FLIGHTS THROUGH THREE SECTORS: IN TRANSIT FROM LIMA TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018

FLIGHTS THROUGH THREE SECTORS: IN TRANSIT FROM LIMA TO CUZCO, FROM CUZCO TO QUITO AND FROM QUITO TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Today was devoted entirely to traveling from Cuzco in Peru to Baltra airport on Seymour Island in the Galapagos in Ecuador. Since our flight would leave Cuzco airport at 5.40 am, we were picked up by pre-arranged mini-van at 3.30 am and driven there in order to arrive at 4.00 am. We flew by LATAM Airlines from Cuzco to Lima where we arrived at 7.00 am on the very day that our friend Mukaram would be cremated.  His cremation was scheduled for 6.30 pm. Of course, we were all still in deep shock and extreme mourning and still in a state of disbelief and denial. Our connecting LATAM flight left Cuzco two hours later at 9.00 am—which left us only enough time to find our way to our departing gate for our journey to Quito, capital of Ecuador.  We had a very nice touch down in the city that is ringed by the Andes Mountains and seems to be built in tiers on its lower slopes—all this was clearly evident from the air. It was 11.30 am when we arrived in Quito. We did not have much time there either as we had yet another connecting flight that would transport us to Baltra airport. We were struck by the irony of the fact that the last words we had spoken to Shahnaz before we took our leave of her at Lima airport was that we would see her and Mukaram at Baltra airport.  Little did we know that by the time we reached Baltra, Mukaram would be no more and the family would, in fact, be participating in his cremation. It was truly unfathomable and throughout the flights, we were in a very somber mood as we each tried to make sense of the events that had transpired.

         In Quito, we had to go through a series of formalities that involved buying a permit card to visit the Galapagos Islands that cost us $20 a piece. That done, our baggage was very carefully screened for any biological material—flowers, fruits, animal, bird or insect life. It was obvious that screening is both strict and necessary (as it is in Hawai’i) as the islanders do not want to introduce any life that will be detrimental to the delicate eco-system that they have tried so hard to preserve. 

         Our final flight left Quito at 1.00 pm and, two hours later, after flying over the Pacific Ocean for what felt like forever, land—a series of islands actually—became visible in a haze. We touched down at Baltra airport on Seymour Island at 2.30 pm local time which was one hour behind Quito time. 

         We had finally arrived at the Galápagos Islands! Another Bucket List item could be ticked off! From the air, this part of the Galapagos appeared dry and arid—like an endless desert. We had a great number of formalities to go through upon disembarking. Once again, our baggage was screened with a fine comb.  We also had to pay $100 each for a visit permit or entry card into the Galápagos Islands. When it was all done, we were able to leave the airport precincts to meet with Ricardo, our tour representative, who had organized transport for us to our hotel.

         We piled into the large bus with a number of other passengers and drove through arid waste lands for about 20 minutes to a ferry pier from where we had our baggage switched into a small ferry to cross the Ithabacca Canal that runs between the South side of Seymour Island and the island of Santa Cruz—a crossing of no more than fifteen minutes.  However, this crossing provided our first impressions of the wonderful and abundant wild life of these amazing islands for they were teeming with bird life. As soon as we were aboard and wearing our life jackets, Ricardo began to point out the interesting species of birds whirling all around us—we saw pelicans, storks, cormorants as well as black frigates and blue-footed boobies. Yes, birds with the most peculiar names and the craziest characteristics are to be found here.

An Introduction to the Galápagos Islands:

          So here is a little introduction to these most interesting islands. The Galapagos consists of an archipelago of 13 islands that are scattered over a wide expanse in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador.  They lie exactly on zero latitude, i.e. directly on the equator (after which the country Ecuador, of course, is named).   Of the 13 islands, only 8 are inhabited. Most people arrive in the Galapagos and board cruise ships on which they spend 4-6 days sailing from one island to the next. The most popular and inhabited of the islands is called Santa Cruz, and its busiest town is called Porta Ayora.  This is where we would be based for the next 4 nights as we hoped to take in some of the most intriguing bird and animal life on the planet.

