09/05/2017
✉ Letter from a traveller - Machu Picchu August 2017
My wife (age 61) and I (age 69) travelled to Machu Picchu in Peru and to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador for nearly 3 weeks in June 2017 as part of a somewhat mature group of 35 in a high-end tour offered by Tauck Tours, which is the first tour company established in the U.S. and which we highly recommend. We started with two days in Lima on our own, joining the tour group for the third day, and staying at the Belmond Miraflores Park Hotel in a very safe area, recently developed for tourism located on a cliff edge overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We walked everywhere despite being told by horrified Americans on the tour that we should have taken taxis for those distances. But walking around is how we found the local market, the old colonial houses, an ancient pyramid site, several museums, the "Bridge of Sighs" in an old hippie area now for tourists, and an amazing furniture store with products from the hinterlands. Nonetheless, we carefully followed the advice of the hotel concierge and others about the safe areas to walk and the times which were safe. We drank bottled water which was amply provided by the hotel because the Lima water is unsafe, as it is everywhere in the countries we visited: we brushed our teeth with bottled water, avoided ice cubes. salads, and unp*eled fruit. But the "Pisco Sours" were OK to drink in the hotel bar where I had a complimentary "bar tasting course" on Peru's national drink. When a server learned we were headed for Machu Picchu, she brought us a complimentary bag of coca leaves, advising us to make tea to prevent altitude sickness. After flying to Cusco, we bussed to Machu Picchu with a night in a Yucay Valley resort after a visit to an old hacienda. From there we traveled to Ollantaytambo by the Urubamba River in the Sacred Valley where we boarded a train for Aquas Clients, and then a very scary (but safe, with experienced drivers) bus ride up to the amazing Belmond Sanctuary Lodge adjacent to the entrance to Machu Picchu. We spent several delightful hours on a guided tour of the park, returning the next morning at 6:00 am for the 7:15am sunrise, only a week before the summer solstice. While waiting for the gates to open we noted that about 90% of the early travellers were in their 20's. Some energetic young Aussies stripped off their shirts after running up the steep winding road from Aguas Calientes. Those fit individuals who walked the classic 4-day MP Trail hung out at the Sun Gate, higher up on a ridge leading to the "older mountain" (Machu Picchu). But we all looked down on the iconic "younger peak" (Huayna Picchu) which stars in all the tourism photos. We did not experience any altitude sickness there. Although advised by the tour company to wear good hiking boots that protected our ankles, everyone wore well-constructed walking or running shoes. Some people used walking/hiking sticks. For dinner at the Lodge, I declined to order the deep fried Guinea Pigs - a delicacy throughout Peru - in favour of a baby Alpaca steak. Apparently, Peruvians fail to understand why we don't eat Guinea Pigs but may eat one of their valued pets, rabbits, which horrifies them. The small area around the gates was extremely busy throughout the day and there were long lineups for the buses for the return journey at the end of the afternoon. As advised, we wore wide-brimmed hats, (with geeky-looking chin straps for riding the zodiacs in the Galapagos Islands), applied 30+ SPF
Sun-screen, drank lots of water, and walked at a steady pace, thereby contributing to an incredible, enjoyable visit. The next day we travelled to Cusco by train (lunch and fashion show included in the first class coach) and bus. However when walking up a short flight of stairs in the hotel (a former monastery), I was exhausted at the top (but not my energetic spouse) although Walking around the city was fine. But I had a difficult night with little sleep due to episodic bouts of altitude sickness which felt like drowning from lack of air. I found it could be temporarily resolved by breathing more slowly and deeply and then consciously relaxing rather than panicking. We had forgotten that we could have oxygen pumped into our room via the air ducts for only $30 a day so I arranged that for the second night and slept very well, catching up on lost sleep. At the hotel front desk the next morning we saw one guest breathing from an oxygen bottle and mask, which is another option. Despite the advice from the tour director that cocatea, made available by the hotel at all times, would be a great substitute for blood pressure pills since many previous tourists found this worked for them, I decided to follow the advice of two physicians on our tour group, to continue my blood pressure pills. Nonetheless, two days before Cusco, I started taking a half pill of the altitude sickness preventive medicine prescribed by the riverside travel Medicine Clinic and found I had to visit the washrooms 3-4 times that first morning, just making it in time. It was very obvious that, for me at least, this is one of the side-effects of the prescription. So I decided that I would rather suffer altitude sickness than p*e in my pants in public. As it turned out, I got my wish for altitude sickness. When I reminded fellow travellers about the in-room oxygen option, several followed my example. Most suffering the same symptoms were in my age group. But enough of that, From Cusco we flew to Guayaquil, Ecuador, a mostly unpleasant, humid, and unsafe city. We stayed in the Oro Verde Guayaquil where our luxury rooms smelled musty, humid, and mouldy. On our return a week later we asked for another type of room and were given a VIP suite without the musty Smell. It pays to just ask. The next morning we were on our way to Genovese Island in the Galapagos island group where we went on board Isabella II, one of 5 islands we visited. It was an amazing introduction to Darwin's land, sea and air wildlife. Many of them were not so wild, such as the Blue-Footed Bo***es who were born, mated, and presumably died on the edge of the visitor paths, looking through us as if we weren't there. They are caed Bo***es for a reason (from "bobo," meaning dumb in old Spanish). We snorkeled and swam with seals, penguins, marine iguanas, and sea turtles. We went face-to-face with frigate birds, iguanas, seals, varieties of Bo***es and, of course, the famous huge tortoises at a sanctuary. We sought out a rare owl but missed the pink flamingos, one of the "Wildlife Big 10". The guides were very excited that we came within 20 feet of a mother Blue Whale teaching her calf to dive deep. We were aware that this closeness would not be permitted in most other places in the world and were thankful, not just that the ship's Captain picked us up as the sunset brought on dusk, but that the whales did not surface under our zodiacs. The only down side to the week was that we, along with about half our group, developed persistent dry coughs that took another 6-7 weeks to go away. Passing on the infection was
facilitated by the very few hand-sanitizing stations throughout the vessel and the apparent lack of attention given by the ship's very able but busy doctor to preventive measures for passengers and crew. Anyway, we drank lots of safe water provided on the vessel together with Vitamin Candy throat lozenges which we always carry as part of our travel basics. And we survived the daily snorkelling adventures in the cool sea because the tour provided wet suits as well as two suits for the colder dips. So we now bask in great memories of a trip that was on the top of our travel bucket list. I continue to sort through about 1,000 of my amateur photos while my wife has already shared with others the far superior shots taken on her smartphone. We trust your visit to Peru and Ecuador is a safe and enjoyable as ours, made possible in part with the expert advice and support of the Riverside Travel Medicine Clinic.
