My Trip To Peru (you can click on any of the pics, for a larger view - or on the image above for more pics - and there are also external links all over the page for more on Peru and other topics.)

Monday, May 21st
Monday morning around 2am I got up and got ready for my Super Shuttle to pick me up at 3am. I was the first of several passengers picked up for Oakland Airport. My flight departed at 6am, and we got there about 4:30. I checked my bag, went through security and purchased a bagel and banana, then proceeded to find a seat at the gate – and wait. I read some of the book I brought with me – which I shouldn’t have probably brought as I didn’t really read it on the trip. As we took off, I had a great view of the city of San Francisco mostly shrouded in fog. It was quite beautiful. I thought of my cat Mishu as we flew over my neighborhood, pondering “so that’s how it looks like when it’s foggy at my house!” On the flight I had an empty seat next to me which is always nice, and I managed to get some sleep.

When I arrived at Houston, I saw a couple of familiar faces at the gate – for the flight to Lima which would take off for a few hours. I saddled up and had a conversation with Jenny from Utah, and Mike from Mountain View. We went up to Pappadeux for their New Orleans style buffet. We got on the flight around 3:40 and took off for Lima Peru. There must’ve been 40 or more of us from our group on the flight. I was seated next to two new friends, Enea and Isea.

We landed in Lima Peru several hours later – I could see that Lima had fog too. It was a coastal city, but the mountains to the east kept the fog from disapating – so it was always kinda murky there. The customs area was quick and efficient, even having a place to exchange U.S. dollars. The conversion was about 1 to3, so for every dollar, you received a little more than 3 soles. I exchanged about $140 which at the time I thought would be enough for the trip. I had a lot more cash with me, and thought that it was too much, but later I would find that I would need more. After clearing customs, there was a room full of people all vieing for a cab fare. I searched for our tour group Condor Travel who were just outside of the area. I tried to direct others from our flight to them. It was quite crazy there, and I just felt that one could easily get caught up in the frenzy of “taxi”, “you need a taxi?” We assembled outside and after loading our luggage onto porter carts, we walked a short distance to the buses who would take us through the streets of Lima to our hotel at the Sheraton. Manny gave us the “schpeil” about Lima on our way there, and then myself and my roommate Josh were one of the first few to get checked in. We were on the fourteenth floor and it was about 11pm by the time we got to the room. The hotel reminded me a bit of the 70s and even the hotel in the movie the Shining, for some reason. Our room’s balcony afforded us some nice views of the city, including the Hall of Justice – right across the street – as well as some of the traffic in Lima. It reminded me of Los Angeles a bit. But everyone honked their horns – all vieing for better positioning in traffic.

Tuesday, May 22nd


Today we visited the San Francisco Monastery where we went down into the catacombs below. There were bones and heaps of skulls. It was not something I was expecting. After that, we went to the Gold Museum founded in 1926 where they did not allow cameras (that pic you see is a stock photo I found on the internet). It was pretty much a private collection of one person. There were gold pieces, pottery, whole rooms of weapons, guns, swords and armor. There were some samurai warriors armor – which were kinda scary looking - but really cool. There was also an entire wall of spurs, and all sorts of “old west” stuff – something I’d have to tell my bandmates in Gunpowder about. There was a gold figurine with big almond shaped eyes and an elongated skull, which didn't exactly look like anything human, if you get my drift. I also saw an knife handle which was an elongated skull/face – much like the skulls found in Peru – and the face of Nefertiti. We later got on the buses and visited the neighborhood of Miraflores – home of a famous tennis player and many markets. We continued on and stopped on a cliff above the pacific ocean. It was just nice to see it – reminding me of home – much like the eucalyptus trees which were all over the country. Some of us got off the bus and visited the markets, but I went back to the hotel to try to get a few hours of sleep before our evening workshop and early morning wake up call – for our journey to the pyramids of Caral the next morning. I took several shots of the city after my nap – of the surrounding areas.