A Surprise Tour of Sant Cruz Island:

         However, much to our surprise, Ricardo had a tour planned for us even before our arrival at our hotel. He told us that he would be taking us to a couple of interesting places as a bonus. As we had not paid for this tour, we had mixed feelings about it. We had been awake since 3.00 am and had been looking forward to relaxing in our hotel. Instead of which we would need to traipse around locations of which we had no idea what to expect.

         Still, we decided to make the best of it. Ricardo piled the four of us and one more passenger called Rene Hemmings, a German photographer, into a mini-van that then took us through the heart of the island of Santa Cruz towards the south. As we drove deeper into the island, the vegetation turned dramatically and we noticed our surroundings get much more green and verdant.

El Chato Tortoise Reserve:

         About a half hour later, after a slight drizzle had dampened the air and the earth, we pulled into El Chato Tortoise Reserve, where as Ricardo explained, we would be seeing the islands’ famous giant tortoises in their natural habitat.  We would be led on a walking tour by Ricardo through vast grounds and, before long, we began to see the tortoises. They were humongous to say the least. However, the rain had played a number on their movement and most of them remained inert for the entire tenure of our stay there. What was also quite fascinating about the venue was that it was a wild guava orchard. Guavas happen to be the tortoises’ favorite food—as, in fact, it happens to be my favorite fruit! We reached out to the lowest branches and plucked some ripe guavas off the tree and found them to be pink as roses and delectably sweet. Of course, we kept munching on freshly-plucked guavas throughout our stay in the reserve.

         It was not long before Ricardo gave us a few facts about the habitats of the tortoises on the Galápagos Islands. They have been around in this part of the world since pre-historic times and have never had any predators—except, of course, somewhat disgracefully, human beings. As a result, they grew to enormous proportions over a hundred years which is their average lifespan. Between the 16-18th centuries, pirates and whalers who came aboard on their vessels, found these gentle, docile animals and began to hunt them down—for their meat and for the oil that they used for their lamps.  On many of the islands, therefore, the giant tortoises became extinct.  There is a great deal of scientific research being conducted on these islands today to try to study, preserve and introduce endangered species into their natural habitats. Thankfully, the Save the Tortoise program had been very successful and they are multiplying rapidly and can be seen today on all the inhabited islands. 

         As we walked through the reserve, we arrived at a lagoon where we saw about a dozen giant tortoises of varied sizes wallowing in the water.  They too remained immobile as the rain continued to keep their heads hidden in their shells. When we had taken our fill of photographs with the tortoises, had walked with them quite fearlessly as they are far from shy or abashed, we went on for a long walk to the next item on our agenda.

Exploring the Lava Tunnels:

         An abundance of lava tunnels are to be found all over the Galápagos Islands, an interesting result of the volcanic activity that has taken place through the centuries in this part of the globe. Due to seismic and geological action, gases that had collected in the core of the earth pushed the earth forward above them. They then evaporated and left these long tunnels that can now be explored.  There is not much to see inside the tunnels. Except for the fact that they are very low, very narrow and pitch dark (and lit by electric lights), they would probably be of most interest to geologists or other scientists. 

         When the walk through the tunnels was over, we stopped for a refreshing cup of hot lemongrass tea, chatted a bit with our fellow-passengers and then piled back into the mini-van for the ride to our hotel.

Checking into our Hotel:

         Checking into our hotel, Hotel Aquamarine, offered one more annoying experience. We discovered that our hotel had given away our rooms (probably because the tour had delayed us as they thought we were no shows) and were trying to shove us off to a two-storied private house that resembled an Air B&B. They told us that it was a place that was connected with their hotel. As I climbed the stairs to the second floor, I realized that they were trying to pull a fast one on us. I showed them our registration number that clearly proved we had confirmed accommodation. I protested about the haphazard arrangements, but again, since we had woken up at 3.00 am and been on the go until 7.30 pm, I was not about to create too much of a stink. However, I did let the hotel personnel know that I was far from happy about the arrangements.  Later, Llew told them that he would be lodging a complaint with our travel agent in the US as well as giving them a bad review on social media. 

