Hiya Sweetie!
Took a few hours to get too sleep last night, too much food, maybe too much caffeine in the chocolate dessert, or too much sleep the night before, but it didn't matter, the hours I slept led me to a full recovery! Had a leisurely breakfast since we weren't getting picked up until 9:30, then we were taken over to where the horses were, on a slip of a dirt road where they had been trucked. It didn't take long before we were off on the trail! Today we did a lot of "town" riding, saw a lot of interesting backyards and ways of life, but within a couple of miles, we had climbed up to the famous salt mines of Maras, an ancient collection of pools that collect salt water through a crazy irrigation system, where it's hauled out to dry, then packed in feed bag size bags and taken away, all done by hand. Apparently the salt mines in Himalaya use dynamite, so this is considered much safer and more natural. We stopped and walked around a bit, and I bought a bag of black, smoked salt and some of those roasted corn kernels that I liked in Lima. Wasn't long before we were off again, still climbing, through a couple more towns, until we stopped for lunch on the top of a plateau with a fantastic view. We were served a nice, filling lunch, then headed off again, through another town, through some fields with free range animals, took a quick stop at Cheqoq where the Incas stored their crops, then eventually ended up at the place where the horses will be staying overnight. We had a beer, then headed back to the hotel via vehicle, where we rested for a couple of hours before going to a local restaurant for another amazing dinner. We could only get reservations for the patio, but it was covered over and felt more like a cave than a patio, so it actually stayed quite warm with all of us in it. It was a long dinner, with lots of laughter and fellowship as we recalled the day and learned more about each other, and Peru. We learned that our hosts were finally able to get our tickets for Machu Picchu, but it required a major change in the schedule. Rather than next Sunday, we will be doing it on Wednesday at 7:30 in the morning (to catch the bus), but that requires us to take the night train tomorrow night at 9:00, stay in a different hotel (though they've arranged for us to keep our rooms here as well, so we only have to pack for the night, and only what we'll want to carry around with us all day, as we won't have a car to store it in), then see the site in the morning for three hours. We weren't able to get the best tickets, but it was all that could be done. They have a strange system here, where there are three different circuits around the site, and you can't choose which one you want, you have to take what you can get, unless, I suppose, you book it months in advance. Anyway, that's tomorrow's problem! We finally returned to the hotel around 8:30, picked up our tickets where Francesca had printed them off, and went to our respective rooms. Took my shower, and amy ready for bed! Good night, baby! Love you!
Speak Your Mind