When Nancy threw out the invitation last month to go to Peru, I immediately said "Peru, sure, " like I knew all about the Peru scene. After my "yeah" on the RSVP, I went to Google and found out exactly WHERE Peru actually was.
A great place it was. I tried to post various pictures but it will be easier just to say, come on over anytime for a cold beverage and the slide show. If you go, a guided tour covering the Cuzco/Machupiccu area will show you utopia and more. Having the flights, train rides, hostels (new one for me) all set up made it stress free. Be ready for some elevation adjustments though as
12,000 feet had my head thumping pretty well for a few hours there in Cuzco. The guides, Cynthia and Beto (gray coat & red coat pictured below), spoke pretty good English and had some personality to them. The airport in Cuzco is pretty much one runway nestled in the heart of the Andes Mountains. I was having flashes of the movie "Alive" on the flight from Lima. All was well though and the flight into Cuzco was quite a beautiful sight.
Cynthia whisked us away with driver Magno (yes, Magno) and off we went to the Inca world; rocks, rocks, and more rocks! The Incas sure
weren't tall as everywhere I went, it was a ducking convention. They had to be some strong people though as seeing these ruins with the rock walls, I can't imagine how they did it. The peak of the tour was Machupicchu, an ancient Inca site rediscovered by an U.S. fella in the early 1900's. Some of the cliffs were 9,000 feet down and it took me a bit to adjust to these incredible views. Nancy on the other hand is fearless and was kicking some backside on the trails. The Inca Bridge Trail has you sign a book to say when you went to the bridge via the trail and sign back in when you return so they know you didn't fall off the cliffs. Serious. I was clutching the wall while Nancy wondered if she could do a handstand on one of the rocks.
The Lima scene was a people watching smorgasbord. Nancy, the travel agent of the year, set us up in a hostel in a very nice section of Lima called Miraflores. The hostel is the way to go if you don't care about hotel fanciness. We paid $90 TOTAL for lodging from Monday-Friday morning. We had a double bed, a shower, and a television with a great location. What else do you need? Having a Spanish speaking girlfriend, as Nancy is a high school Spanish teacher, is a bonus. It was a sight to see with locals seeing us tourists from afar and lighting up when they hear this American blonde rambling off some Spanish, accent included! These old dudes driving the cabs would just get this "no shit" look when she would talk to them. I loved every minute of it. Lima was the culture scene as we checked out a convent and learned more about the Spanish Inquisition. The most I knew about the Spanish Inquisition was from the song on the Mel Brooks movie, History of the World: Part 1. Some serious torture there if you weren't part of the club, eh?
Along with the culture scene, we got to experience Peruvian food. For picky Tim, it was an adventure as always. Having Nancy there to translate helped though when I needed the chicken sandwich without the mayonaise. Nancy enjoyed the Peruvian delicacy of Cuy (pictured), or as it's known here in the U.S., guinea pig. I had a taste. It wasn't too bad. We were on a mission the last day for a breakfast place that actually had maple syrup. They like their honey more than syrup around these parts I guess. We were successful in our mission and the waffles were quite enjoyable.
The traffic in Lima was a bear to say the least. Stop signs? Forget about it. Everybody is driving itty bitty cars and there is no two car cushion. The cabs are everywhere and quite inexpensive. I don't know how they make money. EVERY cab had the low gas and check engine lights on so it was amazing we didn't see a breakdown. We did, however, get to experience a protest in the streets of Lima right in front of our cab (fire picture below). These guys ran out in the street, threw some suitcases down, poured gasoline on them and lit them on fire. I was ready to run once the firecrackers in the suitcases went off. Wild. The driver said the locals aren't too happy with the government.
Fires aside, Peru is a beautiful country.
It was off to the water this weekend for the 3rd annual Chippewa River float in Mt. Pleasant. Doke and I got our rowing in this weekend for sure. Both of us had Friday off so we floated on the Cedar River near Gladwin before meeting Mike on Saturday. We were expecting a casual, fishing float but the Cedar was an extremely large female dog. There was no let up on that river. It had a decent current, many rocks, many turns, and down trees crossing the entire river (see picture below). We had to do quite a bit of limbo dancing out there. One tree, however, took us down. That is such a crappy feeling of knowing you are going down and can't do a darn thing about it. We did plastic bag the vitals pretty well and didn't lose anything so besides a wet ass the rest of the ride, all was well. By the time the float was done, I was feeling it pretty well. That river doesn't give you much time for lollygagging. 