Click here for more shots of Lima - Click here for a video of Lima

Wednesday, May 23rd
The next morning we got up early to get on the buses to head north to Caral. The ride up the Pan American Highway was about 4 hours – some of which was right on the pacific coast – we went through shantytowns, chicken farms until we turned east at the Supe valley. There we went on unpaved roads through fields of corn and cotton. I saw a few cows, horses, and even one white cat who was diligently washing herself on top of a shanty with an eucalyptus roof. This was an area with trees and irrigation creeks. From there we turned off into the mountain valley towards Caral, which was all desert and mountains. There were only a few chicken shacks along the way. We stopped at one of them where they washed the buses off with antibacterial soap. They didn’t want their chickens to catch anything. There was a white and black terrier dog along side the bus who barked at us. After about forty minutes, we reached our destination, the pyramids of Caral. I could see them from the bus before we even stopped. The flat topped structures, while still under excavation, were a beauty to behold. Beyond the pyramids, was a river valley, lush with vegetation. It reminded me of pictures of the Nile Delta in Egypt. I knew this place was special. I could feel it’s frequency. I knew I had been here before. It felt like home to me. A breeze helped us on our way as we departed the buses and lined up with our tour guides. They would show us all of the different pyramids under excavation and noted not to take pictures of the workers – as they believed that it would take part of their souls. We took pictures as we walked along. While it was desert, it was not too hot. As we viewed one of the larger structures, we could see across the river valley. I could see a few other as of yet unexcavated flat top pyramids across the river. I noted this to the tour guides, and while they did confirm that they were pyramids, they didn’t have much to say about them. Perhaps there are more pyramids out there still yet to be discovered? We all met for our lunch, and sat about in a circle. I found a nice spot in some shade as I knew I would otherwise be broiled by the nearer-to-the-equator sun. When we were done, we boarded the buses and headed back to Lima. The journey seemed to take longer on the way home, but isn’t that the same of any road one takes in life? Along the road, we saw a few sheep and farm workers, including one little girl who was just about the size of the bag of corn she was filling up. They learn their trade early in life from their parents - as they will most likely carry on in their footsteps. Much of the time on the road back, people slept, but I just watched the scenes as we went by. There were some interesting houses on the beach area as we got closer to Lima – and we even saw soldiers, training on the beach. When we got back to the Sheraton, I used the internet to email a few friends back home.



Click here for more shots of Caral - Click here for video 1 of Caral - Video 2 - Video 3 - Video 4 - Google Satellite View of Caral

Editor's Note: The Pyramids in Caral are as old as the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt - although maybe not quite as spectacular. There are actually ancient pyramids or remnants of them all over the planet from Egypt, Sudan, The Canary Islands, Spain (Tenerife), Tonga, Mexico, Belize, Italy, Bosnia, Greece, Turkey, France, China, and possibly even Australia, if you count Uluru, also known as Ayer's Rock. There has even been some speculation about pyramids on Mars, including photos taken in the 1970s by Mariner 9. So, why shouldn't Peru have them too?





Thursday, May 24th


We got our wake up call at 5:30am after getting to bed around 1:30am after the workshop. It was a bit tough to get up and have breakfast, and I must say that I wasn’t too thrilled about the food in Lima. We boarded the buses to get to the airport and board AeroCondor flight 221. We took off around 9:30am and flew up to the Peruvian Andes. I think there were about 70 of us on the flight. There were spectacular views of the mountains from my window seat. I could see some lakes and as we got closer to Cusco, I could see towns and the terraces where the locals would grow maize and corn. All of Peru’s water comes from the Andes.

When we landed and they opened the aircraft door, I could feel the change in pressure. As I got off the plane, I walked slowly, noticing the lack of oxygen. I began to walk slowly, doing the “bionic man” walk. Danahnahnah Danahnahnahnahnahnahnahnah. There were Peruvian musicians performing at the luggage pick up. The tour group loaded us up and took us to the Libertador Hotel. I just about passed out when we got to our room, and sleep for several hours until about dinner time, when we found out that some of that evenings events were cancelled, including the workshop – which was great news as some of us were having a hard time acclimating to the altitude. I know I was. We had dinner, and I was not really feeling well. There was a group, and I was feeling very sensitive to music and noise at this point. I just wanted to go to bed. I ate a little, and then went outside to breath the mountain air. I felt better. As I sat on a bench, I was approached by several little girls, street vendors, selling finger puppets and ocarina flutes. I saw a few other people from the group and one of them took a picture of me with my camera in front of the Cathedral. I then went to exchange a bit more money and bought a few things from a woman in a shop. She was very nice and even through in a condor finger puppet. Or was it a Turkey Vulture? I walked back to the hotel quickly as I was in need of the toilet once again.