         In a triple bedroom with attached bath that had no air-conditioning, no telephone and no reception, we attempted to settle down when Llew arrived to tell me that they were moving us to another hotel that was on the next block. And so we found ourselves in Galápagos Islands Hotel that we first decided to check out before we moved in our things.  Danny, the hotel assistant, drove us there.  We were quite content with the new place and soon enough we were ensconced there. Liliana, the receptionist, welcomed us, gave us the room key and saw us to our new rooms on the upper floor.  This was a six-bedded room that was really huge as was the en suite bathroom. We did not waste too much time getting settled in before we realized how hungry we were and decided to go out for dinner.

Our first meal on the Galápagos Islands:

         Our friend Blair (who was deeply focused on food), had found out that there was a whole row of little restaurants that offered typical Ecuadorian food on the island of Santa Cruz and we set out to find it with a rather sketchy map. When we eventually found the street, our inability to speak Spanish led us to believe that they would not accept US dollars even though this is the official currently of Ecuador. Poor Llew set out to find an ATM or a Currency Exchange place as we had no Ecuadorian dollars. A whole 45 minutes later, during which I was on tenterhooks wondering where he had sauntered to (given his poor sense of direction and lack of a map), we ordered a bottle of beer and tried to stay calm. Then Chriselle and Blair went out to find him and returned 10 minutes later drawing a blank—much to my greater alarm. Luckily, five minutes later, he arrived and all was well.

         We ended up ordering Shrimp Encocado which is Shrimp in Coconut Sauce and Fish and Shrimp Encocado (both national Ecuadorian dishes) that were both delectable and reminiscent of Manglorean Coconut Milk Curry.  We thoroughly enjoyed our meal despite our fatigue and our misadventures.

         We also ran into serious trouble trying to find our hotel when it was almost midnight and after we had been up since forever.  Overall, my mind blanked out and stopped working altogether.  I left it to the others to figure out a route which they eventually did but not before making the entire operation feel like a major ordeal. These were some of the inconveniences we encountered in our travels, but we took them in our stride because that is exactly what travel throws at you.

         Back in our hotel, we all passed out as soon as our heads hit our pillows.

         Until manana, adios...

  

JOURNEY TO MACHU PICHU: IN THE LOST CITY OF THE INCAS

MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2018

JOURNEY TO MACHU PICHU: IN THE LOST CITY OF THE INCAS

Machu Pichu is the reason we traveled to Peru. It is the Bucket List item we wished to explore. We fully expected it to be one of the highlights of our trip. To that end, we were not vexed at having to wake up at 4.10 am for a 4.50 am pick-up from our hotel in Cuzco (Imagen Plaza Hotel). Through the dead-silent streets of the fabled city nestled high in the elevations of the Andes Mountains, our van sped to Poroy Railway Station, some 30 minutes away. We left the sophistication of Cuzco behind, in about fifteen minutes, and were in the poverty-stricken heart of Peru: low brick structures are unplastered, stray dogs abounded—they are appealingly furry and completely unaggressive. 

         When we arrived  at Poroy, we joined a short queue to obtain our tickets through the exchange of our vouchers. Daylight was just beginning to break and we could see our train—the Machu Pichu Special—awaiting the boarding of passengers. We purchased cups of warming coffee and munched on granola bars before we jumped on the train through our assigned seats. 

