Peru Journal - by Janice McDonald 

            We don’t call it “Adventures for Singles” for nothing.  A group of fifty of us gathered in the Miami airport from all over the U.S. to embark on out LAN flight to Lima, Peru.  A short five hour hop to Lima and the group was raring to go.  In true AFS form, after we checked into our hotel in Lima’s Miraflores neighborhood, more than half or the group took to the street to explore and… yes, shop... before we met our representatives to take a tour of some of the more historic parts of Lima.

            We were fascinated as we drove up the old Lima streets, passing monuments and statues or winding through the historic district and seeing the old façades and balconies.  We stopped at the Main Square which was surrounded by the Government Palace, City Hall and the Cathedral.  We took a tour of the beautiful old religious center which dates back to 1500’s and included the mausoleum of Ferdinand Pizarro.  Despite the Havoc he reaped on the Inca population of the country, his tomb was an obvious place of honor, complete with mosaic tiles.

            We rounded the corner from the cathedral and went to the Convent and Church of San Francisco.  Once a massive religious center housing 600 priests and four cloisters, San Francisco now just 90 priests and two cloisters; one for the nuns and the other for visitors. 

            While we were fascinated by the old paintings and the architecture, what really got our attention were the Catacombs.  Dating back to colonial times, our guide told us more than 25-thousand people were buried in the chamber beneath San Francisco and the room after room of skulls and bones made it hard to dispute the figure.

            Our free evening found everyone scattering to some of the many fine Lima restaurants and while some even hit the casinos, most made it an early evening because on Tuesday we headed inland to the ancient Inca Capital of Cuzco.

            We checked into the Hotel Agustos and almost immediately set out to tour the city.  The 17^th century cathedral which towers over Plaza des Armas was the sort of place you could spend hours exploring.  We came out of our tour to find the bus surrounded by local merchants who soon learned where we were staying and became constant companions at almost every location while in Cuzco.

            From the Cathedral, we went on to Koricancha or Temple of the Sun and learned about the Inca’s building techniques. We also learned how much of Cuzco had been gilded with pure gold which made it a prime target for treasure rich Spaniards.  We rounded out the tour by heading up above the city to the fortress of Sacsayhuaman, where the Incas met their final defeat at the hands of the Spanish invaders.

            That night, the restaurant “Cava de San Rafael” played host to our official welcome dinner and we enjoyed local music and dancers as we had a fabulous dinner which included local fish and even grilled alpaca,

            Day three was the day most of our travelers had waited for - Machu Picchu.

            We arose at 4:30am to catch the 6am train. The sun was already high because it is, after all, late spring here in the southern hemisphere.  Our AFS group took over almost the entire car as we made out way through switchbacks and ultimately through the Urubamba River Valley, past Incan terraces and into the semi jungle area of the Aguas Calientes station. 

            We virtually raced through the market place to get to the buses which took us up the mountain.  We opted to take the high road, as they say, and came in from the Royal Gate at the top of the monument.  The view was amazing.  We could look out over the entire expanse and get a wonderful view of the ruins as well as Huayna Picchu, the tall mountain which overlooks the ruins.

            As our Guide took us through the city, we saw how the Inca hierarchy depicted the types of homes they lived in.  We saw the numerous temples and marveled at how one water source fed the entire community. We even went to a sacred wall at the base of Huayna Picchu where legend has it that if you placed your hands on it, you could received energy from the earth.  We all soaked it up and rued the fact that we did not have more time there before we had to catch the train back to Cuzco.

            The following day was largely a travel day, although we made stops at Andahuaylillas and its colonial church known as the Sistine chapel of South America because of its frescos and the incredible ruins of Raqchi.  The massive complex gave us insight as to how an entire Inca village could conduct itself.  We rounded the day by ending up in the city of Puno and on the shore of Lake Titicaca.

            The next day was a favorite among our AFS group.  We started with an excursion to the Islands of the Uros.  Constructed entirely of reeds, there are 47 of the islands which last from 5 to 10 years and are of all shapes and sizes. The gentile and colorful indigenous people who call them their home welcomed us with song and showed us how they have lived on the water on their handmade islands for centuries.

            We even piled into large dragon boats, made of reeds and some of us tried our hand at rowing, to the delight of the Uros who laughed at our poor attempts.

            We then headed two hours out onto the main lake to the island of Taquile.  We hiked our way up to the village, enjoying incredible views along the way before settling in to a wonderful lunch of fish before being entertained by the locals with traditional song and dance. 

            Coming home, we all were relaxed on the deck of our boat as we soaked up the sun and took in the views.

            Our last day in the highlands included a fascinating visiting to the ancient burial ground of Sillustani, where the tombs are built above the ground. The interior of the tombs are shaped like a woman’s uterus to pay homage to Pachamama – the mother earth which all must return to,

            Our final stop before heading back to Lima was to a traditional farm house.  Although essentially made of home made bricks, the tiny compound with its separate kitchen, sleeping quarters and storage areas were extremely clean.  We learned about food and even saw where they keep their guinea pigs or cuy.  Not for pets, unfortunately, but they are standard dinner menu items here.  Being around these humble people was a great way to end the adventure before heading back to the big city of Lima.

            About 14 of our group spent their final day in Peru on a Nazca Line tour while the rest of use enjoyed being back at sea level and took in some more sites and shopping before heading back home and reality.