The Rest of the Story

On Thursday, we finished our work at the church in Ica, and rode the bus back to Lima. Friday after breakfast, we took cabs (I felt like I was on The Amazing Race) to the colonial area of Lima and we toured the Monestaria San Francisco and the catacombs that have been excavated under the church. It was very cool - creepy, but cool. We then walked from the Monestary to the Peruvian Presidential Palace and watched the changing of the guard.

We ate lunch at the plaza and then took cabs back to Parque Kennedy where the Flying Dog Hostel is. We shopped at a local market for souveniers and had dinner at a chicken restaurant in the Larco Mar shopping center on the beach.

We caught a flight from Lima to Cusco at 9:30 Saturday morning. We dropped our things off at our hotel in Cusco and then had lunch at this restaurant with huge windows looking over the entire city of Cusco. It was so beautiful and the sky is incredibly blue at 11,000 feet. We toured some Inca ruins at Saqsayhuaman - they are absolutely unreal. The size of the rocks they use and the precision of their work is incredible! After a short rest at the hotel we headed to dinner in downtown Cusco where we sampled the local delicacies of Guinea Pig (not so highly recommended) and Alpaca (really good! tender and not too gamey).

Sunday was our day at Machu Picchu. We got up to catch our bus at 5:45 and rose 1 1/2 hours to the train station then rode another 1 1/2 hours to the town at the base of the mountain. We rode the tourism buses up the windy road to the entrance (at roughly 40 MPH on a VERY windy road). I learned to not pay attention to the road when we were traveling in Peru - if I did it got me a little concerned about my safety.

We entered the park and headed straight up the Inca Trail for the Sun Gate. The Inca Trail comes up of Chile and was traditionally used as a main access point to reach Machu Picchu. This was my crowning glory - I made it all the way up to the gate and I was so proud. We then followed the trail back down and toured the ruins for the afternoon. This place is amazing. I was showing Tony pictures and I look at them and think - I was there! Incredible. Their ingenuity and workmanship is breathtaking and the Andes mountains themselves are amazing.

We ate dinner in the town at the base and caught our train back to the bus and then on home to the hotel in Cusco. Our flight left Cusco at 7:30 the next morning so it was a short night of good sleep and then off to the airport. From this point, we spent 18 of the next 30 hours traveling.

Now I'm home, back in the arms of my kids and Tony. It was a great trip and absolutely worth every sacrifice made, but it's nice to be home knowing everyone is safe and sound and together.