Blahg Thoughts & Musings

  • Bucket List Trip to Machu Picchu and Galapagos (Day 1.5)

    LAX-Houston-Lima Oct. 4

    Uneventful. That’s how we like our travel to the airport and flying to our destination. And that’s what we got. The most exciting part was Mr. Rocking Red Shoes on the flight from LAX to Houston.

    Airplane lighting doesn’t do justice to the spiffy, sparkly bling on his Bose headphones. Zoom in for better effect. Mr. Rocking Red Shoe Guy played the air guitar–and I mean really really played the imaginary left hand chords–as well as air piano and drums. The. Whole. Time.

    The usual suspects. John and I are traveling with Donna on a Tauck tour that will takes us from Lima, Peru to Cusco to Machu Picchu, back to Cusco and then to Ecuador and a 7-day small ship cruise of the Galapagos Islands.

    Donna and I start our travel the way we always do. Sparkling!

    Luxury in Lima. We arrive at our hotel around 10 pm Friday night. Check in. A little more sparkling and posing out front before bedtime.

    Saturday we explore the area. Lima is the Capital of Peru, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. We learn that the sprawling city is made up of 43 districts (think: municipalities) each with their own Mayor, police and “city hall.” We are in San Isidro in south Lima, and walk to Miraflores to check out the cliffs above the beach.

    A reunion with Martha! When Donna and I finished our first Camino de Santiago (Portuguese Coastal Route ~200 miles starting in Porto), John and our friend Don met us in Santiago and then we four flew to Budapest for our first Tauck tour. A river cruise to Prague on the Danube. And that’s where we met Martha, who lives in Santa Monica. We’ve remained friends visiting each other up and down Pacific Coast Highway for seven years.

    And now we get to travel together again! Here we are along the coastal trail above the sea.

    John forgot to pack a baseball hat, but look at the dapper substitute he bought at the Mercado!

    Sunday (maƱana) Zach, our Tauck guide, will lead our group to the Main Square, local ruins, Barranco district and then the Larco Herrera Museum and a private dinner at Cafe del Museo.

    Buenos noches.