Peru

General Notes

· Getting smaller soles bills is difficult in Peru – you get mostly 100 soles bills at the money exchange o I tried giving a 100 soles bill at a fast food restaurant in the Lima airport. The cashier pleaded with me for smaller bills. I relented and she looked so relieved. o I purchased a couple water bottles and a souvenir magnet at the Lima airport. The cashier requested my passport and airline ticket before you accepted the 100 soles bill. o Fortunately, my Airbnb host provided me 100 USD worth of smaller soles bills when I arrived – this was a fantastic help · Line cutting seems to be a more common mentality in Peru o Cars are constantly cutting – and road rage seems to be a fairly common occurrence o A person cut in front of me as I was exiting from exiting my row to get off the airplane o A person cut in front of me at the airport security – she jumped ahead and put her things in the plastic bucket – so I put my things on top of her things in the plastic bucket, and she got mad at me. 😊 o A family cut in front of my while waiting in line at a fast food restaurant at the airport o I’ve been told this is line cutting mentality is more common here – it is one of those things you need to adapt to (i.e., be more aggressive) · Nearly everybody here starts talking to me in Spanish. Many people here know very little or no English. o A taxi driver asked why I didn’t know Spanish. My reason is probably the same reason he didn’t know English – I just get rare opportunities to speak Spanish in Seattle o I do feel being more fluent in at least basic Spanish would have been a great help – there are a lot of conversations I could have had with people had I known Spanish · Not a big fan of the Mexico City airport. You have to clear immigration to make your connecting flights. And once you clear, you go through security again, then need to find hidden escalators to the terminal with the connecting flights. o My flight was not even listed on the reader board at first, so I was not even sure I was in the right terminal. Finally my flight shows up on the reader board, but instead of a number (like most of the other flights on the reader board), a letter shows up instead (with no number). Apparently that letter represented the area of the terminal the flight would be departing from (I saw no signs saying this was the “M” area of the terminal · Google Translate vs AI https://www.seattletimes.com/business/move-over-google-translate-here-come-a-i-earbuds/

Day 1

· I bought a new backpack for this trip. One of the features was a zipper lock. So I decided to give it a try the night before I left. It seemed to work pretty well. o Fast forward to Wednesday night, 45 minutes before I board my flight from Seattle to Lima, I try to unlock my backpack, but the combination is not working. I have important documents in this backpack, and some cash. o So I get online and am watching videos on how to break into this backpack – nothing is working o So I walk around the airport looking for something sharp that might be able to help me break into the backpack – not surprisingly, there are no souvenir toolkits or knives being sold at the airport o Then I realize that my surface pro power adapter might be useful – I use the plug prongs to pry off the zippers from the lock § Note: The next day I figured out what happened. To set the combination lock, you have to press in this button. You also press in this button to unlock. While I was trying to take the zippers out of the lock while the button was pressed, I must have inadvertently moved one of the combination wheels one digit.

Managed to break open my zipper lock with my surface pro adapter

· After clearing immigration at the Lima airport, I boarded a taxi and met my Airbnb host o He took me to a money exchange with the best rates, then once I had the larger bills, he gave me smaller bills in exchange for the larger bills. This proved very useful! o He also took me to a cell phone company store, and helped me get a SIM card. This SIM card was extremely helpful for having internet access, WhatsApp, and booking taxis. I also was able to give my Macchu Picchu tour guide my cell phone # in case I had questions during my trip. We also walked right be the hotel where the Stephany Flores was killed by that Dutch guy (who also killed Natalee Holloway)

