're taking the Peru Rail to the end of the line-Aguas Calientes. Breakfast at Villa Urubamba Lodge is delicious: meats, cheeses, bread and coffee. Our van takes us to the Ollanta train station. Our train leaves at 7:45 a.m.. We're in "first class", car A seats 45 and 47. One of our group members, Linda, meets her Inka Trail guide on the train. They'll be hiking into Machu Picchu (the rest of our group be taking a bus on Friday, we'll see Linda later tonight.) The train travels through the spectacular Urubamba Valley. We can see glaciers, mountains, waterfalls and some Inka Ruins. As we rumble towards Aguas Calientes, the terrain is changing and our elevation is decreasing. The eucalyptus trees are replaced by palm trees. Linda and her guide get off at the bridge to begin their hike. We travel a  bit further to the end of the line. We cros...