On the Machu Pichu Special:

         The train was beautiful. It reminded us of the special Royal Scotsman and Rocky Mountain Highlander trains that have glass roofs and balcony lookout cars. Our seats were extremely comfortable and within minutes of our journey, we were delighted to find a refreshments’ trolley being wheeled through the carriages doling out hot drinks (we chose lovely stimulating Inca tea made with coca leaves and eucalyptus) and were given a small anise and oregano-flavored muffin.  We left the suburbs of Cuzco behind and found fields, cattle and shepherd huts flying by.  It was not long before we started to near the foothills of the mountains and in the distance, we spied the ice-encrusted peaks of the Andes towering above us. We ate our tasty breakfasts and made our way to the look-out carriage to take stirring pictures of the passing landscape.  Swiftly-rushing icy streams filed with rounded stones passed us by. The entire journey was spectacular. We were thrilled by it and our sense of anticipation for what we would find in Machu Pichu increased by the minute. An hour later, the trolley arrived again to dole out hot Andean corn and cheese and rolls filled with ham and cheese with more hot drinks. We received better service on this Inca Railway than we had on many international airlines! About three hours later, we arrived at the end of the train line, the town of Agua Calientas, (‘hot springs’ in Spanish and named for them) that has developed into a kitschy tourist Mecca with rows of shops selling souvenirs and knitted and woven native wares of the Quechua people who populate these highlands. 

Final Lap of Journey by Bus:

         We made inquiries and found the ticket window to buy bus tickets for the final lap of the journey to Machu Pichu. It cost $24 round trip—passports are required everywhere for purchase of tickets in Peru. Ten minutes later, we found the bus stop and the green Ecologique mini-buses that take passengers up the hairpin bends of the Andean Mountains to get them to the hidden city of the Incas. The bus journey is equally spectacular for around every curve there lies the sight of verdant mountains draped with tropical vegetation and an abundance of wild flowers—-bromeliads, birds of Paradise, crab claws and hundreds of cacti and succulents. 

         About 25 minutes later, with the Andes ascending all around us, we were deposited at Machu Pichu base, where at 10.00 am crowds were already thick and the sun was already hot.

It was necessary to find our bearings and to discover that our tickets permitted entry from 11.00 am onwards. We kept our eyes open for a tour guide—the place was simply milling with them—and chose a guy who called himself Milton.  He charged us 40 soles for a private tour in English—a steal, we thought. With instructions from him to return to an appointed spot on the square in an hour, we set out to kill time.

On the Inca Trail:

         The legendary Inca Trail is named after the Incas, the fabulous dynasty of powerful kings who ruled Peru before the arrival of the colonials. Francisco de Pissarro arrived in Peru in 1534 and immediately began to create a strategy that would defeat the Incas, bring Christianity to Peru and destroy most of the incredible legacy they had created. We have friends who have walked the Inca Trail from Cuzco to Machu Pichu—a trek on foot that takes 5 days and 4 nights with camps at varied Inca ruins along the trail in what is known as the Sacred Valley. The last part of the Trail ended in Machu Pichu and it was on that final stretch that we decided to stretch our own legs. Leaving our friend Blair seated on a low wall in the shade, the three of us, Llew, Chriselle and I, set off to walk the Hiking Trail.  We realized, before long, that it sinks deep into the valley which is reached by a steep flight of stone steps.  As we did not wish to tire ourselves out, we trekked on it for about fifteen minutes before starting to climb back to base. For a lot of the time, we were out of breath as we summoned all the reserves of energy and stamina of which we were capable to enjoy the immensity and magic of the site.

         At the top again, we rewarded ourselves with cups of tasty gelato—passion fruit, custard apple and chocolate—and before long, it was time to reconnect with Milton and begin our walking tour. By 11.00 am, with the first set of visitors (who had been there at dawn) ending their visit to the site, it was free for the exploration of the second lot—to which we belonged.

Touring Machu Pichu—Some General Impressions:

         By the end of our three hour tour of Machu Pichu, my mind was adrift with so many impressions and so much understanding of the site and its significance that I was deeply grateful we had such a good guide and such an incredible opportunity. Although I still have not processed all the complexities of the site, now considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO heritage site, this is what I came away with.

