Excitement is setting in! On Friday, I sent off the final tour payment and made my flight arrangements. I'll be leaving for Peru on September 28!
Initially, I'll be flying into Juliaca and taking a short bus hop to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America. I'll spend three days there exploring the town and taking a tour on the lake. I'm under orders to bring back something that says Titicaca on it for my friend Wendy because the name makes her laugh, and I told Thane I'd visit the Yavari, a boat (now museum) that was sailed from England in 1862, disassembled, carried to Puno, and reassembled for use on the lake.
After Puno, I'll fly to Cuzco to explore the city for a few days before I meet up with my group from Adventures in Good Company. I'm hoping to arrange a trip to see the Nazca Lines, too. Mostly, what I'm going to be doing is acclimating to the altitude as best I can before I start hiking to Machu Picchu. Cuzco sits at over 11,000 feet (Lake Titicaca is at over 12,000 feet), and during the trek we'll top 15,200 feet. My lungs will never be the same.
I'm sure I'll have more details and information to share with you over the next three months, and, of course, I'll tell you all about the trip itself, but for now I just wanted to share my excitement. I'm a wee bit nervous about being on my own for the first week (I asked, but none of the other women on the trip will be arriving as early), but not nearly as much as I was before I went to Bangkok and Bhutan last year. At least I'll speak a bit of the language in Peru!
For now, I need to start my historical and cultural research so I'm mentally prepared for the trip. First on my list is reading Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams.
If any of you have been to Machu Picchu, I'd sure love to hear any suggestions you might have.
