Getting to the Inca Trail

Dia One
Our flight to Miami went well, besides the sad and confused look on Skidaway´s face when we jumped out of my parent´s van and left her behind. Once in Miami it got a little hairy. Jimmy called up our hotel for the night to get the shuttled and was told that his reservation had been for the night before. A flurry of anger ensued as this was not a smooth start to a 6 week long trek. We decided to treat the event like a regular airport mishap and sleep in MIA overnight. After bumming around the airport for 3 hours, we came across a helpful information attendant who informed us that we could take the local bus to Miami Beach. So off we went luggage in hand to walk up and down the boardwalk, nap in the sand, and watch a crazy bird lady shotgun a drink with a straw, parakeet in cage on hand,and scattering hundreds of bread crumbs the local birds.

We returned to MIA where Jenny slept awhile and Jimmy underwent his "punishment" as night watchman.

Dia Two
We flew Aviança airline to Bogota, without incidence and then onto Lima. Customs in Lima took forever, but went without incident. We spent our time in line "people watching" a modeling agency and others. From Lima we took a taxi to Miraflores, a richer suburb of Lima which has a very European feel. We went to dinner were Jimmy enjoyed his first Peruvian meal while Jenny was stuck with cold fish and corn-not a very appetizing experience. After dinner. we wandered about town coming across an impromptu dance session in small amphitheater and a large outdoor photography exhibit in the plaza.

Dia Three
jimmy typing now...
We spent this day wandering around Miraflores. We visited the food market, where Jenny ogled all the fresh produce and I stared at what appeared to be some sort of brain. We walked away with some random fruit of the day at a very decent price. Then we moved on to the craft market. we perused many shops full of what is stated to be llama and alpaca wool garments (for now we will just assume that they are). Jenny found a nice sweater and I got some llama toesy socks. We also found some ancient ruins in Miraflores. They predated the Incan Empire by over a thousand years. They were so well ingrained in the city that most of them had been built over with houses and other developments. We also spent sometime relaxing in various parks waiting for our Machu Pichu adventure to begin.

Dia Four
We woke up bright and early and took a taxi back to the airport. We were met with some sort of "problema". Through my excellent abilities in Spanish, I was able to get the airport personal to talk in English. At this point I was told the horrifying news that we were on a different flight that left 20 minutes later and would somehow get in at the same time as our original flight. With this catastrophe well under hand, we moved on to Cusco (many different acceptable spellings for this city). For the first time in both our lives, we arrived to an airport to be met with a man with a sign with our names on it. He promptly delivered us to our hotel and notified us that we owed our travel agency a couple hundred dollars and that they would like to see that money sometime soon. We stayed at "Niños Hotel", where a portion of our payment goes to taking care of the children of Cusco. We even saw some kids knock on the door and receive free bread. The hotel was very charming and offered us free coca tea while our room was being cleaned.

After settling in, we went to SAS and paid the aforementioned pile of money. They were pleased. then we moved on to the local market and had some sort of random pile of fried street food as a test to our gastrointestinal fortitude. We won this battle. After some more exploring, we met up with our tour group and guides, Reuben and Elvis. We were informed of the struggles ahead of us, and by "us" I mean the porters who carry everything for "us". Jenny and I elected to carry as much stuff as they would allow, including their monstrous sleeping pads. A good night sleep, some altitude medication, and off we go on the next stage in our Peruvian expedition...