April 29/19

Cruising the river toward Rudesheim.

Katz castle near Loreley Rock at St Goar.

Then Maus Castle on left at Loreleystadt-St Goarshausen……so we have the cat and the mouse almost across the river from either, spying on each other …. hahaha!

82 ft deep at Loreley and 300+/-wide with lots of traffic on a sharp turn. Means “murmuring rock”.

Each kilometre is identified along the river. We are going from highest to lowest. Apparently when we meet the next river it reverses and starts to increase.

It is just one castle after the other. Incredible!

Rüdesheim

10,000 pop. but 3 million visitors per year.

There is a cable car up. to monument honouring the reunification of Germany. In 1853.

Siegfried Mechanical musical museum in a house from 15th & 16th century.

First built one was made in 1911

Next a crank music maker… “Harmonipan”

One with sheet metal discs built in 1900. …. “Symphonion”

Big ugly … made in Budapest in 1908.

1877 Thomas Edison grammaphone

Hupfelo maker…. 6 violins … amazing——1911. 12 left out of 500.

Next….Oldest room like Sistine chapel…… not quite but….. Frescos from 1559. Piano 1928.

Family’s chapel…. all original. Flooring tile from 1200s… older than the walls.

Onto the Mein River … 50 locks in next 4-5 days. They had to lower the sundeck because of the height of the bridges that we have to go under.

April 28/19..Woke up in Germany passing by a lot of industry. Later on passed by Dusseldorf……looked lovely with lots of the old style buildings.

Yesterday we were passing boats to the right (as we in Canada, drive on the road). Today we were travelling on the left. We wondered why. According to Mr. Google …..”The vessel which has the wind on its starboard (right) side has the right of way. The vessel which has the wind on its port (left) side must give way.” I would assume that sometime we will switch to the other side.

Cologne…. could not get off but in Zons because the lock was not working. Had to take a 40 minute bus ride.

3 million population with a 0% population growth. Lots of gardens for family use.

Canola is grown for vehicle fuel.

Biggest ethnic group is Turkish, then Italian and Spanish. They settled here after being brought in to work for a number of years but they all decided to stay.

It was founded 2000 years ago…. by the Romans. It was part of Roman Empire. The city was named after Colonia Aggripa. … a Roman girl.

Huge, huge manufacturing plant Bayer.

Used to be 400,000 working in coal mines producing 400,000 tons annually …. now only 10,000 tons are produced.

Cologne…..90% destroyed during war. 70% of city centre

“Bikes are over taking cities.” (Not just Victoria). Example ……one lane for cars with one lane each side for bicycles.

It costs 1,000,000€ just to maintain cathedral without actually cleaning the limestone.

Fast trains go 300 kms/ hour. 1.5 hr to Amsterdam from here.

During concerts at the concert hall, they put guards around courtyard …. to keep people off of what is the roof of the music hall…at a cost of 10,000€/mo….. because of the noise people, etc. created by walking or riding on it causes….. oops!!!!

There is a statue of Emperor Willheim… last Prussian emperor on horse… (by the train station and cathedral).

St. Martin church…. near by is area that was rebuilt after the war

City hall clock, in old city market

1248 Cologne Cathedral was started to be built. OMG what a spectacular cathedral! Impressed me more than probably any I have ever seen before. It is absolutely gorgeous!

Amsterdam

Vivien and I arrived in Amsterdam on Friday noon April 26/19, not too worse for wear. After picking up our luggage, we took a taxi into the city. OMG….. did not expect the 64€ bill. That’s like $96 CAD. Ouch!!! After arriving at our hotel and a short nap, we took a walk to where we were to catch the river boat the next day. We wanted to see how far we would have to walk with our luggage since the streets were all closed to motor vehicles cuz it was Kings Day. Piece of cake…… we could walk there in under a half hour. Nice that the weather was nice and sunny.

I have never seen soooooo, sooooo many bicycles in my life. Parking lots everywhere of strictly bikes…. some that have seen better days I might add. The picture I took is a 2500 bike park. There is another that is being built will be for 7000.