The big D had set in Lima and would be with me throughout the trip. I suppose I could’ve gotten some Imodium early enough to nip it in the bud, but I didn’t. And even when I did, I didn’t follow through on the dosage. I visited about 30 different toilets in Peru Well, I guess it was better than wretching. Or was it? There were some close calls, and one accident at Ollantaytambo. Fortunately, I was prepared. One of the bathrooms – the one at Pisac, was only a hole in the ground with two stones placing your feet. No toilet paper in many toilets. And not many had toilet seats. And there were quite a few that you had to pay to use (even if there wasn't paper or a toilet seat!). I suppose I could've left this part out... but why?

Click here for more shots of Cusco - Click here for a video of the valley above Cusco





Friday, May 25th
The next morning, we got up early, boarded the buses and headed up the road above Cusco, passing Sacsayhuaman, Puka Pukara and Tambo Machay before we stopped at a look out spot above the valley before heading on to Pisaq. Most of us got off the buses for pictures, and a breather. Some used the moment to fertilize the land. I got a shot of a bee. I noticed that the bee was much larger than our local bees in the united states. It was another hour or so before we got to the Pisaq Ruins in the Sacred Valley. We passed the Pisac market where we were supposed to have some time to shop later in the day – but that didn’t end up happening due to time constraints. The valley there was incredible. The ruins were impressive, but I was still not feeling too good, and was having trouble moving about in the high altitude – so it was a bit difficult to really enjoy the site. But I managed to enjoy it anyway! The area where we sat for a bit was near some aquadeucts and overlooked the back valley area of the ruins. It was really nice to sit there for a bit. There were some tombs in the cliffs across the valley. After awhile, we loaded back on to the buses and headed for the restaurant where we would have lunch. It was further along on the road to Ollantaytambo – which we were supposed to visit also that day. Lunch was good. The grounds of the restaurant were beautiful with a mountain across the valley, and eucalyptus trees all around. There were three Alpaca Llamas there in a pen, and a parrot who said “llama” or was it “mama”? Instead of going on to Ollantaytambo, we headed back to the hotel as we had some time constraints due to our workshop that night having to be run from 8-12 at another hotel. So, after we got back to the Libertador in Cusco, and a dinner break, we boarded the buses again to go to the other hotel. Between the lack of sleep and the frequency of the workshop information on that location, I could not keep my eyes open. I sat just outside of the room in some comfy chairs and laid back. Eventually some cocoa tea would help wake me up. We had to be real quiet when we left the hotel as to not disturb the other patrons at the hotel. On the ride back to our hotel, our bus driver encountered the street blocked off to our hotel He dropped us off about a block from the hotel entrance which was fine. I noted to Marietta from our group as we walked back, “what a way to end this day – walking down a dark alley with 30 close friends!” HA!

Click here for more shots of Pisac and the Sacred Valley - Click here a video of Pisac

