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Lets See Cusco from a Double Decker Bus
Today we did a double decker bus ride to see the sites of Cusco. We met out guide in one the most historical sites in the city. The Plaza De Armas. It was the heart of the city when the Incans ruled and it still is today. Our guide speaks to the rest of the group in Spanish and is supposed to translate to English but he seems to forget that part a lot. Lucky for me I’ve read the guide book a couple of times.. lol…He tells us that the buses aren’t allowed in the Plaza so we need to walk to the bus station. What he failed to…
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Coricancha, The Incan Sun Temple
Coriconcha comes from the Quechua word Quri – gold and Kancha – encloser. Cusco was the capital of the Incan empire and Coriconcha was its shining jewel. It was where the bodies of past leaders were covered in gold and placed in full ceremonial dress and tended by virgins. It was considered the center of the Incan empire, it was a holy site. In its heyday it was even more of a sight to behold. According to Spanish records there were statues of gold and silver in the courtyard and priceless artifacts everywhere. I guess thats why they looted everything and leveled the temple and built a catholic church on…
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Machu Picchu … the Almost Lost City of the Incas
A trip to Machu Picchu is not for the faint of heart. The day begins extremely early. The line for the bus begins at 3 in the morning. After out super fun train ride the night before we weren’t quite ready for a 3am wake up call. We did make it out of the hotel by 6 so I’m going to call that a win. Our tickets were for the morning session. That runs from 6am to noon. One thing to remember if you come to Machu Picchu , bus tickets are separate. So after our guide finally arrives and we head out the door we stand in line to…
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Up Up and Away… off to Lisbon
If for any reason I ever state that I love packing… contact the police because Im trying to let you know something is terribly wrong. …What to take… what not to… its a weekly struggle for me. Then once its all in I have a constant fear of it being overweight. My travel anxiety is in full force right now as we head into Houston to catch our flight for Lisbon. We arrive at the hotel … the cheapest place to park our car for our week long trip to Lisbon, Portugal. After what seems like a 2 hour wait ( probably 15 minutes ) the shuttle arrives and we…
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Green and Gold in the Big Easy ( St Pattys)
While driving to New Orleans took a little more time than I had planned it was SOOOOOO worth it. If you think that St. Patricks day wouldnt be a big deal in New Orleans you would be so wrong. These people will do anything for a parade. While the actual holiday was on the 17th the party and hence parade was on the 20th. A huge parade in Metairie ,a suburb of New Orleans has us knocking on a friends door for a good place to catch the parade. The population of the area is not primarily Irish, but the green and gold sparkle like everyone was born on the…
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Wrong Turns and Other Blessings
Today I set off to do the impossible… well maybe not impossible but surely a pretty hard task. Im going to try and get from Houston Tx to New Orleans La. I promised a dear friend we would spend St. Patricks day together and Ill be darned If Im breaking that promise. You see theres been heavy rains in the area and most of main roads and secondary roads have been closed . So today Im taking the long way around, but to be honest the back roads, long way around is one of my favorites. I head out around 8:00 am the rain has stopped for now and the…
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Tortuga Island …. Beautiful Costa Rica
We awoke in our tree house to the chirping of exotic birds and the howling of monkeys at play. It was hot and I was sweaty. We stayed up to late and awoke to early but we did it all with smiles that would not fade. You see sometimes comfort is gladly given up for adventure and we are currently on a well deserved adventure. We got ready for the day in swimsuits and cover ups and head down the approximately one million stairs to the kitchen. Vidgis the resort owner made us a delicious breakfast. One hundred times better than any hotel breakfast bar. Then down to the…
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Nicoya Bay, Costa Rica
The day starts early with a short cab ride to the bus station. I’m not an early riser so you know this trip means a lot to me. Today we are heading about 3 hours to the west of San Jose to the resort Bahia Rica in the town of Pequena. Our first leg of the trip is a two hour bus ride to the coastal city of Puntarenas. We arrive at the station at 6:30am in time for the 7am bus ride. There are a lot of people already there waiting for the bus but there was still plenty of room for us. The cost was very reasonable and…
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Costa Rica, Where medicine grows
Day three of our Costa Rican adventure takes us to the Jungle…. well the rain forest really… its not the Tarzan and Jane kinda rain forest but its still kinda cool for those of us who cant swing from vines .We began our day with a breakfast at the hotel … just so you know the buffet in other countries are NEVER the same as in US. Sometimes theyre better .. sometimes theyre not… today was one of the not days. lol. So after breakfast we load up into the minibus and head to Rainforest Adventures and zipline park. I cant say that Im a fan of ziplining because Ive…
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Finding a Costa Rican Paradise
Day two of our trip found us meandering to the North of San Jose into the picturesque towns and hillsides of Costa Rica. The curvy roads leading into the mountains are not for those easily car sick. May I recommend adding dramamine to your packing list. Our first stop was a little town with a large claim to fame. The name of the town is Sarchi and it’s about an hour north of San Jose. This beautiful artisan town is the home of the world’s largest La Carreta or ox cart. Oxcarts are a big part of Costa Rican history. Originally used to move Coffee beans until trains and trucks…