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…
City Museum and Monastery of San Francisco
Day 267 – Quito, Ecuador I started the day with a visit of the City Museum. Not because I wanted to see the dioramas without any English translation, but because it is in a former hospital and I wanted to see the building. I did learn a bit about the history of Quito, but not…
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…