Jeanette arrived early the next day. We checked out and walked over…..early, to meet her. Good thing! The skies opened up and just poured…..exactly when the weather said it would. We decided we would just hang around the boat. Oh my, aren’t we boring???

8:15 am on Sunday morning we are off to a tour of the canals. There are 165 canals and 1248 bridges in Amsterdam. There are 68 locks on the river between Amsterdam and Budapest.

16 locks in the city…. flushed at least 3 times a week as needed.

700 vehicles drive into water/yr with 30 deaths. Part of getting a drivers licence is getting a lesson in crashing a vehicle into water and getting out safely. That is because of accidents that usually happen on Friday and Saturdays… when there is too much partying. They clean the canals of garbage regularly and sometime they bring up body parts. It is “always” men because when the men are out drinking they urinate into the canals, they fall into canals hitting their heads…..dying.

Some of the buildings are tilting. They are built on pilings on what was marsh.

They definitely need to clean them ASAP. It was filthy, absolutely filthy. Too much partying with the Kings Day holiday.

Oldest brick house …1590. Saw the oldest wooden house in Begijnhof built in 1528….. amazing! (Begijnhof in the past, was “hidden” housing for unmarried religious women from well healed families but who were not nuns. Now it’s for single women over 55).

It’s very lovely, safe and peaceful!

About 1 pm the boat left Amsterdam to start our cruise. We passed by miles of pastureland. We saw windmills, none of which were of the kind the Netherlands is famous for but modern ones.

Well now, we survived Puno and Cuzco and some other very high places (Machu Picchu was easy in a sense because it had a lower altitude). It was a wonderful trip seeing Peru. All I can say is thank God we are back down to sea level. None of us had expected that altitude could affect us all so much…..some more than others. At last for me, I could breathe without having this giant weight on my chests (especially at night. I could not sleep on my back, the pressure on my chest was so great) or that the weight I had suddenly gained (to walk the stairs between the 1st and second floor, I had to stop & rest 4-6 times), was gone. I felt I could almost bounce as I walked. For others, they had varying degree of headaches. One thought it must be like a migraine (she had never had one in her life before). The lack of energy was incredible. This altitude sickness is serious stuff!

Our guide Rogger (like Roiyer) was absolutely wonderful, taking care of our every need. Gate one…. incredible. All our hotels were really very, very good especially Jose Antonio in Lima and the 5-star Palacio in Cuzco, bags were always picked up and delivered (like at the airport)…. no need to tip, free dinners, little gifts, calling doctors when needed, oxygen on the buses, yadda, yadda. We were spoiled!

We saw spectacular scenery, went to amazing archaeological sites, the Peruvians we met couldn’t do enough for you…. nice, nice people but I’m ready to go home. Gee, on reading this it sounds like Peru was the only country that counted but that’s not true. It just happened to be the last of a series.

I am so grateful that I am able to experience all these different and wonderful places in the world.

I’m going to repeat a quote from Mark Twain. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

We are all now home safe and sound.

We are going to Uros floating islands of which there are 96 …..with 1300 people living on them. We are going to only one.

Lake Titicaca is at 12,500 feet above sea level…. the highest navigable lake in world is 110 miles in length by 33-34 miles, 962’ deep. 60% of which is in Peru, 40% in Bolivia. Means “Great Puma”.

Jacques Cousteau discovered that this lake has giant massive frogs…. 40-60 metres down… no oxygen needed to breathe.

Elevation of Puno is 12,500.

5000BC developed potatoes

Imara is language on Uros Islands.

90% of children that leave the islands for education do not return.

Totortos reeds filter out pollution from old factories Making the water drinkable. Only 1-2 metres deep where reeds are. The lake has dropped 2 metres in last 3 yrs.

10 C water temp. Brrrrr!

It’s mandatory to send children to kindergarten at 3 years.

1957 7th day Adventist’s arrived and started school a few year later.

