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The Cruise--Details

I didn't include more details in the prior "The Cruise" post for two reasons. 1)  I didn't think anyone would be interested; and 2)  This trip didn't include much of the normal topics:  good beer, good coffee or John-style travel. But there are details, which may be useful to some people contemplating how such a trip is put together. On the first day of the trip, we drove three hours to pick up my mother in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  At 85, she isn't comfortable driving for long distances and hadn't flown for many years. We then drove 3 1/2 more hours to Chicago, where we checked into the Wyndham, where you can get a room that includes the cost of parking for up to 12 days.   We were up early on the hotel shuttle to O'Hare, where we then boarded the a non-stop American Airlines flight to New Orleans. Here, we checked into a Hampton Inn near the port.  My mother was pretty tired, so Julia and I went out for a Cajun dinner and live music.   Rememberi...

Cusco: Starting to Explore

Fortified with our coca tea, Julia and I headed out into the streets of Cusco.  A city of about 500,000 people, the tourist areas of Cusco are relatively safe and easy to find one's way around. 

Cusco has two seasons:  wet and dry.  We were there at the end of the dry season, so it was appropriate that it rained on the day we arrived.  It's rare to rain all day, so after an hour or so, the rain stopped, and the streets dried up.


 




Comments

Anonymous said…
What is the pile of stuff beyond Julia?
John said…
Street vendors in the touristy areas of Cusco are common. That is a load of touristy goods for sale. I blew up the original photo, and I believe that the vendor is sitting down with her back against wall on the other side of the wares. I can just make out a white hat on the other side of a bottle of Coke.

Many of the vendors sell alpaca clothing/sweaters. There is adult alpaca, baby alpaca, and maybe alpaca. Most of the stuff sold on the street is maybe alpaca, origin unknown.
greg said…
Belly button lint?

I wonder when Peruvians come to the US if they think our streets have as much interesting character as we think their's do?
MFH said…
Is the coca tea better than caffeine?
John said…
That is a good question, and I don't know the answer. Peru has very strict laws about historical preservation. In Cusco, there are many ruins on prime real estate because there isn't enough private money to restore the building to historical preservation standards. Public money is very limited, but they do spend on cleaning. There are always people cleaning and sweeping the downtown streets every day.

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