Otavalo market day tour
Day 269 – Quito, Ecuador (I’m late in my writings, so I’ll be quick for the next days’ accounts.) For this day tour, I had a meeting point a few minutes’ walk away from my hostel at the too-early hour of 7. Our guide, Patricio, talked about the country, the highway we were following -apparently…
National Museum of Ecuador
Day 268 – Quito, Ecuador I planned some day tours with my hostel, so the only days left to visit the National Museum -and its Pre-Columbian art- was either today or next Monday… and the museum closes on Mondays. Of course there was an artisan market on the way, so I made an unscheduled stop…
Churches in Quito
Day 264 – Quito, Ecuador I started my stay in Quito in the historical centre. Colonial buildings, churches everywhere… I’ve been walking quite a few streets. But at some point it was time to start visiting the inside of buildings. I started with two churches, the most interesting of which I couldn’t take pictures of.…
Quito
Day 263 – Quito, Ecuador I was driven to the airport last night by the hostel staff to the sound of Indochine, apparently the French band is popular in Peru. Quirky. As usual I was early, but I did the checking in by kiosk, got the tag for my backpack, and in due time dropped…
Lima
Day 262 – Lima, Peru To summarize yesterday quickly, I missed the walking tour on a misunderstanding, spent the afternoon in a park with a book and a fresh drink, and took the free Spanish lesson at the end of the day. Lima – Park of the Exposition The teacher is a Venezuelan who left…
A day in a bus
Day 259 – 260 – Lima, Peru So… instead of looking for a quick, cheap flight from Cuzco to Lima, I went the long road, the 21h bus ride. For such a long trip, I chose the best company, Cruz del Sur, and took a VIP seat. Extra-wide, leg room, bathroom on the bus, blanket…
Strike
Day 258 – Cuzco, Peru Instead of going back straight to Cuzco after Machu Picchu, I had decided to stay an extra night in Aguas Calientes -sorry, Machu Picchu Pueblo. If I had a knee mutiny yesterday, today I was feeling the aches and pain everywhere! Using only one trekking pole gave me muscle aches…
Machu Picchu
Day 257 – Aguas Calientes, Peru Finally, Machu Picchu, one of the highlights of my trip! When I arrived last night in Aguas Calientes (nowadays called Machu Picchu Pueblo), the town at the foot of Machu Picchu, I made sure to have my bag ready so as not to wake up the other inhabitant of…
Sacred Valley
Day 256 – Aguas Calientes, Peru This the start of my three days-two nights tour. Today is the visit of the Sacred Valley. (Pictures here.) Note: we are still around 3,000m above sea level. I’m lucky to be acclimated, not headache, no dizziness, no shortness of breath left beyond the normal exertion. San Pedro de…
Room mayhem
Day 254 – Cuzco, Peru Today was a rainy day, so I didn’t adventure outside much. I went to the Mercado San Pedro, a market renowned for its food diversity, but as it was late in the afternoon, it wasn’t as spectacular as it should probably be. Still, it was nice. On the way back,…