Living on this island are 5 families with 15 people in total.

They lived by fishing and hunting in 1600’s, 1700’s, 1800’s. Taken by Spaniards to work in mines. Many died.

Reeds 6-7 feet. They eat the bottom part after pealing it. It’s the only vegetables in diet.

3 layers make for dry roofs.

Islands are 3 metres thick

Once a month have to add more reeds cuz the underground become wet and it rots.

Lots of arthritis in adults and death by pneumonia in children cuz of dampness and humidity.

Dry all meats fish and birds to preserve cuz no refrigeration.

It is amazing the size of this place. We had no idea.

I noticed that the women are all quite large so asked why….. because the are very sedentary doing knitting, making wall hangs and the like all the while sitting on the damp reeds do they absorb water (some now are using something to get them off the “ground” and their diet is salty from all the dried fish and birds (the men eat it too).

The president of this particular island

What a weird sensation it was walking on the islands. As you can imagine, you’d have to develop sea legs….. and you sort of sink on it.

It’s going to be a long 9 hour drive with a couple of stops along the way. Wow what a nice bus we have today! It even has a toilet on board!

One thing I didn’t mention before is the number of speed bumps…. everywhere! India has strong competition from Peru in this case.

Another thing….. the number of dogs on the streets. But….. they are well fed. If you venture out at night (at least in Cuzco), there are huge piles of garbage on the street corners and the dogs are all over it. I’m assuming that the city picks it all up sometime during the night cuz you don’t see it in the morning.

It costs 19-31% (wow), to borrow money from the bank to build a house. Consequently they finish their homes as they have the money they have managed to save.

70-80% people stay with family after marriage to save money.

Chuta bread… traditional from 1400’s and only in Cuzco state.

Principal gate of Cuzco territory … “Rumicolca”

At another small town we were shown another school that Gate 1, thru our ticket purchases, supports.

Raqchi 1st stop…. archaeological site.

Then we stopped at 4338 metres or 14,280’ above sea level. We had reached the highest point for us. We are looking directly at a 9,870 metre glacier. I had a picture taken of me with an indigenous woman and 2 month old baby alpaca nuzzling my neck. So cute, cute, cute! We can see lots of alpacas grazing in the fields and a little while later wild llama in white, brown and black.

I would imagine that because of the altitude, farming as in grains or vegetables had disappeared. Now they’re into cattle and further…. the mining of gold and silver.

Juliaca … mining and black market of contraband including fake electronics, brand names clothes and sugar coming from Bolivia . There are 1000 tuk tuks for population of 400,000. This is Sunday so big market including used clothing. Rogger says that traffic lights and rules are only a suggestion here. Not a pretty city at all.

Cuzco March 23/19

When we got back into the city the whole hillside is covered in lights…. really quite beautiful, at about 8:30.

On my we have a magnificent 5 star hotel called Palacio del Inka.

Right off the bat, the altitude is affecting me as well as others. I chose not to go on any optional tours the day we are there cuz of my altitude intolerance. And ….while eating a soft sandwich on the train (which was provided…. we had service much like flight attendants provide), one of the crowns in my mouth snapped. So…. I went to the dentist. The lady dentist could do nothing except provide glue to hold the tooth in place til I get home. Meanwhile Kathryn, we were told, would not be going on with us to Puna but would be returning to Lima because of her altitude sickness…extreme headache, vomiting, her cognitive function was malfunctioning, etc. She was on lots of oxygen, other meds, 2 shots in the butt, etc. The doctor said that because it was affecting her brain that she shouldn’t go to Puno or she could die. And what would you do???? No question! And then Rogger had to call a doctor for our Linda because she was struggling for breath and was coughing soooo bad…. had been for 2 weeks. She felt her iron was possibly way down cuz of exhaustion. Anyway the short if it, she went to hospital, was put on oxygen, blood tests and having x-rays this morning so will not be coming with us to Puno either but will be returning to Lima too but not sure when. (She has pneumonia and will remain in hospital 2 days later… we all hope. Meanwhile, Kathryn is recovering in Lima… slowly. Altitude sickness is not a joke).

