Family Arrives

Josh's parents, being the courageous adventure seeking people that they are flew down to Peru to meet us for a short vacation. They flew into Peru on Thanksgiving, but we started our trek toward Macchu Picchu the Friday after, we planned to meet up at the ruins. Fortunately we found them right at the gate, as planned. How great it was to see family, after 3 months it was so exciting and strange to see familiar faces in such an un-familiar place.

We spent that early morning venturing around Macchu Picchu and sharing travel experiences. I came down with the stomach bug that Josh had had the day before and had to make a break for it out of the ruins early. I rested while they enjoyed each others company around Aguas Callientes. They ate at a lovely French restarant called India Feliz. Gloria wasn't feeling up to eating that night either, so the next day we enjoyed a lovely lunch there as well.

We spent the next two days trotting about Cusco. We visited an old Incan fortress sitting on the mountainside above the city called Saqsaywayman. Gloria and I shopped for Christmas Presents while Josh and David played cribbage over Peruvian Beers. We ate at some lovely places. The picture above was taken at an upscale place titled Chi-Cha. And of course every time we walked down the street we were flooded by vendors, and I think we all began to lose patience.

Josh's parents are serious travelers, when they vacation they squeeze in all the sights in a limited amount of time. The day they left Cusco they flew down to Puno to see lake Titicaca, then somehow made it back to Lima and to Nazca in the same amount of time that Josh and I simply traveled to Nazca.

In Nazca we met up again, shared a late night drink when they got in and said goodnight till' morning when we would fly over the Nazca Lines. The next morning for breakfast Josh and I shared a bag full of fruit, bought off the street for about a dollar. Then we caught a cab to the hotel where Gloria and David were staying. From there we were picked up by their arranged transport van and headed to the Nazca airport. The Nazca Lines are various shapes made in the desert sand by moving dark sand away from light colored sand, is my understanding. They were created before the Incan Empire. We hopped into a tiny 5 seat airplane to view the lines. Our pilot was very courteous in making sure that everyone was able to see every etch in the sand. He whipped the plane from side to side, one wing strait up to the sky the other diving toward the sand. I was fortunate enough to sit beside the captain in the front seat. If I did not look at the design in the sand (do to extreme nausea) , he would be sure to tap me until I saw every last image. With the exception of Iron Man David we all left the plane sicker than dogs...whatever that phrase means.

After a lunch back at the hotel and a long bus ride back to Lima, we had to say some sad 'see you later's' to the parents. They had to get back, get ready for Christmas and of course have a big-mac. We'll miss you guys, but are so glad you were able to come down and share some of Peru with us!