Honeymoon in Peru

16.08.2002

Late at night we took the flight from Munich via Frankfurt to Sao Paolo – there was no direct flight to Lima from Germany at that time. So we just took it as a chance to visit Sao Paolo.

17.08.2002

Arrival 5:00 (a.m.!!!) local time. After filling out all forms and going through the immigration procedure including the pre-check-in for the flight to Lima (this was before there were Apps to check in for flights), we went to Sao Paolo where an exclusive guided city tour was already organised by “Prada Tours”…

In our private bus we were driven all around Sao Paolo – at that time the third biggest town in the world with more than 18 million inhabitants. Due to the time of the day we were able to do a lot of sightseeing with the bus before the rush hour started, finalised by a breakfast in the english garden district.

At 7 – still quite early we were shuttled to Embu, a bohemian suburb a little bit outside. When we arrived we watched them putting up the art market with all their artefacts and colourful paintings. We strolled around this beautiful neighbourhood and enjoyed the liveliness and spirit of this neighbourhood.

A visit of the Instituto Butantan is a must when in Sao Paulo. Especially when you are travelling with kids, this is a great place to visit.

Interesting fact when it comes to shopping in Sao Paulo; the shopping streets are sorted by category. Meaning if your are looking for electronic articles you just go into one street and you´ll find what you´re looking for… That was just something we found out on our way to the garden district.

This is the reacher area of the town, where people who can afford it live their lives behind big walls, barbwire and guarded by armed securities. Where we live you need to be a criminal to get this kind of treatment 😉

From their we drove to a Hazienda situated a little above the city centre where we gut typical and excellent Brazilian food. A sort of stew with beans, rice and meat – mainly claws, tongues and ears of pigs – a typical meal prepared by the African slaves in former times. What sounds strange really tasted delicious.

 

After a long day with a lot of impressions we took the flight to Lima, where we were picked up by Ana´s family.

18.08.2002
City tour with Alina and Ernesto. Lima´s historical city centre can´t be compared to Sao Paulo. It is much more picturesque. We visited the catacombs in the monastery of San Francisco. You can discover a lot of history in the monetary and when visiting Lima this should definitely be on your bucked list.

To finalise a wonderful day we drove to Miraflore and had a great Ceviche Cevicheria directly at the sea.

19.08.2002

In the morning we took our flight to Cusco. A 55 minute flight with great views onto the Andes and finally we so the sun again – Lima is covered by a layer of fog for more than 7 months a year.

After the transfer from the airport into a cosy little hotel in the city centre of Cusco we gathered again and did a short tour around the city centre of Cusco with a nice lunch in a restaurant at the Plaza de Armas with the perfect view onto the cathedral.

When being on such an altitude it is wise to acclimatise a bit. So we decided to rest a bit before we took a short walk into the church where Ana and Andreas would get married a couple of days later and into the district San Blas where Ana grew up.

We ended the day with a little snack and a Pisco Sour at the Cafe Bagdad – this had unfortunately some implication on the rest of our journey, as got some Salmonella as part of the package from there…

20.08.2002

After a long and sleepless night, we woke up at 7:00 and decided to skip the planned tour to Valle Sagrado and rather took some shuttles between the toilet and the bed with a sopa de pollo to fill up with electrolytes every now and then.

From what we have heard from the others Valle Sagrado is definitely a place to visit. So there is one reason to get back to Peru again for us…

21.08.2002

The next day we decided to try our luck again and accompanied the others on the sightseeing trip around Cusco with the highlights being the church of Santo Domingo – Koricancha; Cathedral of Cusco; Christo Blanco as well ad Sacsayhuaman, Q’engo Pukapukara and Tambomachay.

On this tour we gained a lot of insights into the different archeological sites, the Incas and the Spanish conquistadors and the capital of the Inkas as well as their importance for the development of the culture in Peru. This tour is a must when being in Cusco. Just a litte tip – take the morning tour as the light is much better for taking pictures.

22.08.2002

This was a bit of a lazy day. A short shopping tour in the morning to the „Centro Artisanat de Cusco“, where you can buy all sorts of handcrafted fabrics – especially those out of alpaca wool in great quality.

After the shopping and some relaxing we drove to Ana´s Brother and sister in law to meet the family and to have lunch with them. The dish that was served was a specialty you don´t get in many other places: Cuy – meaning guinea pig. It does taste a bit like rabbit, but there is a herb to it that is quite intense. You just should taste it. It was so wonderful to part of a big Peruvian dinner. So much laughter and so much friendliness, it was just great.

After that we as the maid of honor and best man and the bridal couple had to meet up at the priest´s office in San Blas to answer a lot of different questions to get the blessing from the church to get married.

23.08.2002

Up at 5 o´clock and catching the train to Machu Picchu. Zigzagging its way up the mountain the train finally reached the plateau where Ana´s parents live and through the Valle Sagrado we finally reached Aquas Calientes. From there we took the bus up to the entrance of Machu Picchu.

There we had a fantastic – or should we say “very nice and beautiful” tour through the wonderful town that was once discovered by Professor Hiram Bingham in 1911. This town is a must see on each Peru trip. It gives a lot of insights into the daily live and the culture of the Incas. The mythical and mystical question still remaining to this day though is why the incas have left this town and took with them absolutely everything.

After this impressive visit we took the afternoon train back to Cusco. Because tomorrow was the great day!!!

24.08.2002

Wedding Day!!!!