Day 2

· Mostly a relaxing day – spent it getting used to my surroundings (and not getting run over by cars) · I ran into an issue with the phone I was going to put my SIM card into o First, I had to submit a request to unlock it to AT&T (easy to do) § This phone had been unlocked previously, so I assumed it would be permanently unlocked o Second, and more difficult, I had to figure out how to open the SIM card slot on my phone o Normally, you would just use a paper clip – but I searched my suitcases and the apartment – no paper clips! I tried finding anything in the apartment that would be similar to a paper clip. Nothing. The closest thing I found was my key chain ring, but that was a little too big. Fortunately, the keys my host provided to me had a key chain ring that was even smaller. It worked perfectly! · Drivers in Lima seem to like to try and run over pedestrians – it was quite intense when you get to intersections, especially the bigger ones because there are cars coming from all angles · I also got an email from my Chile tour guide – he said the lake was closed, but he could still take me up to the mountains. I thought about canceling, but was still intrigued with getting to the mountains, so a confirmed the tour. I’m very glad I made this decision, as it is was one of the highlights of my trip.

This was my scheduled Santiago Chile tour - I decided to book even though the lake would be closed

Day 3

· Figured out where to catch the bus to the airport – had to walk about five blocks · Plane arrived in Cusco in the afternoon o I was a bit dizzy as I walked through the terminal, due to the high altitude o I also noticed the high altitude effects as a climbed through Macchu Piccu o As long as I took it slow and easy, the effects were not too severe · Met Sergio (main contact & fluent english) and Mike (driver) at the airport · I checked into my hotel (300 years old) – it was walking distance to the main plaza, including some incredible churches o Sergio went over the itinerary with me in the hotel lobby o Fluent in English – he gave recommendations on where to east and visit in Cusco

This is a very of my hotel · Walked around Plaza De Armas – fantastic architecture (e.g., Cusco Cathedral) o I was more impressed with Cusco than I thought I would be § Others I talked to say they thought it was a little touristy o Lots of stray dogs just hanging out o This was my first-time tasting Inka Cola – bubble gum soda! It is more popular in Peru than Coke

Picture from Plaza De Armas

Day 4

· Met Mike outside the hotel at 5:30 AM (I woke up at 4AM) o I embarrassed myself quite a bit as I tried having a Spanish conversation with Mike on this 1.5 hour drive. Used Google translate, but my pronunciation is terrible and slow. There would be some sentences I wouldn’t even attempt. o I would get excited when he understood my question, but then he would reply in Spanish, which made things a bit difficult o It ended up being Tarzan like conversations – “You like Bon Jovi?” “Yes, Bon Jovi muy Bueno”. o He really follows soccer closely and knew more about the Seattle Sounders than I did – there is a Peruvian player on the Sounders o We also saw these really cool hotel capsules built into the cliffs – the only way to get to them would be to rock climb · We headed to Ollantaytambo station, where he dropped me off · It was little confusing which train to take as the signs were not very helpful, but eventually figured it out · My seat was unfortunately not a “window” seat, but a “wall” seat 😊 – that was OK, though, as the better scenery was from the bus ride up to Machhu Piccu · When I arrived at Aguas Calientes, I was expecting to meet Vilma, but instead it was Rosa (holding a sign with my name on it). Rosa was very friendly She took me through the town and showed me where to catch the bus, where to use my lunch voucher, where to catch the train back, etc. · There was long line of people waiting for the bus o The bus ride up the mountain was very scenic o It was also quite nerve racking as the side of the road was a huge rock cliff · Macchu Piccu is an amazing place – it is clear why it is one of the new seven wonders of the world o Interesting commentary about the Inca runners o No bathrooms in Macchu Piccu, except for the king o Spanish killed all of the Inca professors – as a result, there is a fairly big knowledge gap with Macchu Piccu o Sophisticated building methods – walls built at angles to better handle earthquakes § Also, built layers (large rocks, gravel, sand, and dirt) that was designed to handle drainage o In the morning it was super hot outside – had to take my jacket off o By early afternoon, thunder rolled in and we got drenched § Broke out my rain pants and poncho – it was really humid in my poncho o Had to wait an hour in line to catch the bus back down the mountain

My assigned train seat was not a window or an aisle - it was a "wall" seat