More than six months ago, just after we finalized our decision to take this trip through South America, Peter and I booked a 5-day trek along the Inca Trail, culminating in a visit to Machu Pichu. The trek was to begin October 20 (which, even in the beginning of April, was the soonest available date). …
Monthly Archives: October 2019
Chasing History through Peru
As it turned out, for a variety of logistical reasons, our jaunt to northern Peru lasted only 48 hours. But during that time, we took quite the journey back in time. First, we visited the Chan Chan ruins. Chan Chan was the center of the Chimú civilization, which existed between the ninth and fifteenth centuries, …
Peru, week one
First, an update on the political crisis, which has settled down a bit since my last blog post. As I mentioned last week, on September 30 President Martín Vizcarra dissolved Congress. Initially, Congress decreed itself still in existence, and swore in the Vice President, Mercedes Aráoz, as Peru’s new President, despite that Vizcarra still considered himself …
Top of the world!
We closed out our six-week Ecuador adventure on a high note: a three-day biking tour through the Andes with the Biking Dutchman. Day one began with a drive up Cotopaxi, an active volcano whose peak stands more than 19,000 feet above sea level. Our driver dropped us off at a point 4500 meters (nearly 15,000 …