our trip begins in earnest

we arrived in Cuczo, Peru on a morning flight from Lima.  we headed directly from the airport to the Sacred Valley- the town of Pisac is our destination-

our guide is Reese and the driver is Marco- Reese is well versed and speaks excellent English- he knows Ruben (my guide from the 1999 trip) both of them being Cuzco natives and old hands in the tourism industry. 

first I will post the photos from the 1999 visit to the Pisac market and then the 2013 photos...you will note I am sure the change in their target market - and rather than beat a dead horse yet again let me just refer you to the post entitled "you can not turn back time" 

http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2013/06/you-can-not-turn-back-time.html

yes those quaintly dressed gals and their prop children considered themselves models and requested payment for having their photos taken- however- compare the photos above with the ones from our trip last month- newly paved streets are I am sure a godsend when the rain comes (as it did the afternoon of our arrival) however- not a single stall sold food and mostly I wondered if the stuff was made in China rather than the work of locals.... not to worry we did actually get to see the work of locals (weaving) but not here... more on that later-

 

 

 

 

so on we go- next stop scenic overlook of the spectacular Sacred Valley and the Urubamba River-

flying down to rio

LOL- well - at least to Lima... LOL- no actually the first flight only got us to Miami....

we stopped over night (arriving around 7:30 PM) and grabbed a bite to eat with brother Larry to check and see how he and Luke's family were doing after Luke's death.  I was quite taken by the mermaid paintings in the ladies room - LOL

and since it was the last day of the stone crab season we had to have some- we headed back to the hotel and crashed after having rushed to get out of town after the LCBC dinner at our house two nights earlier...

then the next day we headed to the airport for an afternoon flight to Lima on the way to Cuzco - the TACA flight was uneventful and we arrived on time- got through passport control and found our "minder" to get us to the overnight hotel- flights into and out of Cuzco are somewhat weather dependent as it is located at 11,500 feet and therefore must be approached by plane before the heat of the day arrives...

we had dinner in the hotel restaurant - a local soup and some ceviche were perfect for the nearly ten o'clock meal.

the next day we were up early for a 7 AM departure - back to the airport for the flight which was delayed more than an hour for no apparent reason and none given in Spanish or English by the crew... on time flights were going to be virtually non-existent during the entirety of the trip... I guess it is all Hispanic time- LOL like the party invitations in Miami which differ by an hour or more with their start times for Anglos and Latinos...LOL