Our trip started like all family trips start - other parents out there, you know what I am talking about. Crazy last minute packing, items forgotten anyway, and wondering how the plane trip/security/train trip/etc. etc. etc. is going to play out when travelling with kids.
We left for DIA on May 31st, 2014 with eight bags to be checked, and 5 carry-ons - it was nuts, but surprisingly not as bad as some previous trips in that the kids are big enough to drag bags too.
We flew to Dallas, and then ran to make our connection to Lima, Peru. In Lima, we went through immigration and customs, and then hung out at the airport from midnight to 6:00am waiting for our next flight. I was quite apprehensive when we booked this, wondering how the kids and hubby (and myself) would do with no sleep, and random airport food in another country - but it all went quite smooth. A slept in the airport, and N waited until we were on our last flight to finally conk out.
The early morning flight from Lima to Cusco, Peru was breathtaking, with the sun just coming up and the beautiful, stark mountain terrain. The Cusco airport was like any small town airport that sees a constant influx of tourists (this is the main starting point for all Machu Picchu trips) and we were immediately swept up by luggage cart sharks - who ultimately after wheeling 4 bags each on a cart, all of 100ft to our car, shamelessly expected 20 Nuevo Soles each, about the equivalent of 8 US dollars as tip. We did read about these guys after the fact in our guide book :P
But here, is where the true craziness and our first HUGE stroke of luck came into play.
As C went to get our luggage (and deal alone with the sharks - totally my fault on this one), I headed off to the train counter to pick up our tickets for our train later in the week. Unfortunately, the lady at the ticket counter needed to see the credit card I had purchased them with several months ago. Uh oh - I didn't have it, but then she said that she just needed the last four digits and the expiration so I dug through my bag looking through my various paperwork to see if I had it. No luck.
So that would have to wait until later when I could email home for the information. Unfortunately, in the hustle and bustle of trying to get the train tickets, find our ride outside of the airport, and deal with the luggage sharks, I left one of our carry-on bags sitting at the train counter. Yes people, I straight up LEFT the bag with all of the goods that I didn't trust to be checked on the airline (our new $500 camera, all of our medicines including malaria prophylaxis and my thyroid meds, our toothbrushes, well, you get the point). So we left the airport on our merry way to our hotel, and didn't realize until we arrived at the hotel that the ever important 'small blue' bag, soon to be translated to a panicked 'pequeño azul' was not with us.
At this point, I asked the front desk for a taxi back to the airport, they called one and I paced outside of the hotel waiting for it to arrive. After about 20 (felt like A LOT longer) minutes, the car arrived and this is when I met my favorite driver who will be mentioned several times again, Javier. The desk clerk explained the situation, and Javier drove me like a bat out of hell back to the airport - I would have been a little worried by the Indy 500 style moves under any other circumstances, but it this case, I was so grateful.
We arrived back at the airport and I did a quick scan of the parking lot to see if I had left it sitting by the car, no luck. Javier wisked me inside and right up to the counter where I asked several people 'habla inglés' until I found someone that spoke english. I speak very little Spanish, and my emotional state of mind had reduced this to no Spanish beyond 'pequeño azul.'
The woman I spoke with listened attentively, and when I asked if I can go and look around the baggage claim area, the answer was a firm 'no.' I tried to explain again, thinking she didn't understand, but again, 'no' and then 'please wait here.' At this point I am standing at the counter feeling the minutes of hope that my bag isn't stolen, or rifled through ticking away. I look back at Javier and he is just waiting patiently, giving me his best 'don't worry' expression.
Finally, the ticket counter woman reappears and says, 'come with me please.' I wasn't sure if this was a good or bad sign, but at least we were doing something. We went outside to the little gate manned by the equivalent of a 'rent-a-cop' security guard, and the woman proceeded to explain the situation to the security guard in crazy fast spanish. Interestingly, this is also the gate where all of the people that are waiting for someone to come off of a plane also wait - so, it just so happens that a large part of that group is listening to the story along with the security guard. They looked at the guard, then looked at me, back at the guard, and then finally the guard shakes his head 'no' and moves back from the gate. 'What?!?!?!' is screaming in my head as the 'waiting group' looks at me with a mix of pity and amusement. The woman raises her voice and continues to plead my case to the guard and I am trying not to go full blown crazy as tends to happen when I near the edge emotionally when a more formal, non-rent-a-cop type walks over to the gate. The ticket woman regains her professional demeanor and again, recounts the situation to the fancy guard. He looks at me, squints his eyes, like a aura type lie detector, and then....opens the gate!!!
In we go to the baggage area as the fancy guard is talking to the woman. She says to me, 'yes, they have a blue bag, but you will have to describe what is inside.' We continue back toward the train counter and the man picks up MY BAG. At this point, I lose it and start crying, making my face go all red/purple and making the fancy guard extremely uncomfortable. The ticket woman looks at the tag on the bag (That was totally C's idea - I was all 'why would we need it on a carry-on?) and shows that the tag matches my boarding pass. She gives it to me, and I hug her (yep!), she just patted my back like I was a child - pretty cool from a complete stranger. I am guessing that I may have been the story in response to the 'how was your day, honey?' when she got home that night. After that, I wheeled my little blue bag back out of the building, past the group of waiting people, several of which cheered for me, and that made me laugh, despite also feeling like I was going to throw up - both because of how completely stupid and careless that I was, and combining that with how unbelievably lucky we were to get it back.
Javier drove me back to the hotel with several consoling noises and smiles (he spoke no english) and up to the room I went. Thankfully no judgment from C, and we settled in to the hotel for a few hours before deciding to venture out for dinner.
Why not start off with a bang?
Our next two days were spent in the small town of Ollantaytambo. We stayed at the Hostal Iskay, which was a nice, no frills place built right into the side of the hill, using walls left by the Incas.
One of the coolest parts of this town was the first chance to see the Incan aqueduct system in action. They basically siphon off parts of the rivers and divert them in a fast flowing gutter (2ft wide by 2ft deep) system all throughout the town next to the walkways. We wondered on the use(s) of the water, assuming that it was pumped into the various 'home' cubicles built within the stone walls, but we also saw one woman washing her clothes out on the pathway, so it appears that it is used for whatever is needed.
This is a very small town with a main square, a train station and a variety of hostels, shops and restaurants. You can tell that many of the shops cater to your typical backpacker crowd, with all sorts of organic, 'all-natural' labeling.
One thing I have to mention is that Peru has a fantastic dark beer called Cusqueña Negra - I had my first one here in Ollantaytambo and subsequently took advantage on many occasions, knowing there would be no such dark beer when we get to Ecuador. I will have to scope out any potential suppliers back in the USA, yes, it was that good :)
