Day 4 - Travel to Cusco and Urubamba

 This was a very busy day. Got up at 5:15, packed, breakfast at 6, met bus at 6:40, at Lima airport by 8 am, flew to Cusco arriving 10:45, got on bus at 11:15, visited an amazing weaving center at elevation 12,000 ft, drove through stunning scenery to the sacred valley, and got to our hotel around 3 pm. Quite a day!

The Lima airport is modern and efficient and with Patti’s help we got to the plane without incident.  The one hr flight was crammed full, mostly with tourists but was smooth until the Cusco approach- a narrow valley, mountains on both sides, and a fast hard landing.  The Cusco airport is small but clean nice and efficient.  The  11,000 ft elevation was immediately noticeable with some shortness of breath.   Jews from the bus emphasized the mountain setting and the narrow valley filled with people. Cusco has about 1 million. The weaver center, at over 12,000 ft, was amazing  we had demonstrations of yarn dye making and yarn spinning, weaving, as well as got to feed Alpacas  there were amazing tapestries, some for $5,000 or more!  Just for fun there was even a cat sleeping a basket of yarn and young boy trying to be in the middle everything!

When we reached the Urubamba River and the Sacred Valley we struck by the grandeur and beauty.  We were also blessed with gorgeous weather!  The reality of the villages once we entered them was not so nice ramshackle buildings, a very rough main road, dirt side roads, and crazy traffic was a big contrast  we were worried about our hotel in the town of Urubamba and as the bus turned down an even rougher and narrow side road our worries doubled!

We exited the bus, got our luggage and walked through a large gate - and entered paradise!  The hotel is spread across a landscaped sanctuary full of flowers, trees and extensive lawns.  The essence of travel is unexpected and unique experiences  we look forward to a lovely and relaxing stay here!