Denouement Diaries - Week 11

Essentially the ramblings of two adults that probably require adult supervision.

As usual, follow along at:

And...here. Anyway let's get into it:

20/4/23 - Day 71: Lima

  • Had a reasonable sleep in at the airport hotel
  • Headed down to breakfast before packing up
  • Breakfast not included - paid at the desk
  • Chilled in the breakfast area for a while
  • Packed up and checked out and waited in the lobby for our transfer
  • Transfer in to Lima proper probably took 45 minutes - some good traffic in Lima
  • Bit early for check in so we left our bags in the lobby and went for a walk
  • Casey got her nails did
  • Then we had some nice Asian food for lunch before going back over to the hotel to check in
  • Which didn't leave much time before the start of this whole organised Peru Tour we had opted for
  • With first event being a city tour in the afternoon
  • Buzzed by the reception
  • So down we went and founf Narda our tour guide
  • In to a van
  • Picked up a lovely Ecuadorian couple and a glamorous mother daughter pair from Colombia - filming literally everything possible for their social media
  • In to the old town - Lima is quite spectacular, some of the better looking Spanish town centres I've seen on the trip so far
  • Tried some chocolate, saw some traditional alpaca and llama crafts
  • Then some more time in the van, in hectic traffic by this point, seeing the olive plantation that has been maintained for a couple of hundred years in a public park, some of the nicer suburbs
  • Then on to the waterfront, by which time it was dark, to Parque del Amor
  • Then dropped off
  • By this point, back in wifi, we see a message sent at nearly 1800 from the tour operator that our morning pickup would be at 0400 tomorrow...
  • Unthrilled

21/4/23 - Day 72: Paracas, Ica, Huacachina (Casey) + Lima City (Luke)

  • I woke up at 0330 to get ready for this tour thing
  • The day plan involved a total of 10 hours of driving to go and see an oasis thing surrounded by bars, do some sandboarding and dune buggy rides
  • I went back to bed
  • Casey went - best of luck
  • I woke up at a reasonable time and took myself to the hotel breakfast
  • While Casey was just arriving at her first stop after nearly 4 hours of driving
  • I eventually wandered up to a nearly 1000 year old archaeological site smack in the suburbs of Lima (Miraflores)
  • While Casey saw some seals and a dolphin and lots of bird poo from a boat
  • I grabbed some lunch
  • While Casey was getting covered in sand
  • Then I wandered to the coast for the afternoon - and watched the surfers and paragliders over crepes, smoothie and coffee
  • While Casey was on a crazy long van ride home
  • I watched a movie
  • We both had pretty good days
  • Casey made a new New Zeaand friend - crazy ladies seem to find each other

22/4/23 - Day 73: Lima --> Cusco

  • Bit of a transit day
  • Picked up from our hotel at 0700
  • Casey was pretty much still in bed when reception called
  • I had managed to squeeze in a little breakfast
  • Easy transit to the airport
  • Then annoying airport bureaucracy again...
  • Arriving to Lima had been fine
  • Departing from Lima was annoying
  • Their were random securtiy dudes checking passports and boarding passes from the carpark - we obviously didnt have a boarding pass yet, and I mean non-traveling family members could have been coming to see off relatives...
  • Anyway a lovely attendent got us some boarding passes
  • And we headed to securtiy
  • Which was just nuts
  • I've realised good security sectors in airports are large and quiet
  • It keeps everyone's stress down
  • This was the opposite
  • People were just about running to thrown their bags on conveyors
  • Things were beeping
  • Nuts
  • Through and to departure
  • Sat and got a coffee
  • Then the return of the famous South American line was observed
  • People were shoving each other lining up to get on to a plane - with assigned seats...
  • Two random middle aged women were even checking other people's seat numbers and telling them where they should line up
  • I added two ticks to the bingo card for 'Karens'...
  • The flight was alright
  • The descent in to Cusco is probably one of the best flight routes I have ever taken
  • The departure out of Ushuaia a close second
  • Just amazing scenery flying past the mountains
  • Naturally, a round of applause broke out when we landed...
  • Straight off and found a staff member of our tour operator - I had never seen my name on an arrivals hall placard before...
  • In to Lima, up to our hotel, is nice
  • Walked back down in to the old town and, again, amazing Spanish Old Town
  • We checked out a few plazas
  • Then the Convent - which was quite stunning
  • Had some lunch
  • Coffee overlooking Plaza de Armas
  • Did a bit of shopping - I have really worn through some shirts and need to start replacing them - one bag travel...
  • Taxi back up to the hotel - hills in Peru are not for walking...
  • Chilled, planned for the next few days which sound fun
  • Then vegged in our room
  • Ordered some food delivery
  • And watched, of course, "The Emperor's New Groove"
  • Epic movie