Saturday, May 26th


Once again, we got up early and boarded the buses heading straight into the sacred valley to Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo has been occupied longer than any other place in the Americas. A lot of us did some shopping at this point as we weren't going to make the scheduled trip to the Pisac Market. I bought a nice poncho for about 50 soles, a coke and a necklace for my girl. I think at this point, I felt as bad as I did on the entire trip, but I still managed to climb the fortress up quite a bit, to the area I called “the ten windows”. Eventually, the group was called down to meet, and then we hiked back up part of the way on the fortress. Well, that was optional, but most of us did. We sat for awhile as a group and it was really nice. Afterwards, we had to hike a bit back to the town square where the buses were. We then headed to our lunch location where I had the most expensive piece of bread I ever ate. Well, I could’ve opted not to eat. It was buffet and I was not feeling up to eating much. I did eat a little - but I don't think I realized how much it would cost. This also was a very beautiful place, near the Urubamba river, complete with horses and a whistling tree (yes, it was really talking). We then headed back towards Cusco to our first of our last stops there, Tambo Machay. We hiked up to the ruins, where there was a fountain, did our thing and left. There was one bus that didn’t make it there in time, but it was okay. This area also had merchants and one guy really was trying to sell me on a sweater. I just wasn’t interested having purchasing a wonderful reversible poncho. We did have to board the buses as we were in a time crunch having to get to Sacsayhuaman and get done before sundown. We made it right in divine right time – as usual. If you look at the google maps satelite image, you can see that it was made in the shape of a puma's head - and the walls are the teeth! (Actually, all of Cusco was originally laid out in the shape of a puma or cat). Click here for the image. Although I had wanted to explore this site more, we hung out for a bit and got out of there. The local guard even whistled us twice – wanting us to move on. We took a couple of last minute pics in front of the amazing stone wall (which was not visible at this point due to lack of light). After going back to the hotel, we had time to pack for our two and a half days in Aquas Callientes and Machu Picchu the next morning. We had to separate what we would need for the trip, and what we could leave at the hotel in our main luggage till we returned to Cusco on Tuesday evening. There was one more stop/workshop event that evening, but I just was not feeling well, so I packed and went to sleep.

Click here for more shots of Ollantaytambo - Click here for video 1 of Ollantaytambo - Video 2 - Video 3

Puka Pukara and Tambo Machay



Sacsayhuaman





Sunday, May 27th
This day would be my favorite of the trip. After almost a full nights rest, we got up, had breakfast and boarded the buses for a short trip to the train station. The train left promptly at 6:15am and climbed up the hills of Cusco, including some switchbacks. On the first one, the tour guide from Condor Travel told us someone had forgotten luggage and we were headed back to Cusco. I’m not sure if this fooled anyone in our group. I knew of the switchbacks so I wasn’t surprised. After we climbed up the hills, we began our descent down the valley towards Machu Picchu, through Poroy, Izcuchaca, Huarocondo, and once again, Ollantaytambo. The views on the ride were incredible. I felt much better as we descended to lower elevation. We passed through towns and farms. At one point there was a bunch of fog, which was really cool looking through the trees and sporadic farms. As we traveled down the valley, I chatted with my friends Candace, Rosaleen, and Haldun. I felt better and better as we neared our destination. The terrain became more and more like tropical rainforest and reminded me of Hawaii. Oh, how I longed to return to the islands. This made me feel warm inside and the frequency of the place built higher and higher as we got closer to Aguas Callientes. When we pulled into the train station, I felt charged up! (I wonder why?) I had a huge smile on my face as I got off the train, knowing that this place was why I came on this trip (amongst other things). We grouped up and went to our various hotel locations. Ours was the Inti Inn Machu Picchu. It was higher up the road than the other hotels where our group were staying. There was no hotel that could accomadate all 130 of us for even the two nights we were there. The room was very basic. Just two beds, a window and a bathroom. It was around 10 am when we got there and after checking in, were given our bus and Machu Picchu entrance tickets. After getting settled, we headed down to board the bus for the scenic 25 minute ride up 13 switchbacks on the road to one of, if not the most beautiful and magical locations in the world. We had lunch at a restaurant there prior to entering the site. Although our tour guides took us into Machu Picchu, we were only with them for a little while – finding the places where we had come to do our thing. We met in one area, and then dispersed to be touristas. I played this part very well, taking many pictures of the area, flora and fauna, as well as rocks. I even got some cool macro close ups of lichens on the rocks. There is not much you can say about Machu Picchu that images can’t tell – aside from the fact that even a picture which speaks a thousand words – cannot accurately describe how one feels at this place. It is so magical I was in awe. Everywhere you looked was a breathtaking site. There were also some local guardians, the Alpaca Llamas about. They ate and walked on the paths that we walked on – not seemingly bothered by humans. I got one incredible shot of a baby Alpaca with the sun lighting it up from behind. To truly understand this place, one must go there. After we did our thing, we had some time on our own before the last bus down the mountain back to town at 5:40. I think I caught one about 4:45 and went back to the hotel. Later I found a taco joint next door to the hotel where I got some really good nachos. My new friend Hendrix stopped in and ordered some chicken skewers. We were supposed to have dinner at the hotel, but I was way too hungry to wait. I did attend dinner, but by then, I didn’t feel like eating much of the spaghetti they were serving – although it did look really yummy! Since there was no place in this town to have a workshop, we had the night off, which was good. After walking down the street to an internet café to wish Michele happy birthday, I went back to the hotel and proceeded to have the best night of sleep I had on the trip. The hotel room was white stucco and had dark exposed eucalyptus beams in the ceiling. It reminded me of my grandfathers’ place in Moculme Hill which he designed and had built. It felt really homey, and the big fluffy down comforter was nice. This had been the best I felt on the trip since we were at the pyramids at Caral.

