Category Archives: Peru

July 9, 2018 Still in Princeton, WV

I woke up this morning and it is only 51 degrees here in the Appalachian Mountains.  I had to turn on the heat in my room!

Anyway, I will be packing up soon but wanted to share a picture I received yesterday from Aaron Mermin-Heslin.  He and his wife, Laura, were together with Rick, Mary Pat, and I in the Amazon jungle in Peru back in May.  You may recall our talking about being taken by our guide to the middle of the Madre de Dios River and loaded into a rubber raft.  Aaron and Laura were loaded into a separate raft.  Then, the guides all left us.  Well, Aaron sent me a picture he took of Rick, Mary Pat and I floating down the river.

Peru river (2)

Machu Picchu Trek

Hiking lady

Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu has long been on my bucket list and was, in fact, my plan for 2017.  What I hadn’t counted on was that, while there is no government restriction on the upper age limit, the trekking companies use 67 as the cap and many even will not book a single traveler who is over 60.  That restriction put me in such a snit that I boycotted Peru and instead travelled throughout Europe (see site page Europe).

Well, I have calmed down and made a rational plan to visit the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu in May, 2018.  I won’t be doing the full trek but will be staying in Cusco, then taking a train, then staying in the Sacred Valley, before experiencing Machu Picchu.  In the course of making reservations, I discovered that temperatures in July and August drop to the 30’s at night!  What was I thinking?  Camping when it is freezing cold out?  Thank God I wasn’t able to book the trek last July.  Being a Florida girl, I do not tolerate cold well…especially when camping.

The temperatures in May are a bit more moderate (still cold though) and I am staying in a nice hotel in Aguas Calientes, a quaint little town in the Urubamba Valley known for its thermal bath.  So, I should be plenty warm at night.

This trip will be a little different for me as I won’t be completely alone.  My sister, Mary Pat, and her husband, Rick, decided that Peru was a destination they too wanted to see so they will be joining me. YAY–company!