Epilogue

This trip to Peru and Bolivia was special in that we were able to experience the best of both worlds - travel on our own for the first part of the trip followed by a very nice tour by Tauck.  We have found over the years that we enjoy both travelling on our own and going with a Tour and this was one of the best places to do both. 

Our first week provided us the opportunity to  explore, on our own, the culture and food of Lima, see the Nazca Lines from a small airplane, enjoy a private desert adventure and meal and for Myra to paraglide over the Pacific Ocean and dramatic cliffs of Lima.  Our second part of the trip provided us with a guided tour to see Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Cusco and La Paz - places that are difficult to get to and from within Peru and Bolivia.

One of the things that was very apparent from the beginning was that there are very few by-passes, freeways and highways in this part of the world.  This greatly slows down travel and is much different than what we have come to expect in our part of the world.

And while we had read ahead and expected much of what we saw, we were reminded daily that both of these countries are poor and do not have the facilities and services that we are fortunate to have.  A simple item is being able to flush toilet paper.  While Tauck insured that we stayed in wonderful hotels that did not have this limitation, we were reminded every day that it existed  during our rest stops on the tour.

We had also read that you could not drink the tap water and needed to drink bottled water.  Every day we were given multiple bottles of water  for drinking and brushing our teeth.

Highlights:

Our highlights of the trip were:

·         Lima   - the beautiful  Pacific coast area of Miraflores

·         Learning to make Pisco Sours

·         Paragliding in Miraflores

·         The Sacred Valley

·         Machu Picchu

·         Crossing the border from Peru in to Bolivia

·         The La Paz Cable car - Mi Teleferico

Impressions:

We are left with:                                                                                                   

·         Need for bottled water

·         Desert - Paracas receives less than one inch of rain per year

·         Wires - wire bundles distributing electricity

·         Symbols - Pachamama, Chakana, Tumi, etc.

·         Poverty but not hunger

·         Dirt and Mud

·         Altitude and adjusting to it

·         Holding on to old traditions

·         Unfinished buildings and roads

·         Beauty of the desert and mountains

·         Slow pace of travel

·         Guinea Pig being served in the portrait of the "Last Supper" in the Basilica in Cusco

·         Amazement at what the Incan civilization built and left behind

And we were able to do all of this with good friends!