Again on the train.
Reiner
Cusco – Sacsayhuaman – Christo Blanco
Today we hiked up the hill past the San Cristobal church to the Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman. We did not go into the site itself, also known as “Inti Huasi” (House of the Sun), as we primarily wanted to get an impression of the city of Cusco and surrounding area.
A little further along the ridge, the “Christo Blanco” watches over the city. There you have a great view. Many traditionally dressed Peruvians walk through the alleys with their alpacas and have their picture taken for a tip. Downhill we went again mostly on stairs. In the evening it started to rain. We ate comfortably in our hotel El Balcon. There was gnocchi with mushrooms and vegetable lasagna. There are many Italian restaurants here.
Silke
Lima – Cusco 3416m
Today we continued our journey to Cusco, a city in the Peruvian Andes which was once the capital of the Inca Empire. In the morning we had slight start problems … the cab we ordered did not come, so we had to order another (afterwards we had learned that the first cab driver had an emergency).
The flight (A320) and the car ride to the hotel “El BALKON”,
went smoothly. We had ordered the car through the Uber app.
.
In the main square in the old town (Plaza de Armes), you’ll find porticoes, carved wooden balconies and wall ruins from the Inca era. The Santo Domingo Monastery was built on the remains of the Inca Temple of the Sun (Coricancha). Parts of the original masonry can still be seen.
.
Today there was, in an Italian restaurant at the Plaza, once really good coffee with the cake! Our hotel is not far away and offers a good cuisine and a pleasant room ambience.
.
Today we had pasta for Silke and alpaca steak for me.
Reiner
Lima – Old Town
We went by bus C to the old town of Lima, 9 km away. Extra bus road, super fast, but also very crowded. In sunny weather we looked at the “Plaza san Martin” and the “Plaza Mayor”.
On the way we passed many small market passages where you could buy all kinds of things. From sweets to washing machines. Coffee we drank at McDonalds. The barista was not so fit. We got very unique hello-wake creations of cappuccino and latte macchiato. There was about four times the amount of coffee powder in it. Maybe we looked so tired?
Silke
Lima – Laundromat – Exterminator – Miraflores
Last night we had another cockroach hunt in our room. Reiner caught one, a second one escaped. I was mega happy that we brought our mosquito tent. So we could sleep well in spite of everything. The hotel porter was very quick, apologized and called an exterminator right after Reiner showed him the caught bug this morning. Our room and bathroom were cleaned by afternoon. We went to do laundry in that time and found a laundromat 2 blocks away where you could do your own laundry in the washer and dryer. A luxury I didn’t have for quite some time.
Then we had a little look at our neighborhood, Miraflores. Once again, the first impression on arrival in the dark was not confirmed. Today everything was much more colorful. We met very friendly Peruvians, such as the young woman at HandyShop Claro, who patiently advised us on buying a SIM card despite our language mismatch. Or the laundromat owner, who gave us travel tips for Peru. And the Peruvian-Italian ice cream shop owner, who let us try all kinds of ice cream (including chili and ginger) in Spanish, and then spontaneously led us through the really sparkling clean ice cream factory. The streets are clean and many flowers are blooming. There is a beautiful large church that we looked at, the “Parroquia Virgen Milagrosa”. In front of it in the “Parque Kennedy” live many pretty cats that like to be petted by the walkers.
Silke
Bogota – Lima Travel Day
Again we had to say goodbye. Unfortunately we didn’t meet Shakira, who by the way is from Barranquilla, in person. Above the clouds we flew with VIVAAir Colombia to Lima/Peru. From our last peso I treated myself to a new travel pillow. First impression of Lima: huge, lots of traffic, terracotta.
A cab took us to the hotel “Casa Serena” in Miraflores, a newer part of the city. We bought something to drink, yogurt and banana and let the evening end in the courtyard.
By the way, Nico from Berlin, with whom we just spoke yesterday morning about the topic of “robberies”, told us that he was threatened and robbed by two men with a knife yesterday evening on the way from the valley station of the Monserrate to the city on a busy street together with his friend. He was still lucky and the robbers left with cash and a door check card in a separate wallet. But Nico was still quite shocked.
Silke
Bogota – City Stroll
Bogota is a colorful (many artistic graffiti) lively city. Many policemen and security personnel provide for a safe feeling. Nevertheless, we have heard of robberies of tourists and therefore avoid dark lonely alleys if possible. We ventured high up today on the cable car to the Santuario de Monserrate. A great view of the city and a beautiful church. Then we marched on foot the good 2000 m back down the stairs. In super weather this was fun. At the bottom we drank Colombian coffee. Then we went again to the Candelaria quarter.
We briefly visited the Catedral Primada de Bogota and then walked back toward the hotel.
In the evening we had dinner at El Cato Gris. The food, Reiner -Rippchen/Silke-Küchlein with plantain, did not convince us so much, but the ambience with LiveBand and great roof terrace was very nice.
Silke
San Andres – Bogota – Travel Day
At 9:00 a.m. a cab from Miss Margarita’s House took us to the airport. To the plane of the airline VivaAir we had to walk across the tarmac. The A320 was brand new and flew us safely to Bogota, 1h40 away. Only the comfort of the seats was unfortunately saved. Even after the short flight, the non-adjustable seats became a bit uncomfortable. On arrival in Bogota we took a cab to our hotel Casa Guadalupe in the middle of the old town and university district. We got a big room with 4 beds for us. In the afternoon we went to a small bakery right next door and tried two pieces of cake and coffee. Didn’t quite meet our taste. On the way to the supermarket and the bank we saw many colorful street stalls with fruit, art objects and odds and ends. Of course, also many cafes, restaurants and stores.
And we especially noticed the huge buses. We were wondering about the long queues at the bus stop. But the buses are about 3 times as long as ours. Practically trains on the road.
Silke