Chillin in Cusco

After our week trip through the Sacred Valley we were ready for some rest and relaxation.

We kicked back at our friend Kris´s apartment while he was off with Doug and Kevin trekking around the Andes. We had our first Peruvian Ceviche...yum! It was time to stop and buy some art supplies. The kids made masks out of old cereal boxes. These particular masks were of giraffes. We got to know the neighborhood quite well. The best find was this awesome playground just a few blocks away. It had a 3 story dragon slide and 2 two story snake slides! It also had a closed in trampoline that was a big hit. We frequented this park several times.

This was a great week to watch some bad TV, do our laundry in a real washing machine, and get some reading in. Amy Porier asked me what we might do in Peru before I left. I told her I imagine we´ll get up, drink some coffee, and just enjoy the days with our kids. That is exactly what we did that week.

We ended our stay in Cusco with quite a Ceviche lunch with Kris, Doug, and Kevin. Justin pulled an all nighter and ran around the city with the boys that night and we were off on an 8 hour bus trip to Puno (Peruvian port on Lake Titicaca).

Machu Picchu!

Team T does not always opt for the easiest most direct route to anything! With that being said, we set off to the famous Machu Picchu in a let´s say round about way. We decided to take the train one way... that would be at the end. We started off in a little town called Urbamba. After waiting a couple of hours we got on the wrong bus. The bus pulled over for us let us out and we hiked back to the bus station. An hour later the ¨right¨ bus came and we found two seats. The kids sat on our laps. Our bus climbed high up the Andes range. An hour of steep switchbacks straight up to the glaciers. Then we turned straight back down the backside and switchbacked right into the jungle. It was a total of about 5 hours on the bus. The kids did great. The parents had a spectacular scenery for the whole 5 hours.

After getting off the bus in Santa Maria, we took a taxi along these cliffs on some ramshackle thing they call a road. This was a true roller coaster ride.... better than anything at Six flags. Anika said that it was like the real Matterhorn ride! We safely made it to Santa Teresa our place of departure to Machu Picchu. We over nighted here and fueled up for our big hike.

The next day we hired a taxi along with our Ecuador Amigos for again another hairy riaising ride to a hydro electric damn. Then we got out and hiked to Aguas Caliente (the Machu Picchu Tourist ghetto). This was about a 4 hour walk for Team T along the river and railroad track around the Machu Picchu mountains. We saw all kinds of interesting birds and bugs. Nicholas walked all of about 10 minutes. Thank goodness for the Ergo carrier or we would have never made it.

We stayed over night in the tourist ghetto and the next day we joined the caravans of tourists up to the sight. It was amazing! We had breakfast up there and took it all in. The best part was running into our friends Doug and Kevin from home. We´ll write more about it soon!

Sacred Valley- Inca Citadel Pisac

Today we left Cuzco for the Sacred Valley. Wow! How beautiful the mountains are here. We were quite taken back at the spectacular scenery. It ranks right up there with the Himilayas. Our first stop was an llama farm with several different types of llamas, alpacas. We all got to feed them some grasses. Then we learned how they dye the wool with natural dyes and what to look for in the authentic colors and weaving. After checking into a guesthouse in Pisac and some lunch with Kris and his friend, we got in a taxi and drove way up to the tops of the mountains. We were dropped off at an Inca Citadel. This was a definite N. in the Ergo carrier hike. We were not totally prepared mentally for these cliff ruins. But we endured. Our little Nootch T is an awesome hiker. She´s quite a sure footed little thing! Again, the scenery was fantastic, the views amazing, the altitude crazy. We are glad to eat some tastey empanadas and relax tonight. Tomorrow we will move on further through the valley.

Days In Cuzco

We are quite behind on filling in the details of our trip so far. We haven´t been as successful at loading photos and posting as easily as we did in the states. It is also very difficult to use the internet with impatient children in tow. But we have had a lovely time in Cuzco. We spent about a week at our friend Kris´s apartment. It had great views of the city from his roof top. We just scratched the surface of exploring the center of town. Feeding the birds was the top activity for the kids. That went right along with eating ice cream. Kris took us to ride the neighborhood go carts. That was one of N. most favorite activities. Then we walked up several flights of stairs to the terraced fields and overlooked the whole city. That was our first glimpse. There were many more spectacular views in the following days.

We purchased our tourist tickets for the Sacred Valley and started exploring the Inca ruins. The little T´s have done so well hiking around. We are all so grateful for the Ergo Carrier. It´s been one of those best packed items yet. N. likes to be carried around and we have discovered for safety this is a good thing. We will be exploring the Sacred Valley throughout the next week and plan to be at Machu Picchu by the weekend.

The little T´s get quite a bit of attention. They are getting used to it. Their blue eyes and N´s chubby thighs are often commented on. One thing Team T noticed right away is that this is the land of old school punch bugs (VW cars) We now play escarabajo instead of punch bug. We are always on the look out.

LANDED IN LIMA
Well, Team T has arrived in Peru! We had a stop over in Florida for a night and flew into Lima on Saturday. I am trying out the internet cafe and I have 2 active kids crawling all over me right now. This will have to be a quick post. We spent a day in Lima and then we flew to the beautiful city of Cuzco (11,000ft) on Monday. The last two days we have spent acclimating and resting from all the travel. This is the first day we have ventured out into the city.

We will fill in the details soon.