23/4/23 - Day 74: Chinchero, Moray, Ollantaytambo

  • Up a little early
  • Still had some time to have some breakfast while Casey was waking up
  • She got mad I had a coffee without her
  • Had a coffee with her...
  • Downstairs and onto bus with Jaime, our guide
  • Set off West out of Cusco
  • First stop was some Textile ladies in Chinchero
  • Very much the kind of place where you get given some tea, watch a deomstration, then buy stuff
  • The tea was amazing, and the demonstration of traditional manufacturing of textiles was really cool
  • We did not buy anything
  • Onwards to Moray, the Incan laboratory where they would experiement with different seeds and crops in different micro-climates before transferring them to places like Machu Picchu
  • Then to a traditional salt mine - a salt water spring from the mountains is diverted into drying ponds which are then harvested by hand
  • Brutal but really cool - also ancient, Incas etc
  • Fell asleep on the bus - woke up at a lunch place - had the usual random buffet
  • Then to Ollantaybo train station - an old town in the sacred valley that was a stop on the Inca trail
  • Train was cool - awesome views of the valley as you roll in to Aguas Caliente
  • Met a nice couple on the way
  • A lovely fellow was waiting at the station and took us to our hotel
  • Ditched the bags then found a place for dinner
  • Then back and sleep because of the early start for Machu Picchu in the morning

24/4/23 - Day 75: Machu Picchu

  • Early start - breakfast at 0600
  • Casey threw her undies in toilet somehow while she was getting dressed...
  • Jaime met us and we set off at around 0630
  • To the bus station
  • The buses do the last bit of the Inca trail up the mountain
  • To the Machu Picchu entrance
  • Laughed at some cranky Italians who weren't being allowed to take their massive hiking packs into the complex
  • Started the walk up to the top of the mountain
  • Very cloudy
  • Very obscured views of the ancient city
  • But then the clounds would roll over below us and we had a really nice view
  • Super cool
  • Walked all through the old city - temples, sundials, agricultural sector, religious sector, residential sector
  • Really amazing that it wasn't even finished
  • Back down via the buses
  • Had lunch with Jaime
  • Who kind of then suggested we pay for his lunch
  • Bit shocked - so did
  • Left a bad taste though - it's not like he was working for free and depending on tips or something
  • We went and had a coffee and pondered - are we just meal tickets for locals? Should we just be endlessly pessimistic about any interaction? What is life?
  • Grabbed our bags from the hotel and headed to the train station to wait for our train
  • Easy train ride
  • A lovely fellow waiting with my name on a board - easy drive back to Cusco
  • Back at the hotel around 1700
  • Had dinner at the attached hotel restaunt
  • Sleeps
  • Because the next day starts at 0345

25/4/23 - Day 76: Rainbow Mountain

  • Yep - 0345 wakeup
  • Bullshit
  • Into a van by 0400
  • Drove around Cusco picking up other people for the tour
  • Fell asleep
  • Woke up as we arrived at the breakfast place
  • Lined up outside in the cold as we filed past the buffet thing and took our seats inside
  • Then after breakfast off to the rainbow mountain
  • It's a walk...
  • The first half is fairly easy then it...gets steeper
  • I took a horse for part of the way
  • No shame in that...
  • Casey cought up to me by the top
  • It was fairly amazing
  • Coloured mountain was cool
  • About 5000m elevation - very tiring
  • But the massive snow covered mountain behind it was even better
  • Did the usual round of photos
  • And we ate some doritos and drank some fizzy drinks
  • As we headed back down, we got some choccies for the walk
  • Back to the van, while Casey fed our crappy packed hotel lunch (literally two pieces of white bread with a single piece of cheese) to the wild dogs
  • Eventually our van crew arrived back and we headed off
  • Back to the same place we had breakfast, for lunch
  • We were exhausted
  • After lunch back into the van for a couple of hours back to Cusco
  • Knackered
  • Decided that we won't do the whole thing again tomorrow for the sake of looking at a lake - we've seen some lakes and needed the rest
  • Am I getting old...?

26/4/23 - Day 77: Cusco

  • We had decided yesterday evening not to do another 0445 start to see a lake
  • I had messaged the tour company in the afternoon but received no response
  • So true to form our room rang at 0445 to tell us that our bus was here
  • Go without us please
  • Sleep in
  • Breakfast at the hotel
  • Wandered down into square
  • Coffee and cake
  • Casey got herself a new jumper
  • Cab up to Sacsayhuaman, massive Incan citadel thing with enormous rocks making the walls
  • Look around
  • Lay down with llamas
  • Walked over to the Christ statue
  • Annoying dude trying to sell horse riding tour while we gasping for air catching our breath
  • Then walked up to Q'enco, some old Incan religious ruins carved out of the hillside
  • Saw many Insta bitches
  • Weird that we were in the middle of eucalyptus forest - felt like home
  • Cab back down into Plaza d'Armas
  • Had essentially a late lunch/dinner at a nice restaurant
  • Really good food
  • Watched a group of Israelis blow a horn and wave their flag around in the middle of the square - strange
  • Casey got a massage and I got a coffee
  • I was offered a massage about 12 times
  • Cab back up to the hotel
  • Had snickers and M+Ms for dinner
  • Watched 'Parks and Rec'

Stay tuned...