          The site was probably built by an Inca chief called Pachacutek who ruled over Peru until the arrival of the Spaniards, led by Francisco de Pissarro, in 1541. The site was probably chosen for its inaccessibility—it is tucked away in the folds of the Andes mountains amidst towering peaks, one of which the Incas called Machu Pichu (in other words, for the Incas, Machu Pichu, or more properly Huayna Pichu) was the name of the large conical mountain in whose shadow the town was built. The Incas were constantly at war with neighboring dynasties and the importance of finding a site from which to rule that was hidden away and challenging to reach, was imperative. 

         In addition to functioning as an impenetrable fortress, the site was a means by which to show off the sophistication of Inca architecture. Indeed, you have to be at the spot to marvel at the manner in which rocks weighing tons were hauled up the mountains and brought to the site.  In course of time, it was found to be more practical to cut and hew the rocks in situ-hence, quarries developed and refined methods of fashioning volcanic black stones out of the native rock were created—the use of hammers to chisel out ridges that were filled with wooden staves and water was explained to us. When the water froze, the staves expanded and pushed the ridge out to create perfect blocks of stone that were then placed atop each other to build walls—the same black stone walls that are still evident in the Church of Coricancha in Cuzco. Architectural features at Michu Pichu include temples, homes, palaces (to house nobility), etc. In addition to being built with a superb sense of architectural precision and durability, they also show knowledge of astronomy—in particular, the movement of the sun around the earth with special reference to the Summer and Winter Solstice. Hence, the dates of June 21 and December 21 each year bring thousands of pilgrims up the mountain to the site as Machu Pichu was also a sacred space built in reverence with nature and the elements—an understanding of the sun, the moon and their relation to the earth was very important to the Incas. Being that it was a sacred space, there are altars on which sacrificial rituals were carried out—both llamas and human beings were sacrificed in homage to the Gods. Furthermore, the presence of certain creatures that were sacred to the Incas-condors, snakes, pumas, for example—recur in the iconography that one finds at the site. 

         To walk through the man-made magnificence of Machu Pichu, set amidst the natural wonders of the emerald-clad mountains, is to use up every bit of stamina you possess for there are endless flights of stairs to be scaled, hewn out of giant rocks, some of which are original and others more recently reconstructed.  In fact, 60% of Machu Pichu is original, the rest refabricated in accordance with archeological understanding of the manner in which the city was constructed. 

         So how was this splendid township discovered? Apparently, the lack of fresh water (the only source being the river Urubamba that flows in the canyon below) led to the abandonment of the site by the Incas. Through the centuries, it fell into utter ruin. The Inca Trail that had led to it and the town itself were fully overtaken by the thick tropical vegetation that surrounds this area. Hence, the Spaniards never did find it (it remains a speculation exactly what they might have done, had they found it). It was only in 1911 that Hiram Bingham, a Yale archeologist, arrived in Peru, convinced that there was a Lost City of the Incas called Vicuhambra to be found somewhere in the area of Cuzco. He apparently asked the native people if they knew of any ruins in the vicinity.  They led him to the site that had fallen to complete disuse. Bingham returned in 1912 and 1915 to carry out a series of excavations that brought the fabled site to the attention of the world. Hence, he is still credited with discovering the venue in its modern avatar. 

         Since its discovery, a century ago, Machu Pichu has grabbed the attention of the world. Today, tourists and hikers throng its environs, each taking away something different from it. The crowds can be overwhelming, the heat can be oppressive (especially if one is coming from Cuzco where it is freezing and one is clad like an Eskimo). One keeps peeling layers off as each flight of challenging stairs is conquered. Everywhere, there is something to catch the eye—other than the dominating presence of the magical mountain itself (which hikers still scale on a daily basis), there are steps cut into the mountain side, once used for the cultivation of corn, potatoes, squash, tubers and today covered with vivid green grass. There is flora to catch the eye—bromeliads in vivid colors. There is fauna (llamas and their fawns are everywhere obliging tourists by posing for pictures) that are not found in other parts of the world such as llamas and alpaca (with which I absolutely fell in love for they are adorable). 

