Today, David flew to Santiago, Chile. He left the apartment at 4:30 to make his 7:00AM flight. His business down there will wrap up tomorrow and he will be home around 1:00AM on Thursday morning.

“Meanwhile, back at the ranch”, Pam and I spent the day in Garmarra, which is the garment district in Lima. It was an interesting place. According to my travel guide, there are some 17,00 small and medium businesses spread over 20 blocks. The businesses in Gamarra do over $800 million a year and provide jobs for approximately 70,000 people. Most of the business is wholesale with half going for export and the rest of the clothes going to shops in Lima and all over the country.

The streets are closed off to traffic and there are many, many people. Pam and I walked around for a couple of hours. There were malls, stalls and small stores full of any kind of clothing you can imagine and all kinds of fabric and sewing notions. I bought a “Nike” baseball hat for running!!!!! Nothing more!!!

We made our way back to our district of Miraflores and ate lunch. Then, we said our good-byes as Pam is heading back to Canada for family time. She will be back in September. Safe travels, Pam…what is the song “See you in September”!!!

This Saturday, David and I leave for Cusco this Saturday for a week. Cusco is the historic capital of the Inca Empire and today, is the capital of Cusco Region. It is about a two hour flight from Lima. We will spend a couple of nights getting acclimated to the altitude. Cusco is at 10,800 ft. The rest of the trip will be spent hiking and camping for a couple of nights. We couldn’t get a spot to hike the Inca Trail. That is booked until September. So, we have opted to hike Weaver’s Way which will take us through a couple of villages of indigenous people. After our hike, we will take the train to Aguas Caliente where we will spend two nights so that we can explore Machu Picchu for two days. The trip will end with a train trip back to Cusco for our last night and then a flight back to Lima on Saturday, May 17.

Machu Picchu is the “Lost Inca City” and was recently voted as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. This Inca city was built in 1450s and the Incas lived there for approximately 100 years. Fortunately, the Spaniards never found Machu Picchu when they first arrived to Peru, as they destroyed many of their temples. It will be a great week….we are both so ready to get away and relax for awhile.

So, stay tuned for adventures from Machu Picchu…..