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A cheap airfare to Peru adventure"CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU"
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11-02-1997 CUZCO, Peru — Machu Picchu may have taken my breath away, but Cuzco stole my heart. Perched at 8,000-foot elevation in the Andes, the Incan ruins are stunning, awe-inspiring remnants of an ancient civilization. But Cuzco, perched even higher in the Andes at 11,500 feet, breathes life into the Inca heritage, blending history and art, culture and language into a delicate balance between then and now. CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU Machu Picchu is stark, still, a hushed reverence captured in the light of dawn. Cuzco is vendors lining the street, flute music floating on a breeze, uniformed children tumbling home from school. Machu Picchu is at the end of a long, winding road, on the edge of nowhere. Cuzco is at the center of everything. Even its name — Qosqo, in the Quechuan Indian language — means “navel” or “center.” I spent nearly two weeks in Peru, traveling with my sister, Candy Schäer-Johnson. Cuzco was our hub, with trips out to Machu Picchu and Manu National Park. We closed out the trip with two nights in Lima, Peru’s capital city of 7 million. Cuzco CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU A fellow who’d flown to Cuzco once before told me to expect a “squishy” airplane landing. He was right. Guiding a jet onto a runway at 11,500-foot elevation is no easy task. Nor is breathing. Short of breath as soon as I stepped off the plane, I did what all the tour books advise: I went straight to the hotel and took a three-hour nap.
CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU Tour guides also are big on pushing coca-leaf tea, a bitter green brew that some think helps the altitude adjustment. The tea made me sick to my stomach and did nothing for altitude relief. Others, though, said it helped tremendously. Whatever choice you make, remember to take it slowly that first day, resting often, especially when climbing any of Cuzco’s many hills. CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU Cuzco caters to tourists. The dropping-off point for many side trips, it’s the hub of south-central Peru. As such, and as you’d expect, it can feel a tad cheesy, with souvenir vendors rushing up to every bus, even those stopped briefly in traffic. Once you get used to that, though, you discover a city rich in history, from ancient ruins on outlying hillsides to several museums and cathedrals in the heart of town. Can't find what you need? Try a Google Web Search in the box below!
CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU We took an afternoon city tour that ended up stretching past nightfall. It was a somewhat tedious, offering little more than basic guidebook information.Still, the tour is a good way to get a feel for the overall city, identifying the places you’d like to spend more time at later. It’s also a way to understand Peruvian history, learning to recognize the Incan foundations that support churches and other structures built by Spanish conquistadors. The Spaniards tore down the Incan buildings to their foundations, then rebuilt the structures using the same stones.
CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU The joke is that during major earthquakes, Spanish-built structures have tumbled to the ground while Incan stonework remained standing.
CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU Cuzco has a number of good restaurants, but be warned: One of the food staples in the region is guinea pig, known as “cuy.” I couldn’t bring myself to order it, but my sister tried it. She made the obligatory joke — “tastes like chicken” — but gave the meal decent marks. You’ll even find cuy in Cuzco’s main cathedral. In Cuzco’s version of The Last Supper, an oil painting on a canvas more than 12 feet tall, Christ and his disciples are eating guinea pig. Judas, of course, is a Spaniard. The only thing more prevalent than guinea pig in Cuzco is the song “El Condor Pasa,” the Peruvian folk song that Simon and Garfunkel brought into the world’s spotlight. (“I’d rather be a hammer than a nail, if I could, if I only could …”)Before you go, work on tuning out that tune. Then you can enjoy the rest of Peru’s folk music, a lyrical combination of flutes and strings, without going into “Condor Pasa” overload.
CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU Machu Picchu In some ways, Machu Picchu is the Disneyland of Peru. It attracts more visitors than any other tourist site — thousands a day — and it generates the congestion you’d expect to find at any major U.S. tourist attraction. And if Machu Picchu is Disneyland, the train ride there is an E-ticket ride. We boarded the yellow-and-orange train before dawn, click-clacking our way up a back-and-forth track as we left Cuzco.
CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU The trip takes several hours, dropping to about 8,000 feet. It offers glimpses of Andean farm life as well as changing landscapes, shifting from arid plains to dense forests.
CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU The bus ride up the hill to Machu Picchu is almost as dramatic, careening along a steep dirt road that zigzags up a lush mountainside.Wild-growing fuchsias are visible from the windows as the bus brushes past vegetation. My botany-trained sister and I dubbed the flowers fuchsia blurrius because the bus ride was so bumpy. Bus after bus unloads passengers at the top of the hill, and most tourists choose to begin the trek with a two-hour guided walk into Machu Picchu. It’s a good way to get basic background about this Incan gathering spot, which thrived in the mid-1400s. Most of the history is speculation, with some disagreement as to how many people lived at Machu Picchu and what various buildings were used for. What isn’t in dispute is the amazing work that went into building the mountainside city.
CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU During the mid-day tours, Machu Picchu is crowded. Those who spend the night at Machu Picchu’s only hotel, though, can stay later, until dusk, and get started earlier, at dawn, enjoying the ruins at less crowded times. Rooms are limited, so book early. Our most enjoyable time at the ruins was late afternoon the first day, when we could walk alone amid the stonework, rubbing hands against the massive rocks as the wind whispered down the mountainside. On the trip back, skip the drab cafeteria lunch at the hotel and take the first bus downhill. There, you can have lunch and do some souvenir shopping in the small town of Machu Picchu, before catching the train home.The trip downhill also is part of the Machu Picchu experience. A young boy, playing the role of an Incan “chasqui,” or courier, runs through the forest, stopping at each roadside turn to wave at the bus and scream, “Goooood-byyyyyyye.” At the bottom of the hill, the sweaty and winded boy hops aboard the bus to collect well-earned tips from the tourists. Our chasqui was 8-year-old Vladmiro, whose bright smile earned a huge round of applause from the passengers. Heading home By the time we returned to Lima — after Cuzco, after Machu Picchu, after the rainforest — we were exhausted, choosing to stay close to the hotel, with short walks and quiet meals. My only sense of that city is that it is huge and humid. Limans poke fun at Cuzco, thinking of it as less sophisticated, quaint and folksy, like a clumsy country cousin. Can't find what you need? Try a Google Web Search in the box below!
CHEAP AIRFARE TO PERU The driver who picked us up at the Lima airport at the end of our journey smiled and said, “Welcome back to civilization.” If I had any choice, I would’ve remained uncivilized. PERU TRAVEL TIPS: Language: A little bit of Spanish goes a long way in Peru. Because many people speak at least some English, you need not be fluent in Spanish to travel easily in Peru, especially in larger cities. Shots, pills: I was advised to take one oral vaccine (typhoid), two shots (yellow fever, hepatitis A), and anti-malarial pills. I also took along an anti-diarrhea medication and an antibiotic, neither of which I used. Transportation: If your idea of a vacation is to arrive in one place and remain there, Peru might not be a good choice. Most trips to Peru involve lots of transportation within Peru. In 12 days, for example, we took 10 plane flights, four boat rides, a round-trip train ride, several bus trips and lots and lots of walks. Cost: Our trip cost each of us between $3,000 and $4,000, including everything from air fare to souvenirs. Destinations: We stayed in Peru, but we met many travelers who combined a visit to Peru with visits to other South American countries, including Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia..... Compare a cheap airfare to Peru here /cheap airfares home |