         After two or more hours, Milton took his leave of us. We were left to appreciate the site and do what we wished—meditate, pay, write poetry or make journal notes. We chose to say a prayer (at exactly 2.00 pm) for our friend Mukarram who lay in a coma in a hospital in Lima. About a half hour later, we decided to tread our way down the mountainside to arrive at base from where we could hop into a bus down the mountain back to Agua Caliente. 

         Machu Pichu had left us filled with wonder and appreciation for the expertise of the Incas.  No matter how much one has heard about this spot to actually be there, take it in through photographs (none of which do it justice), walk in the excavated remains of a glorious civilization, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that cannot easily be replicated. I had first heard of this city through the poem of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda while I was still an undergraduate in Bombay.  Little did I know that I would one day walk in the midst of this singular lost city that he so extolled through his work.  We have walked amidst the ruins of other grand civilizations—Pompei in Italy for instance, or Delos in Greece or Mohenjo-Dario in Pakistan—but at this venue, nature and man’s genius blend together so perfectly as to create a completely unique space that awes and fascinates. 

         After buying a few trinkets and souvenirs, we waited in the Waiting Room of the train station for our 4.12 pm train back to Poroy. The return journey was a re-enactment of our journey in the morning. We were each served a packet of potato crisps and a half-bottle of red or white wine which was a happy surprise to us.  Darkness fell swiftly over the mountains and when we arrived at Poroy, the cold hit us again sharply. 

         We found a taxi that took us directly to our hotel as all of us were thoroughly beat. We had a very early departure from our hotel the next day and decided to make do with the many eats we had been accumulating. Furthermore, when we arrived at our hotel and received WiFi connection, we were devastated by the news of the passing away of our friend Mukarram who suffered a cardiac arrest about a half hour after we had spent time praying for him at Machu Pichu.  A swift call to our friend Shahnaz left us even more grief-stricken and hardly able to go through the motions of showering, eating and packing up for our departure upon awaking.

         It had been such a memorable day—in so many ways. We talked about our feelings before we prayed for our friend and then fell asleep.

         Until manana, adios...

EN ROUTE TO PERU’S SACRED VALLEY

SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2018

EN ROUTE TO PERU’S SACRED VALLEY

Today we experienced one of the saddest days in my memory. It started happily enough with a reunion at breakfast with our friends from Bombay, Shahnaz and Mukarram Bhagat, who had traveled halfway around the world to take this tour with us. They had flown into Lima from New Jersey where they had been staying with relatives for a week before arriving in Peru three days before us. As a result, they had seen quite a bit of Lima and its environs before we even arrived there. The previous day, they had taken a whole day’s excursion to the south of Peru to what is known as the Nasca Lines—a series of graphics cut into the dessert. They had left our hotel at 3.00 am the previous day and returned home about 2.00 am. Needless to say, they were quite exhausted when we met them at the breakfast lounge for an affectionate reunion. Mukarram did say, however, that the tiring excursion was fully worthwhile.

         Half an hour later, we gathered our belongings together and met in the lobby of the Suites Larco Hotel for our pick-up van which was supposed to arrive at 8.00 am to take us to Lima airport for our flight to the Inca town of Cuzco in the Andes Mountains. Ten minutes later, we hopped into our mini-van and sped off to the airport with the knowledge that the Bhagat Family would follow behind us in their own mini-van. Less than an hour later, we were at Lima International Airport where we met the Bhagat children, Hasan and Azra, who were half asleep on their feet but pulled themselves together for the next leg of our journey. We checked in, got our boarding passes and began our stroll to the security gates after knowing that our flight would be leaving from Gate 12.