Some pictures of Cuzco

Wake up call 4:30. Leave at 6am. then drive 45 min. Train on the “Inka Rail” at 7:20 until 8:45 where we get to Aguascalientes Towne. From there a bus7-8 min. +25 ride to main site. Bring passport for stamp.

25 min up. By 1:30 take bus back down. 3:45 regroup at train. Arrive 4:12….. back at Ollantaytambo then Cusco by 8:15pm. 62FMP, 49F Cusco

2500-3000 people per day visit MP

In the morning as we were passing through Urabamba the whole village was crowded with vendors bringing their produce including vegetables, animals and flowers… they’re big on flowers especially gladiolus.

Couple of notes… no screens on the windows, no bugs and this is rainy season.

On the way someone asked if there is ever flooding so 2010 Roger told us about picking up 80 travelers from a Carnival ship ….they had 3 days only which to see Machu Picchu…..insisting they must go. It must have been really raining for some time cuz on the way up on the train the raging Urubamba River was up to the tracks in places (it was flooding when we went up too but…). When they were finished up at MP they found out the river had washed out the tracks and that they had to stay in Aguascalientes, which they did for 6 days. They ended up being helicoptered out. 3 other people plus guides had decided to walk out but unfortunately were killed in a rock/mud slides. Thank goodness it hadn’t been raining that badly but it definitely was flooding. No white water rafting …… for anybody including experienced rafters.

If you hike the Inka Trail to MP it takes 4 days and the max height is 14,280′. We saw people starting across the suspension bridge and up the trail. Not for me. I’m having a lot of difficulty with the the altitude (and the motion of this bus but has nothing to do with climbing).

As we get closer the vegetation changes to more jungle (liana vines eand bromeliads) like along with the birds…… toucans, hummingbirds, mutt-mutts, tanagers, etc.

Inca trail is 3700 miles long covering from southern Colombia to northern Chile and from Argentina including all of Bolivia, to Pacific Ocean.

These mountains are spectacular…… mostly straight up and down….. sheer! Wow!

After train we take a bus up series switch backs….. 13 turns believe it or not!!!

We are at 7500’…., down considerable from last night at 9500′ but it’s foggy. Be are in the clouds….. waiting for them to lift so that we can see the amazing Machu Picchu. It lifts but then the clouds cover again, then clear, back and forth. Finally…… Oh My God!!! Spectacular !

Marilyn and I at the top

The Incas grew coca on these terrraces

30% has been restored 50% is original.

The Inca were astronomers and this place was perfect for seeing the heavens. It also is the centre of the Incan empire. It was an important religious place. The population was only 500 but was for high class and priests only. Inca mean king of which there were 14. The lower classes were called Quechuas.

They get 164 ” rain Dec to April… walks never collapsed because of construction.

Found mummies. Heads misshapened. Performed brain surgeries…80% success rate.

Jeanette, Linda and assistant Pepito Jose took a different a little easier way. On the way I think it was Jeanette, spotted a viper sticking out of the rocks so Pepito tells Linda to move to the other side of the walk. In doing so she didn’t notice a puddle but fell in it. She never did see the snake.

Our Hotel Sonesta Del Yucay

Before going to Ollantaytambo in the afternoon, Marilyn, Jeanette, Kathryn and I took tuk tuks (called motocito here) into Urubamba for a little tour. Our driver was a young woman with her 3+/- year old daughter. The village itself is nothing really to get excited about but it was fun to ride in the tuk tuks again. These ones looked like they’re souped up racers that could burn rubber. Not!

Urubamba mural

Ollantaytambo

45% of population still live as the Incas lived as in the 1400’s with seven families to a complex with a max seven persons to “a” room…. entranced by a gate .

Aqueducts along cobblestone streets. This place called Ollantaytambo that I had never heard of, is amazing…. unbelievable actually. The Incas did experimental farming on the terraces to find out what soils worked best with which product. Different grains for different conditions. They also built the terraces to prevent errosion.

