Cartagena We spent our first full day in Cartagena exploring the old town. The Lonely Planet lists the Palace of inquisition as a top city attraction. So we went to it first. The museum name suggests that its visitors should expect to see torture equipment and other tools that we are used to associate with […]
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Denver to Colombia The bus to the airport smelled of disinfecting wipes. A few passengers wore face masks and looked extra cautious; others behaved as usual. I wrapped a thin cotton scarf around my lower face not wanting to appear panic-stricken and at the same time, hoping that it would provide some protection. We had
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It was the second half of February and 4 months since I returned home from my 2019 Europe-Asia-Europe trip. The weather in Colorado was snowy with temperatures below freezing, the kind that makes me to hole up at home because I am a cold blooded creature and need warmth to survive. My job as a
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In the Amazon jungles The last day of our vacation was in Lima. It was morning when we got there. This time, we had no bad experience leaving the airport (see the post Tumbes). At first, we tried to do usual sightseeing but the polluted air of the Peruvian capital made it difficult to enjoy.
From the Andes to the Amazon jungles On the following day, we got up at 5 am. Taking a cold shower in the jungle was easy. The temperature there stays over 30º C (90º F) all day long and humidity is 90%. Absence of electricity presented a problem for my husband who had an electric
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Lake Titicaca After another night in chilly conditions in Puno and almost all day on the bus, we were back to Cusco. It was time to see something completely different and we bought air tickets to Puerto Maldonado, a city in the Amazon forest. The flight was only half an hour, but what a drastic
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Puno Visiting Lake Titicaca was a dream came true. The syllables ‘Ti·ti·ca·ca’ of its exotic name sounded like a song when I was a child. I knew that the lake was somewhere deep in the Andes, far from my native Russia, and I had no hopes to see it one day. Lake Titicaca is the
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Machu Picchu Our next destination was Lake Titicaca. It took 6 hours by bus to get to it from Cusco. The lake is located even higher in the mountains, at 12,500 feet (3,812 m). People who come from sea level may experience altitude sickness. We were already well adapted and did not feel a thing.
Cusco For anyone who wants to see Machu Picchu, the trip starts in Cusco. Our tickets included a 4-hour train ride to the site and back, a 10-minute shuttle bus to the entrance and admission to the ruins. We got up very early to take the first train so we’d have more time in Machu
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Tumbes After one day in Tumbes at sea level, we were up in the Andes again. Cusco is located at 3,400 m (11,152 ft) which is higher than Quito. I was back to wearing a sweater. Cusco was the capital city of the great Incan Empire. The Incas were brilliant engineers. They managed to build
