Friday, Sept 21st (I think!!!)

Note the size of stones that the Inca cut, moved, etc.

Cusco in the background.

Condor flexing his wings. Can you imagine being put in a cage with them in Canada? They aren't too concerned down here about safety! Mind you, they are carrrion eaters and don't kill their meals.

For you dog lovers -- hairless |Peruvian dog.

Interesting rock formation along railway tracks near Aguas Calientes. Gabi and I walked this track for several hours -- my first exercise after being sick.

On the way by bus to Machu Picchu -- early morning light. Note steepness of the terrain.

We are now in Quito, Ecuador but will go back a bit in time.

We had a farewell dinner in Cusco and were taken to a local restaurant which has excellent alpaca. Can you imagine that I ate one of those cute animals!!??? Well, the tenderloin alpaca steaks were delicious.

 Warren had his last pisco sour and then Rob finished off mine. I tried but it was too strong for my newly healed intestines.
The next day we flew to Lima. What a zoo the Cusco airport was! We were given gate 3 to go to as they were getting ready to load our plane from gate1. Good thing Warren was paying attention. That was a long, long day for everyone. We got to Lima mid-afternoon with hours and hours to wait for the kids' plane to leave for Toronto (2 am or so) . I had a hotel room at the Ramada right at the airport. I figured that it would be handy for the kids to veg in while waiting plus Don was coming in at midnight and needed a place to sleep for a few hours. Well, they would only let the kids stay for one hour then I was charged $20 each! Very small of them as they didn't use any resources except toilet paper!!! To spend all that time in the airport would have been a nightmare as they couldn't check in that early and there were no seats except in the food court. (And speaking of food courts --- they go around with menus then get the food for you!) So I said goodbye to them around 1030 so hope everything went well for them on their long trip home.
Don's plane landed about 15 minutes late at 1225 am. As predicted, it took about an hour for the luggage to come plus get through immigration. I was so glad to see him come through that door! We managed a few hours sleep then headed for the check-in 3 hours early. That can be a zoo there but was easy for a change. Then when we went to go through security, a problem emerged. Don didn't have some sticker on his boarding card so they sent him back to the check-in while I cooled my heals with the carry-on stuff. He had to go through about 6 people before someone knew about this sticker -- have no idea what it was all about. But, as I said, that is why one starts going through security early. All was well after that.
When we flew into Quito, I noticed how different the countryside was. It was dry of course but had hills instead of mountains, was quite agricultural and the houses were more spread out. Quito is about 50 km long and fairly narrow as it is in a valley between the two chains of the Andes. The housing is many grades above what we saw in Cusco -- definitely more prosperous looking. The traffic was noticeably different. Whereas in Peru it's a free for all on the roads with many honking horns, the drivers here obey the rules. There is still jostling for position at intersections and corners but they are polite about it.
We are staying at a Hilton hotel and, I must say, quite a contrast to the hotels we were in in Peru! But I guess we are getting what we pay for. This is the "joining hotel" for the tour so is much easier if we stay here. Don't want to see the bill for two nights though!!! We are on the "Executive" floor which has its own breakfast room plus a smaller room which serves cookies, fruit, coffee, pop, etc during the day. All "free" of course!
Our G adventures driver from the airport was very informative on the drive in. Gas is $2 a gallon for super and $1.50 for regular. They use American dollars here with the coins in local currency. The economy is doing well as the US $ brings in investments from various countries. Temperature extremes go from -6 to 25 C.They have elections every 4 years and are happy with their present president. Public education, including university, is free and the private university charges $1000 for 6 months. (have to buy their own books). They have two tiered health care as well. Luis says it is best to pay and get better care. The cost of alcohol has gone up a lot recently trying to stem the alcoholism that the cheap prices brought.
Today we were picked up at 9 am by another Gap employee. Ivan was a nice young man who drove us around in his KIA 4WD (small version). We had a city tour which included the largest church in the world except for St Peters Basilica in Rome. Quite beautiful. Instead of the gargoyles (spelling?) that are usually featured, they used local animals and birds. We then had a walk around the old city which is a UNESCO heritage site. Don's watch band had broken so we were able to get that fixed. Nice to have local knowledge of where to go. We then drove up to the top of a hill for a view of the surrounding city. Next stop was an empanada shop as we headed north to the equator. It was a hole in the wall where they made them fresh. I was so pleased to find their meat one was very similar to the ones I enjoyed so much in Chile. Our lunch for 3 came to $6.30! We had 6 empanadas and three drinks. The cokes and Inka cola cost 35 cents each!!!
Then it was on to the equator museum. First we had a talk about two of the native tribes from the Amazon. In one, the men tie a string around their waist under which they tuck their penis. This is to keep a parasite from entering their body when they are swimming. Otherwise they are naked. We saw their weapons ands I was surprised how very long their blow pipes were! We also heard how they do the head shrinking. Nowadays they use animals instead of humans so that they can keep the practice alive.Then we had a demo with the water going down the drain. Our guide first did it right on the line. It went straight down with no swirls. She then moved the portable sink to the "south" and then the "north". We couldn't believe how such a short distance from the equator (a few feet) made such a difference in the swirl. We did a little exercise with a raw egg -- balanced it on the head of a nail. The yolk goes to the bottom and gravity pulls straight down. I now have a certificate proclaiming me egg balancing "champion".

Our thumbs are in the air because we are attracting energy from the sun.

As we drove back into town, the clouds began to build. It looked like rain to me and Ivan was hoping so. It would be the first of the season. They have been much drier than usual and so have many more forest fires burning. Three people were killed in one of them and some of their parks have been burned. They use planes as well as ground crews to fight them. So, shortly after we got back, the heavens opened starting with pea sized hail stones followed by rain.
Don is doing very well with the elevation -- over 9000 feet. I've learned a lot so was able to pass along the simple solution which is to drink lots of water. He had been feeling crappy but was fine after downing a liter. We did some walking today with a few stairs and no shortness of breath or rapid heartbeat.

Will sign off for today. Tomorrow is Saturday and there will be a craft market in the park across the street. Should be fun.