Click here for more shots of Machu Picchu - Click here for EVEN more shots of Machu Picchu - Click here for Video 1 of Machu Picchu - Video 2 - Video 3



Monday, May 28th
In the morning, I was told that the hotel had overbooked and we had to move. The hotel we were to move to was the El Santuario. But what I thought I had heard was that we were moving to another hotel, The Hatuchay, which at the end of the day – became a point of stress - and obvious hilarity - for me – which I dealt with as best I could. We went back up to Machu Picchu for more singing and sightseeing. I went off with Tyler, Josh, Hendrix, Susan, Ed G. and Jared to hike up to the top of Huayna Picchu, the peak overlooking Machu Picchu. At this point, I was not feeling well (again), so after awhile on the trail – after a fork which went around to the “Temple Of The Moon”, I turned back. I hiked and took it easy, making my way along the trail with several stops to breathe. I found one spot where it overlooked both sides of the valley and sat for awhile. It was really nice there, I could’ve actually sat there for a few hours, and even contemplated doing so, waiting for the others to come back down. But I did get up and followed the trail back awhile. There was another bit of ruins on another part of the trail called Huchuypicchu, which I hiked up to. There was even one point where there was a big drop, and only a small bit of stairway. I hugged the rock for my life – feeling a bit scared. I could’ve passed on doing this, but I felt that I needed to go up there. As I got closer up, I heard someone say my name “Hi Josh”. Hey, more people from the group were up there! I got up there checked out the view, and then we sang some songs. I felt much better at this point. I postulated, that while I was part of another group first comprised of 6 males and 1 female – which I had left – and found a group of 5 females. Now there were two groups of 6. One of 5 males and 1 female, and one group of 5 females and 1 male. I could only imagine that we were both on those sites to do our divine right order thing. We headed back down after a bit, and hugged that rock one more time. I spoke to the rock, and told it to hold on to me. After a bit with this group, I went off on my own to do a last bit of exploring before ending my adventure with this most special place. I hiked up to the three windows and the Intuitana (the hitching post of the sun) which was at the top of one of the hills at MP. The views up here were incredible, and I even got some “sunset” shots. I ran into David from our group and he offered to take a couple shots of me with the views behind, aside from my “self-portraits”. I headed back down, towards the exit, saying my goodbyes and thanking this magical place for our time together. I hope someday to return, although I’m not sure I’d want to spend too much time in Cusco – due to the altitude problems I had there. There were a few Llamas I saw on the way out, and I said goodbye to those beautiful creatures as well. I left and headed down to the area to board the bus back to Aguas Callientes. The bus ride was a bit bumpy which made me a bit queezy, but I still managed to get a last few pics of the terrain and mountains as we descended. When I got back to what I thought was my new hotel, I found that they had no record of me. Being hungry, I went back to the area where my old hotel was, and even stopped in and asked them. I got some nachos again. These were really good and were served in a half avocado. The avocados there were really huge and tasted so good! The place I ate at had the Rolling Stones playing, and although I was never really a big stones fan, I felt comfortable with it. After the food, I found my way back towards the hotel, and ran into David again who told me that my roommate was looking for a specific hotel – El Santuario. I thought that funny that we were both looking for The Santuary. HA! So I found the place, and having eaten a bit - felt much much better, unpacked a bit, and enjoyed the new room we had. It was on the third floor of the hotel and had a spectacular view of the river – which rushed by below. We were scheduled to have dinner at Toto’s – which I thought was funny because I used to go to a Toto’s pizza joint in San Francisco back home! When we got there, it was buffet again, and there was some really yummy lasagne. Also, there was a music group that was going to perform for us. I saw one of them tuning up a bit. He had an acoustic bass guitar. I began to drool (not really… well, almost). I got up and went over, telling him that I play too. He thought I meant “can I play?” and handed me the bass. I was so frickin happy, you just don’t even know!!! (mike, you still need to send me that pic!) The whole trip, I had been looking for a guitar in a store, just to pick it for a few minutes, and here this guy was with my instrument of choice and he’s handing it to me to play. So I rocked out for a moment, showing it off to the rest of our group. It made me feel so good – and I thanked god source for providing that little moment of joy for me. Thank you! thank you! thank you! As dinner went on, and the musicians began to pick up steam, the dancers that worked with them, grabbed some of the folks from our group for a dance. Then others of us joined in. I noted that somewhere on our itinerary, that there was supposed to be something called the Krystal River Dance. Well, I don’t think that happened prior to this night. I thought, right next to the restaurant was the Krystal River (the Urubamba River) and this was the Dance. We all got lively for a bit until the musicians stopped, but we called for an encore. They played a song we were all familiar with – and many of the group then got up to dance. They played La Bamba! It was a great, fun moment for us. And a great way to end our night. We went back to the hotel for a nights rest before having a few more things to do the next day, including one more meditation, and of course – last minute shopping.