Storage facilities … granaries up the hills to keep dry….built with ventilation.

On top of huge terraced tract is a temple but was incomplete because Spaniard came in 1530s. Some of the terraces were built pre-Inca. They moved 40-50-70 ton granite boulders by using pebbles and logs because they didn’t have the wheel.

It took 110 years to build this city. 80% of the city has been uncovered…20% has not.

On way back we stopped and watched a number of people climb up an almost totally vertical mountain to a “Sky Lodge” cantilevered off the side of the mountain. After you spend the night there, you have the option of repelling or zip lining down. OMG!!!

Zip line down

Someone asked what the stick with bag on top signifies? It means the bar is open. Chicha is what they are selling. It’s made from corn chewed then mixed with pure alcohol!

Up at 4:15 this am for flight to Cuzco at 8:15. It was a 1 hour flight on Latam airlines (takes 23 hours by bus). Amazingly enough, passengers can carry on water on domestic flights believe it or not. The check-in was extremely fast but our guide had printed off luggage tags, boarding passes. New plane, big clean airport. Our luggage was handled going into airport & out…. no tipping necessary….yeah! Nothing to worry about. The uniforms (royal blue/purple and red) of all Latam employees are so very attractive.

Cuzco.. “Quosco” is its real name is at 11,000+’ above sea level.

Taucca first place we heading to…. where we visit a school.

Hotel is at 9,500’…Sonesta Del Inka Yucay… such a gorgeous location surrounded by mountains. The rooms were very nice although not as lovely as the last place.

Agriculture is first economic income of this area, then tourism.

Rainy season they get 155” rain from December through April.

No snow but sometimes frost in the 16-17,000 ‘ mountains but not in the city.

80% still speak Quechuan (native language) besides Spanish.

Houses everywhere (particularly in Cuzco) on side of very steep hills… no roads… only able to get to by walking …. 2-4 times a day. Makes for being in good shape. Have to get water from springs by walking and carrying. Homes made of mud and adobe or now ….concrete.

On top of homes…Cross…. indicates they are catholic and 2 bulls-prosperity

600,000 live in Cuzco city

At stop for washroom and snacks the altitude is 11,500’ and I’m feeling it… no energy, a weight on my chest and shortness of breath. They are growing fava beans and lupins which they boil the seeds 3 times. It’s called tarwi … very high in protein. Incas developed 3000 varieties of potatoes & 300 varieties of corn.

Alpacas short nose, short neck and ears, tail down, more wooly, more protein no fat, good for eating. llama (said yama) are used as pack animals (but not more than 40 lbs), not for meat, has long ears long nose and neck.

Lake used for reservoir for all Cuzco city water.

We stopped into see the school that Gate 1 supports in Taucca. Gate one has foundation that is funded by our purchase of trip for the school. When we arrived the kids were there, took each of our hands and walked us in….. a bit too fast for most of us. They are used the the altitude. It wasn’t long before the youngest traveler, a man 30 years of age, passed out cold. The kids sang a song for us, then another in Quechuan language wishing one of our travelers a happy birthday. Then they ending with all the 25 kids hugging him… so sweet! Noella (said Noeyya) is the girl in picture with me —6 years old.

At 13,000 feet we go to restaurant in Sisichakuna. We were greeted by villagers dancing and singer. The outfits they were wearing are their usual daily garb. We were treated to Chuta wheat bread, Quinoa soup, a green paste made from cilantro and yellow peppers…. very good but spicey hot, guinea pig, purple potatoes, chicken, giant kernel corn and tortillas made from corn but not at all like ours at home. It was pretty much really good. I could not finish my lunch cuz I became very unwell & required oxygen. Katherine required oxygen as well. Not in our wildest dreams did we expect to be affected.

Roger and one of the ladies at the restaurant with ever present llamas.

At one place we will be at 14,280’. Tonight Hotel is at 9,500’