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| Peru! |
This summer was very special for our family. In 2007 the four of us, Josee, Hudson, Roxanne and myself spent a eye opening three weeks traveling back pack, euro-rail and hostel style through France, Switzerland and Italy. A trip we will never forget. Four years later, this summer, took us to South America to visit the wonderfully diverse and very different country of Peru.
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| Start of four day Inka trail |
Central to our trip to Peru was the four day, 40km hike from near
Ollantaytambo , to
The Lost City of the Inca, Machu Picchu. I can say for certain, we all expected the next few days would be amazing and that our expectations were fulfilled. Our group was lead by Claudio cesar Andia Paz and Amadeo Valer Farfán of
Peru Treks . Cesar and Amadeo were very kind to us, and made us all feel welcome and safe. Most of all, they told us we could do it!
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| Plaza de Armas in Cuzco |
Our trip started in Lima, with a sleepless night at the airport before catching our early flight to
Cuzco the historic capital of the Inca Empire. At 3400m elevation this is the usual place to spend a few days and acclimatize to the elevation. 3400m is a similar altitude to many of the higher peaks of the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia.
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| Ollantayambo |
We visited the near by locations of
Ollantaytambo and
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| Market in Pisac |
the village of
Pisac .
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| 4200m and still smiling |
Four days on the walk to
Machu Picchu took us through, winding valleys and along dry sunny hillsides. Day two, saw us edge over a 4200m pass where we could look across to snow patches held in the sun shaded patches across the valley.
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| Hiking among the clouds |
Day three brought a very different experience as we passed along paths that had the illusion of being just below the clouds.
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| Hail from the night before? |
By mid day we were walking through the cool air of a bamboo filled rain forest like climate. Hail from the night before was still on the ground, collected in little areas protected from the sun.
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| Early morning, day four. |
Morning on day four came very early, but knowing Machu Picchu was only a few hours away somehow made it easy to get going.
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| The Trekking Family |
We very very lucky that the weather was good for the entire trip, and the views, of course, were spectacular. The experience means a lot to us.
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| Amadeo and Cesar |
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Our guides, Amaedo and Cesar were, A+ and two of the very best.
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| Dancing on the train |
After our trek, we traveled for one day via the
Andean Explorer train from Cuzco to Puno and Lake Titicaca. This was a great way to give our legs a rest, but not too much!
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| Sand! lots of Sand. |
We flew back to Lima so that we could take the bus to
Ica where we finished our trip with a few days at
Huacachina enjoying the incredible sunny days, fun filled sand boarding and V-8 powered dune buggy thrills. A wine tour, horse back riding and relaxing by the pool helped melt away the sunny days in this part of the country where it very rarely rains. It was a hard few days!
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| My son's dream machine |
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| Summertime in the sun. |
Our trip was full of new sights and experiences, lead by our great trek guides and many others along our way. We experienced a very small part of this South American country, but for us, Peru! was incredible.
The balance of our photos are posted on Picasa in our
Peru album.
¡Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa' dentro!
:)