Tuesday, May 29th

I scored a nice alpaca hat (which I call “the white fro”), and a nice blue alpaca poncho/schall for my mom. We boarded the trains around 3pm and apparently there was some issue with some people from our group getting on as we all didn’t have our correct tickets. We were all given someone else’s tickets from the group. On the trip to MP, I was Emily. On the trip back to Cusco, I was Luciano. We had some fun on the train, but it wasn’t without a bit of weirdness. At one point I looked back and there was a strange masked man with a alpaca puppet – which he was not treating well. I thought, this is just weird. After this guy went up and down our train coach a few times, they said that there was going to be a fashion show. After this weird masked guy had done his thing, I got the nudge to get up and be silly – starting the fashion show off. I put on my fluffy white fro alpaca hat on and the blue poncho and as the music started, strutted down the train isle. A lot of people laughed, including myself. Then we all went into song, to the beat of the music they were playing – as the rest of the fashion show went on. I thought it was funny that my clothing was actually more colorful than theirs – mostly in browns and dark colors. I’m sorry if I stole their thunder, but hey, I’m a performer. It’s my thing. I just haven’t done it much the last few years.

At Poroy, we had planned to get off to meet the buses – as it would be a shorter ride back to Cusco than staying on the train for another hour. There were people in the group who were still on the train when it started to take off from the Poroy stop. People began yelling, and I can’t believe that it wasn’t communicated to the train operator that we had 130 people to get off the train with their luggage. Since we were already late, we needed to hustle back to the hotel in Cusco. The bus ride was supposedly only going to take ten minutes from there. It seemed like a lot of time on the trip, someone would say it would only take ten minutes, but would take more like twenty or twenty five. Not that I’m complaining about that, as I know patience is a virtue – but you’d think they’d have it a bit closer. As we came back into Cusco, I could feel the altitude again. The group went to a restaurant for dinner, but I opted to go back to the hotel as I wanted to find my room, and maybe even get a nap in. The room we were in was on the fourth floor, but apparently, there are several lifts to different parts of the fourth floor, and I went up two of them before finding the third, in the area where my room was. This was not good as I was now sucking air fiercely. I had ordered a pizza – which took “ten minutes”. By the time I got it back to my room, some of the group had come back from the restaurant. I laid down for a few minutes before our group was to have it’s last “closing” workshop. We actually were done by 3am and had enough time to get a few hours sleep before waking up early to get breakfast and be on the bus by 7:45 so we could get to the airport.



