From the Amazon to the Mountains

Yesterday (Monday) we left the Amazon, with a rest stop along the way to see some gigantic piranhas, turtles, caimans and fish.  Hated to leave the jungle, but it was nice to get out of the heat and humidity.  

At a riverside rest stop--The way we used to look

We flew from Iquitos south to Lima, the capitol of Peru.  What surprised us was how bone dry it was for being a coastal city.  In fact, with its population of 10 Million, it is the second largest desert city in the world, after Cairo, Egypt.  The Andes block the prevailing storms, which come from the Atlantic.

Old town Lima was delightful, with colonial architecture going back to the 1500s.  We toured a gigantic   monastery built in the 1600s and saw piles and piles of bones and skulls in its deep catacombs.  Our recollections of The Shining Path, the big earthquake, and President Fujimori were sketchy at best, but our guide gave us a wonderful refresher course and some insights about Peruvian politics and economics. We've only experienced countries that were colonized by the British, Dutch, and French--all in Asia.  The Spaniards were brutal, but at least they had a sense of art and architecture.  

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Cathedral San Francisco

Lots of architecture like this in central Lima

After a walk through some public plazas we enjoyed an outdoor dinner and observing the vibrant night-time scene where everyone seems to come out and just hang out.  Our 15-story Sheraton was as unremarkable as any other Sheraton in the States, but for the huge contrast from our modest accommodations on the Amazon.

We got up at dawn today, and eventually made it to Cuzco, a large city about 11,000 feet in the Andes. More colonial architecture, but also humble homes tenaciously clinging to the hillside.   Our guide insisted we have lunch at the Peruvian version of McDonalds, and it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.  They use dehydrated potatoes in the burgers and special cheese.   

We rode for over two hours over a 12,400 foot verdant plateau spotted with farms and surrounded by towering snow-capped mountains in the distance.  We are now staying in a beautiful and isolated lodge in the Sacred Valley, at an elevation of 9,500 feet for nights to better help everyone get used to the altitude when we go much higher to Machu Picchu  In a couple of days.  

Tomorrow we go to an off-the-beaten path to an archaeological site where the Incas still live among the ruins.

From the plateau looking down to the Sacred V

Where we're spending the night--Casa Andina