Peru, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Lima and Pisco

Overview of Cusco

Machu Picchu

Having Pisco Sours on the train

Main square in Lima

1/19, We left our ship in Lima to fly to Cusco.  Our flight was about an hour late so that but our schedule off the rest of the day.  We did have a nice lunch at a famous restaurant prior to touring a bit.  We visited the Korikancha Temple and the historic archeological site of Saqsaywaman.  We had dinner and overnight stay at the Monasterio hotel.  This had been an actual monastery from the late 1600's.  Very fancy and they even have a beautiful chapel. 

1/20 We had a 6 am wake up call, had buffet breakfast and then rode a bus for 1.5 hours to pick up the "Hiram Bingham" train for a 2.5 hour trip up to Aguas Caliente, the gateway to Machu Picchu.  The train and hotel are both operated by the Orient Express.  The train makes you feel like you are going back in time, quite elegant. After getting off the train there is a short 30 bus ride to Machu Picchu.  The Andes are spectacular and make the rockies seem like hills!

We had a three hour guided tour with a very enthusiastic guide.  The whole sight is overwhelming.  Having seen the Pyramid's of Eqypt, The Great Wall of china, Ephesis is Turkey, Pompei in Italy, and Knossis on Crete, Machu Picchu is at the top of our list.  It is massive and we had great weather rather than their typical rain.  After our tour we had a nice tea service at the Sanctuary Lodge which is also run by the Orient Express.  We then reversed our travel back to Cusco with a four course meal served on the train.  We had a very long day, not arriving bakc to the hotel until about 10:30. 

1/21 We left the hotel early and flew back to Lima.  We had a short tour of the city then a wonderful lunch at a mansion that was built in the mid 1500's and has been the home to 18 generations of the same family, quite impressive.  A great couple of days but it was nice to get back "home" to our ship.