Wednesday, May 30th
We had the earlier flight back to Lima. The majority of our group would take the later flight at 1pm. Our flight ended up being delayed anyway due to fog in Lima. The flight was quick and we got back to the hotel with enough time to eat a bit, and take a nap. Our new hotel room back at the Sheraton smelled like someone took a piss in their. Apparently, ours wasn’t the only one. I think this may have something to do with the air pollution in the city. Either that, or the prior occupant decided to leave more than a tip. I through on my earplugs and eyemask and laid down, getting an hour of sleep. We had one last dinner planned – this was going to be a really nice restaurant – on the ocean, out in the Miraflores part of Lima. It was a nice way to end the trip, but I wish I had taken the time to go around to all the tables to bid farewell to my beloved family. We bolted for the buses as at this point we only had two hours before our flight – and we still had to go ticketing, bag check and customs. Condor Travel did a great job, and considering they probably didn’t know what they’d be getting into with our group, they answered the call every time. They had our exit tax stamp that we’d need to go through customs, and I almost went through without it. One of our group stopped me and told me I needed to go back to find Mario. Thanks Tim. There were a few restaurants, including McDonalds. I actually considered getting something, knowing that it would be a long flight home to the states. At this point I had found out that our flight was delayed, so I had some more time. Eventually, I made my way through customs and security. I had gone through my bag one more time to rid myself of anything they would not allow through. Once through security, I found that I had over 90 minutes to kill. I went looking through the shops there and even bought some water (which they don’t allow on planes from Lima to the U.S.) and a big bag of Peanut M & Ms (hey, I still have those!) As the flight to Houston was boarding, I said my goodbyes to a few on the flight including my roommate for the trip, Josh. It was such a great adventure, and despite being sick, I wouldn’t trade it for all the cheese and crumpets in the world! We boarded our flight and headed to Newark New Jersey. Now, you ask, why would I be going via Newark to get home instead of Houston? Well, one, I signed up late for this trip, and probably that flight was all booked up. Two, I didn’t book my own flight – which if I were to do this again, I would definitely do. And Three, I guess I needed to be in Newark for some reason. Originally, my flight was from Lima to Newark, with a connecting flight to Houston, and then back to SFO, but because the Newark flight was two hours late, we missed the connecting flight to Houston.



Thursday, May 31st

We arrived at Newark Airport at 9:50 am. My flight to Houston took off at 10:35am. Now, I didn’t know that you had to pick up your luggage, have it inspected at customs and then recheck it for your next flight. When I found this out, I knew I wouldn’t make my flight to Houston. Since that would put me in the air longer, and get me home around 5:20pm pacific, I lucked out. First with customs, they didn’t go through my luggage – they just asked me a few questions, and let me go on through. Once again, THANK YOU! I then made a mistake. There may have been a kiosk where I could find out about changing my flight – rerouting me through Los Angeles, or maybe even a direct flight to SFO from Newark – but I listened to some guy telling me – you put your bags on there – pointing to the “bag re-check” area. I handed it to some guy and thought, they will just automatically reroute my bag when I found out what flight I’m on, right? I’ve never done this before… I went upstairs and looked for the Continental customer service center where they could reroute my flight. I had to go through security and then on the other side found the CS center. The nice lady told me that I was already booked on a direct flight to SFO, which would land at 2:20pm, a full three hours earlier than my original flight was to land – and that it was boarding in FOUR MINUTES! But my luggage went somewhere else as I would find out later at SFO – that it didn’t make the flight I was on. No matter. I was getting home early! Whoooo hooo!!! I laughed while waiting at the gate for the boarding. Thank you God Source. I did have just enough time to use the bathroom and get a sandwich for the flight. The flight was alright. I had a window seat, and an empty seat next to me. The woman I was sitting by, I swear, I kept thinking it was Nancy Pelosi. We had a cheeseburger on the flight home. I haven’t eaten a cheeseburger in easily twenty years! It was pretty tasty even though I knew it was probably microwaved. As we flew home, I saw cloud cities and mountains below and thought, what a great trip this has been.

When I got to SFO, I found that my bag was not on the flight, and I just had them send it to me at home – which worked out well for me. I didn’t have to carry it home, and even though it suffered some damage, the contents were all fine and intact. My bootle arrived safe at my home 24 hours after I had arrived at SFO.

Click here for more shots of some of the wonderful group of people I went with - Page 2 (large images)

Click here for some of the animals and plants I saw on the trip - Click here a video of Alpaca Llamas

So, if you ever get the chance to go to Machu Picchu, do it. Don’t even hesitate. But go with as many friends as you can!