In the morning we met Alina – the bride´s sister to rehearse the speech. Thanks to her we were able to change it from Spanish to Latino and therefore did escape the great embarrassment in the evening… After that the boys went to our „Peluquero“ to get a proper shave. The result was just great…

We used the afternoon to regain some strength and to fill up with some sopa de pollo – our standard food during the last day just to keep us going…

In the evening it finally was there, the event we all have been waiting for: The wedding of Ana and Andreas and Katharina and myself being the Padrinos. What a great ceremony!! So lively and it was clear what the couple got as their mission: “Hacer l´amor” At least that was what the priest told the couple quite some time during the ceremony. I am sure the message did sink in 😉

After that the feast began. What a great party with a lot of dancing, grilled pig and tamales and a lot of fun and laughter. And yes, our speech went well …

 

26.08.2002

After a day in bed and a short walk outside we started on mondän again with the grand tour by bus from Cusco to Lima. With the “Royalclass” from Ormeño – quite comfortable way to travel – we drove to Puno at the lake Titicaca.

After the tour we just had a short walk around Puno.

27.08.2002

Today we did another one of Peru´s classics: boatride over the lake Titicaca. With both a visit of Uros – a floating village – and Taquile, where we climid our first mountain above 4000 meter above sea level – even though it only were 200 altimeters to conquer… On top of that hill it was time for a typical dinner for that area and we were introduced to a thing we have not seen any where else yet: There are only man allowed to knit. That´s what we would call emancipation.

 

28.08.2002 

Before we took the bus to Arequipa, we decided to take a tour on the steamboat “Yavari”. Really interesting how they got this boat up to the lake… Great tour by the captain Carlos!!

The hotel in Arequipa had the best view of all the hotels we had so far. You could see both the Chachani and the Misty:

en die besten Zimmer der bisherigen Reise mit Blick auf Chachani und Misty.

29.08.2002

After a wonderful night and a great breakfast on the roof top terrace we went for a city sightseeing including visiting the beautiful and colourful monastery Santa Catalina.

Before we boarded the bus to Nasca – a hell of a night trip – we had a nice dinner in a typical restaurant, which felt a bit like the last supper. At 7 a.m. the next morning we where finally there still a bit shocked from the transfer including the sight of a terrible bus accident.

30.08.2002

Now it was time to get up in the air. The great weather and perfect conditions made this experience a wonderful one. We had a perfect view on the mysterious Nasca lines.

In the afternoon we took the bus again towards the coast and as the bus stopped at the Hotel Paracas, we decided to drop of and try our luck to get a room for a night. This time we had to share rooms, but it was such a nice hotel that we could let this chance pass by.

31.08.2002

The next morning we boarded another boat to go to the Islas las Ballestas – a nature preserve with pelicans, Sea lions and penguins. What a noise and what a great site. Unfortunately a lot was destroyed by a devastating earthquake some years ago.

After that we took the bus to Lima again where we ended our tour with dinner and bowling.

01.09.2002

The next day was a quiet one. A little sightseeing, a bit of family time and spending time to re-pack as we should head for the jungle the next day, where we couldn’t´t take with us more than a back bag

02.09.2002

Yet another early start into the day because we had to head for the airport and since our tickets for the plane got lost we had to be there early in order to get everything fixed. What would we have done without Ana on our side who fixed everything again.

So we just managed to catch the plane, thanks to a fast lane that was generated for us – still don´t know what Ana told the guys at the airport, maybe we should better not know it anyway. From Iquitos we took a boat (again) through the Nanay river into the Amazonas river and finally into the Sinchicuy River to our Lodge (Sinchicuy Lodge). A great lodge in the middle of the jungle without electricity, telephone or warm water. That´s what we would call digital detox nowadays. But instead it had a lot of wild animals visiting the lodge, fresh bananas from the trees, the best pineapples we have ever eaten and great food.

In addition the lodge was a great starting point for our expeditions into the jungle where we visited a tribe and a shaman followed by some chilling in the hammocks.

The night was really nice, but when we woke up the next morning we finally understood why we brought the mosquito nets with us. We suddenly where eye to eye with a tarantola. Let´s put it that way, we where awake right away.

03.09.2002

The next day we focused on the fauna of the jungle around us. We did see pink dolphins, sloths, and many other things and ended the day fishing Piranhas – or we should rather say, Ana was fishing them and we where just feeding them… The ones Ana caught ended up on the grill the same evening and tasted delicious.

04.09.2002

Bevor taking the boat back to Iquitos we did a short expedition also that morning, this time concentrating on the Flora – especially the water lillies that only grow here.

Now we headed back to the airport to catch our flight back to Lima. In the hotel we were met by sceptical looks. Coming from the jungle you don´t really look like freshly shaved and credit worthy as it seems. However we managed to convince the front office staff that we were able to pay the bills and after a shower we were suddenly more than welcome to have a Cocktail at the hotel bar.

05.09.2002

The last day in Peru – we decided to take a trip to the beach house of Ana´s family in Pucusana and visited the “devils mouth” followed by a nice Ceviche with a great sea view.

06.09.2002

After a long sleep in – one of the few during the trip – and a great breakfast we did a short shopping tour through Lima and headed to the airport. Now it was time to say goodbye to Peru and all Ana´s family which we felt of becoming a part of during this wonderful trip.

07.09.2002

And it wouldn´t  be us if we would have missed out on another story on the last day as well. We had a long stop over of 14 hours in Sao Paulo which we planned to enjoy at the beach. However, you don´t get out of the airport coming from Peru if you can´t show your vaccine pass. Since one of us forgot it at home, we decided to stay at the airport all together and enjoy the facilities there, which were on small duty free shop, one newspaper kiosk and one snack stand that had not much but a great Caipirinha for one dollar each. So we took the Caipirinha and spent the time going through all of our pictures we took during the wonderful days in Peru.

What a great tour it was and it was sad that good times go so fast. Thanks Ana for all your preparation and guiding.