The dilemma of whether to take the hike to the Sun Gate was solved when we woke up to pouring rain. It did clear up later and some people did do part of the hike. But we enjoyed turning over and going back to sleep. We have felt exhausted and fuzzy headed for the past few days and needed the extra sleep. The reason may be the medication we have been taking for the altitude (more on that below).
So the morning was spent resting then we took the train and then a bus to Cusco where we spend a couple of days before heading back to Lima. So in the absence of pictures and descriptions of wondrous places I will take the opportunity to reflect on the trip so far.
First thing to mention is the debilitating effect of the drug we were taking for altitude. According to wikipedia, Diamox is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor that is used for the medical treatment of glaucoma, epileptic seizure, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, altitude sickness, cystinuria, periodic paralysis, central sleep apnea, and dural ectasia. We were very tired, unsteady on our feet, and found it difficult to focus. For example there is a procedure I always carefully follow when I switch lenses on my camera - I turn off the camera, put on the lens cap, and then remove the lens and put on the other one. When I did this in Machupicchu I discovered when done that the camera was still on and the lens I removed did not have the lens cover on (and I planted my finger right on the unprotected lens). We have stopped taking the drug and are starting to feel normal again, with reasonable energy and clear heads.
We ended up spending 2 1/2 hours walking through Machupicchu on a 7 day tour of Machupicchu. We didn't really realize that until we carefully read the itinerary after we had signed up for the trip. It is understandable that we would spend only an afternoon there but calling the entire trip "Machu Picchu" is a bit misleading. Perhaps "Peruvian Incan Tour including Machu Picchu". By the way I have tried to consistently spell it "Machupicchu" as it is spelled here without the space. It is considered a compound word here, not two separate words.
The food we have eaten here in Peru is decent, though getting a bit repetitive. We're planning on having pizza tonight. Our guide in Lima told us that the number one food in Peru was roast chicken but we haven't seen it on any menu since the restaurant she took us to. And while seafood is big here, the restaurants on the tour haven't been as good as the places our guide took us to in Lima. One of the big downsides of a group tour is the quality of the restaurants they take us to. We're going to look for the chocolate being made by our friend's son who discovered a long lost cocoa bean and is making gourmet chocolate here in Peru.
Traffic in Peru is much like other developing countries such as India. There are few stop signs or lights in intersections and people just make way for each other. It looks like water flowing around obstacles. Traffic in Lima is very slow and crowded while the traffic in the rural areas is on narrow streets and roads with vehicles passing each other in very tight spaces. People pass on the roads even if they can't see very far ahead for oncoming traffic. Our bus drivers are very skilled going down streets with only inches on each side between walls and traffic coming the other way and barely slowing down. It is remarkable that the bus still has outside mirrors.
I know we're on vacation and shouldn't be wanting to constantly connect to the rest of the world, but I still want good internet wherever we go. Steph is retired and I get very little work email so being connected doesn't mean being drawn into work while being on vacation. Being connected means being able to use the full power of the internet. At our first hotel in Lima the internet was very impressive at 30Mbs. Then our next hotel in the Sacred Valley was serviceable though slow at 1.5Mbs. Then surprisingly the hotel in Machupicchu isolated in the mountains was a respectable 5Mbs. The current hotel in Cusco is acceptable at 3Mbs. All better than many places in India which were so slow as to be virtually unusable. Of course the ship in the Galapagos will have very slow internet where I will have to post blog entries by sending emails. To give you an idea of how much the internet has infiltrated everywhere around the world, several times I have seen URLs hand painted on old stone buildings while going through small villages. I'll try to get a picture of one but on a bus they pass by before I can grab my camera.
The national drink in Peru, offered in every bar and hotel we visit, is the Pisco Sour. Pisco is made by distilling grape wine into a high-proof spirit. It doesn't taste that great straight (so we've been told). The Pisco Sour contains Pisco, lime juice, sugar syrup, egg whites, and bitters. It is quite nice but after a few days of drinking them I was ready to move on.
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