Antarctica Cruise - February 28 - 29, 2016 Lima, Peru; Cusco, Peru

We disembarked after eating our last breakfast on board, picked up our luggage in the terminal, and were met by our transfer bus driver that took us to the airport for our flight to Lima, Peru.  There were only ten in our group. 

 The airport in Buenos Airies was just crazy--packed with so many people!  After boarding, we had a layover at Santiago, Chili, and then finally arrived in Lima.

Flying over the Andes Mountains was really a thrill!

Coming into Lima, Peru--very colorful buildings were a clue as to what we would be seeing the entire time we were in Peru amongst the buildings and the clothing worn by the Peruvians.

 

 George with just part of the luggage of the ten people in our group.  Remember:  We had to pack for three weeks and for the extreme cold, as well as the extreme heat--with no laundry facilities.  Luckily, we had a $20 coupon on board ship for as much laundry as we could put in one little bag--believe me, each couple used their bag and just crammed in things we absolutely needed--otherwise it was $4.95 per item!

 

 As we exited the airport door, we were immediately bombarded with the Peruvian street vendors!  This little lady could see a good "sell" when she saw him!

 And so could this one!  As I said, everything and everyone we saw in Peru had bright colors!  It was a joy to see after looking at so much white--snow, fog, and icebergs--for so long!

 

 Leaving the airport we saw this gigantic 3-D version of Coke.  Yes, they pretty much run the world!

 

 I was snapping pictures through the window of our bus on our route to our hotel, when we saw this . . . 
 

one of our Mormon chapels in Lima, Peru.  It is always such a great site to see one!
  What we saw of Lima is pretty old and run down, until we got to the coastal area.

The half-hour drive along the coast was absolutely beautiful.  The ocean on our right and the steep cliffs on our left.  I couldn't even do justice as to how beautiful it was!

Now we are on top of those cliffs and the ocean is down below where the palm trees--way down below!  We stayed at the beautiful Radisson in Mira Flores.  We ate a wonderful meal together in a restaurant nearby and then got to bed, pretty tired after traveling so much of the day.  The next day, the driver of our van to the airport nearly caused our death several times!  But, luckily we made it safely for our flight to Cusco, Peru.

We were picked up at the airport by Javier, the director of Moroni Tours, a good friend of our Cruise Directors.  We were driven to our hotel, Hotel Plaza de Armas, right in the historic center of Cuzco!  Seriously, this is a place that looks like Disney created it!  It is almost too perfect of a setting to be true!

And George was certainly in his happy place to be able to catch up on his work (and stocks, hah!) while looking out at this beautiful square from our hotel!

 And we loved just sitting in the square "people watching!"

This Square is where the Incan Festival of the Sun is held each year and where Francisco Pizarro declared that Spain had conquered Peru.

 It has some of the most beautiful architecture as is shown in these two beautiful Cathedrals. 

 

 

 The fountain at the center of the plaza features a figure simply known as "The Inka," which points towards the hill on which the Inca site of Sacsayhuaman is located. 

 Many of the buildinngs were constructed from stone plundered from Incan buildings, and then built on the very top of Inca building foundations.  Because Cusco is 11,000-plus feet above sea level, we were instructed to take it easy and rest to get used to the high altitude.  

 George and Doug were especially bothered by the altitude, Joyce a little, me--not at all.  He went out with us for a little while.

He soon decided he would go back, too, so while the guys rested Pam, Joyce, and I kept on shopping and looking, plus we changed our money into Peru's currency, Nuevos Soles.  It was so safe on the streets because we literally were staying right there where everything was and there were policemen and policewomen everywhere.  We just walked out the hotel door on to the colonnaded walkways where the shops, restaurants, and businesses were. 

 Immediately the vendors found us and this young man started following me around with his llama pens.  I really didn't need a llama pen, but he kept following me, and I just couldn't say no.  So I ended up with six llama pens!  I think he reminded me of some of the many students I taught in those 26 years of teaching!  We, also, bout some beautiful hand-carved gourds decorated with pictures of Machu Picchu, the Sun God symbol, alpacas, etc.  

 

We got very good at bargaining--which we were constantly reminded is part of their culture--but we, also, gave quite a few coins away without buying their wares--just because!  Afterwards, we rested for awhile and got ready for our 8:00 p.m. dinner and Peruvian Cultural Show.

 The dinner was absolutely exquisite with so many ethnic dishes!

Here we have alpaca!  Just couldn't even try it--all I see are those cute little alpacas that live near us!

And here is guinea pig--a real delicacy.  No!  I don't think guinea pigs are cute at all--they remind me of a rat--and no, I didn't try this either!  There were so many other unusual tastes and dishes--seriously the most beautiful buffet table I've ever seen, but these were certainly the most interesting and unusual dishes!

After dinner, we were entertained by a five-piece Peruvian band that played so many different instruments, and were great entertainers.

Then the entertainment turned to cultural dances from different parts of Peru.  Evidently, this is a dance done near the seaside of Peru.  Who did they bring up on stage to do it with them?  George, of course.  What you have to do is try to light the ribbon on the back of the partner's behind with real fire!  George just couldn't get the girl's lit.  However, when he put the ribbon on his backside, she almost immediately got the fire going and he didn't even realize it until suddenly he yelped and she started to beat the fire out.  It was hysterical!!!  

A few days later I asked our guide about it, however, and he said people have certainly been burned by it.  It is amazing that George's favorite red sweater didn't go up in smoke--and what would George do then???  (Dan got a video of the whole thing.  I will post it when I get it from him.)

For another dance, Doug was chosen.  This one had some real weird costumes--notice the character on the left, but was really a happy dance!

I don't know when I've laughed harder or had more fun in an evening for a very long time!

That night we found out the downside of staying right in the center of town.  These people don't go to sleep until almost morning!  However, it was certainly worth it to be where we were and so close to all the activity in the daytime! (This was taken right through our hotel window.)

 We asked two of the policewomen if we could snap a picture with them.  They are such lovely girls, and they give them the most dangerous jobs--

 Standing in the middle of the intersection and directing all the traffic that passes by here!

  Great couple of days in Cusco.  We had to pack our suitcases after staying here for two nights, but the hotel was going to store them for us just for one night, and then we'd be back again.

Tomorrow:  On to Aguas Calientes!