         As often happens when one travels with a group, we began to saunter off separately—the young folks (Chriselle, Azra and Hasan) went off to get coffee, Llew and I moved towards the shops and Shahnaz and Mukarram were in another corner of the lounges. At Gate 12, Llew settled down to watch the World Cup Football Game on a gigantic screen and we were informed that a gate change would lead to our flight taking off from Gate 1 where we all expected to reconvene. From that point on, things moved so quickly and so hazily that we are all still trying to make sense of it. Long story short, Mukarram took ill, collapsed in the airport and had immediate medical attention.  It was found that his blood pressure was very high and airline personnel who were tending to him advised him not to fly to Cuzco where altitude and elevation cause very real sickness that he would probably not be able to overcome. Shahnaz, therefore, decided to stay back with him while their children joined us as our flight departure was announced. She assured us that she and Mukarram would meet us, two days later, at Baltra Airport in the Galápagos Islands where we were next headed.

         Sadly, although our flight was delayed by almost two hours, due to crew change issues, it was only when we touched down in Cuzco, about two hours later, that the Bhagat children were told to return to Lima on the next flight. Airline personnel did not have any more information to offer but we guessed it had to do with the sudden illness of their father. We bid them goodbye and watched them leave as we wished them the very best and hoped it would not be long before they could all resume their travels with us.  Our taxi was waiting to transport Blair and the three of us to our hotel—Imagen Plaza Hotel—which we reached about a half hour later. Needless to say, we were all worried and deeply alarmed by the sudden and unexpected turn that our group tour had taken. 

         At the hotel, we checked in to discover that we were on the fourth floor of a building that had no elevator, no heating in the room, no hot water in the sink faucet (in the middle of an Andean winter) and generally a very bleak location far from the beating tourist heart of colonial Cuzco. We were most unhappy. 

         Leaving our things in our room, we decided to go out and meet the city on foot as we had a free afternoon. Blair, who was hungry, decided to go out in search of lunch. He had informed us, from information received through a fellow-passenger, that we needed to purchase tickets to Machu Pichu. Since we had none and since there were, apparently, only a limited number given out each day, we thought it would be best to investigate how we could obtain those tickets. I, therefore, read through my guide book and found out where the tourist office was located as no tickets are sold at the Machu Pichu site. Using our rather sketchy map of Cuzco, we passed the impressive church of Coricancha and arrived at the tourist office and managed to buy tickets for the three of us. Sadly, because we did not have Blair’s passport or his passport number or any way by which to reach him, we could not purchase a ticket for him. Since the next day was a Sunday and the tourist office would be closed, we became very concerned about his lack of a ticket and wondered how we could ensure that he purchased one. Our hotel was simply too far to return to without first eating dinner.

         Walking around the Plaza des Armas, we asked around for a traditional Peruvian restaurant and made our way to an eatery called DonTomas for some local delicacies. There, having finally found WiFi and a way to contact Blair, we sent him an email and gave him instructions on how to obtain a ticket.  

         In DonTomas restaurant, we decided to try the local Cuzco speciality—Cuy—which is grilled guinea pig. For starters, we ordered SoupadeCamerones(Seafood Soup in a coconut milk base) that was absolutely delicious. Our dishes arrived with a variety of sides: cooked giant local corn called maize, salad and sweet potatoes which we washed down with Pisco Sours, red wine and ChichaMoraya, a deep purple fruit juice made from corn that I wished to try. The food was fabulous and we were very pleased with our meal.

         We walked slowly back to our hotel past the very picturesque neighborhood of San Blas with its quaint narrow cobbled streets and its Church of San Blas where a wedding was in progress. In the hotel, we finally had WiFi again and managed to reach out to Shahnaz to find out how Mukarram was doing. We hoped a bit of rest had worked its magic on him.  To our horror, we learned that he had taken a very serious turn for the worse, had suffered an aneurysm following a rupture of a vein in his brain and had fallen into a coma. He was in the ICU on a ventilator in a clinic called Bella Vista close to Lima airport to which he had been rushed by airline personnel almost as soon as our flight had taken off. As we digested the gravity of the news, we assured Shahnaz of our prayers and on a shocked and extremely somber note, we made our way to our rooms.  Every single one of us was speechless and could hardly utter a word as our moods plunged despairingly following the terrible prognosis that the doctors had offered.

         Until manana, adios....