Wendy It is hard to believe that we are already on our last stop of the trip… Since we hadn’t heard great things about Lima, except for the food, we had planned only two days there. Alexis reserved a hotel with a pool and we thought we’d just kick back before returning to real life … Lire la suite Jours 53-55 (19-21 août) / Days 53-55 (August 19-21)

Wendy After a slow start to the day (kids in bed, Alexis watching the Olympics, my knowing that we would be rising at the crack of dawn for the next six days on our Inca Trail trek), we finally made it up and out with the intention of climbing up to the Inca ruins « Sacsayhuaman » … Lire la suite Jour 47 – 13 août / Day 47 – August 13

Wendy One of the first activities we booked months and months ago for our South American trip, other than Machu Picchu, was the Andean Explorer. A luxury 1920s Pullman-style train that runs between Puno and Cuzco. A ten-hour excursion culminating at 4319 meters above sea level with exceptional landscapes, fine dining and an amazing observation … Lire la suite Jour 44 – 10 août / Day 44 – August 10

Sam We woke up at La Granja with the sun starting to shine over the moutains and the hope of seeing condors flying in the canyon, the big attraction here. We got up, and went to breakfast. The dinner table is placed in front of a big glass window from which we can see the … Lire la suite Jour 43 – 9 août / Day 43 – August 9

Wendy This morning, Wilmar, from Peru Breathtaking Tours, collected us from Los Tambos hotel for our tour of Colca Canyon. He arrived with a large, black Mercedes van with a driver just for the four of us replete with mountain bikes in the back. We drove out of Arequpa city, past a giant cement factory … Lire la suite Jour 42 – 8 août / Day 42 – August 8

Wendy Alexis and I had breakfast and let the kids sleep in. However, at 11am when we went to wake them, they both said they were not feeling well. Shortly thereafter, Sasha bounded out of bed, not wanting to miss any of the action. Sam chose to stay under the covers.  We headed out to … Lire la suite Jour 41 – 7 août / Day 41 – August 7th

Wendy After our midnight transfer to a much less comfortable bus followed by five hours of terrifyingly dark, windy roads, we arrived in Arequipa at 5am. As the sun rose over the city, Peru Hop dropped passengers at their various hotels. We checked into Los Tambos just off of the beautiful main Plaza de Armas … Lire la suite Jour 40 – 6 août / Day 40 – August 6

Wendy So, after a sleepless night, freezing to death on a hard bed, getting out from under the piles of blankets at 6am to go to the outhouse is a hard thing to do. Thank goodness for another gorgeous sunny day, the view of the lake from the house and the smell of pancakes coming … Lire la suite Jour 39 – 5 août / Day 39 – August 5

Sam This morning, we woke up early to go on our tour of the Uros islands and our overnight homestay. We took a mini van to the docks where we boarded the boat. After an hour, we arrived at the Uros Islands that are man made islands which the indigenous people built to escape the war … Lire la suite Jour 38 – 4 août / Day 38 – August 4

Wendy After checking out of La Cupula hotel, we climbed the steep hill just behind up to a sacred site on Cerro Calvario where Bolivian pilgrims go to participate in religious ceremonies. There were trinkets to buy for makeshift alters, burning incense and loud firework caps with crowds of people climbing the rocky path up … Lire la suite Jour 37 – 3 août / Day 37 – August 3